Trusting the Process

Finding the fun in letting go and letting God...

College taught me more than I could have ever imagined. And surprise surprise, not a lot of what I learned was from a textbook. Life (to me at least), is all about experiences. And I am telling you, you’ll make the money back someday, you may not get the opportunities again. Through every up & down, twists & turns, uncomfortable situations, and the moments I wish I could relive over & over again, I wouldn’t wish for anything different. I grew so much as a person and discovered who I am and what I want… For now at least. I believe life is ever changing and it should be. Once you become stagnant, that’s an issue. Anyways, my point is, thank you God for the University of South Florida. For Delta Gamma. For my professors, classmates, everyone I encountered. But most importantly thank you to the best friends I’ve met. The ones I never knew I needed and now I have no idea how I lived life without them. My family, the ones who have always loved and supported me through every major change, dramatic crisis, & acted as the money tree they always told me never existed. All jokes aside, take chances, the most beautiful things in this life happens when you least expect it. One of the biggest for me was college. I doubted my decision, was uncomfortable with the idea, doubtful it would not fulfill me in the way I was looking for it to. I took the chance, I trusted the process. It brought me more than I could have imagined. When going in to any new or uncomfortable situation, there are going to be doubts and fears, it's inevitable. The thing is, there is something beautiful about trusting the process. I enjoy viewing life as a process, not an event. There are so many decisions we have to make, disasters we have to face, and challenges that we may feel have no desirable outcome. And while it's human nature to fear what will come from all of these, the process can bring so much value to our lives. And when you "zoom out" a little and take the time to look at what's happening to you in a different perspective, chances are you'll realize the good that is unfolding. Knowing we can't completely eliminate fear, embrace it and take action knowing whatever outcome transpires, it will be perfectly arranged for our greater good. This is the beauty in trusting any process that we encounter.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.

Experiencing the closing of a chapter..

With every beginning, there is an end. While many times we wish there wasn't one. There is a new way to look at change. You may be in this situation and struggling to find a way to deal with it. Experiencing the closing of a chapter is just the beginning of a beautiful life. I let college almost define me. I think it was for good for a long time, I put a lot of effort into reinventing myself when I got to college. I had these goals of who I wanted to be and tactics on how to be the best version as possible. It brought me so much joy that I will cherish forever, but eventually the pressure got really intense and I almost couldn't even allow myself to not be "on" and my "best" at every second. I put an unrealistic standard on myself that caused me to look at change in such a negative way. This started to hurt me most when graduation time was arriving. Although I was so excited to find a job, move out of my college apartment, and join the big girl world, so much of who I was, so I thought, was college and my sorority. So, I did what I do best and piled on my schedule so high I couldn't breathe to distract myself into believing I was doing everything "the right way". Once I finally decided to face the fact that my coping mechanism was subpar, things started going my way, for real. I found that different things brought value to my life and that it wasn't bad that things that used to feel so important, didn't anymore. I started to focus more on what brought me joy and realized there was more than I even thought. My passions grew with my excitement and I used those feelings for motivation. I got a job that I love. I started to understand the meaning behind quality being better than quantity along with embracing the unknown and finding the journey exciting. I mostly just started to accept that we aren't getting any younger and if not now, WHEN?! Stop being scared of judgement or failure!

How many times have you let fear of failure stop you from going after something you want?

• Once maybe twice
• 5+ times
• Too many to count
• Never! Life is meant to make mistakes.

Being in our 20s is the best time of our lives. It’s been my favorite years yet… (other than 19 I kinda really loved that one for some odd reason). Every single year (or more) though, there's something new to learn about myself. I have embraced that change and discomfort is good. The thing about me that I find most surprising is the fact that I love waking up early, eating healthy, and working out. I need to prioritize all of those but they make me feel so good. I love journaling, I love watching the sunset, sometimes I even love reading & going to bed early. Oh & I even love learning but about things that I actually care about, not the boring stuff we’ve been forced to learn in school. Anyways, I'm getting sidetracked again. Long story short (or maybe long), when one door closes another opens. If theres something about ourselves or our life we don't like, let's take action! We are in control and we hold the key that unlocks the best of it. So embrace all that comes your way. Feel everything and let it move you. We have nothing but time, but no time to waste. Let your past chapters bring inspiration to your new ones, but don't let it hold you back. You got this, I do too.