Last year I wrote a blog post called the “new year” and wrote about what I’ve learned and shared things that I would love to have learned. When rereading it I knew there were things I didn’t quite meet, but it turns out that those weren’t the most important lessons I needed to learn. One lesson I did learn was living outside my comfort zone. I’ve started learning the phrase “growth does not happen in comfort zones” and it really put my life into perspective. I started putting things that surround my life in categories. I started to learn to tell myself the truth even when I don’t necessarily want to hear it. All of these things I have learned has really been in the past few months, because I put what was bad for me first and saved the necessities for later. Like I said, I didn’t choose to really reflect on my actions and experiences until a few months ago. Now that we are coming into the new year, I felt it to be a good time to share what I have learned.

Life is all about perspectives. They reinforce your view on life. If your mind has a negative perspective, then you most likely have a negative view on your life or just life in general. But if your mind has a positive perspective, you are more likely to have a positive view of your life. Growing up, I was a positive person. I would always be laughing, mostly because I would just be laughing at my stupid self, but also just because I was happy. I focused on the love I had within my family and friends. I also did not care how I looked, I was just living life the way that made me happy. If you were to know me in elementary and middle school you would know what I mean by that because I did not look so hot. I would wear a big graphic oversized T-shirt, probably orange or white, with black basketball nike shorts, and ripped up tennis shoes. I honestly did not care about what people thought of me. My only concern was if I was comfy or not because dude, we had to be at school for 8 hours and I did not want to be wearing something uncomfortable for that long. Anyways, going into high school my own perspectives changed. I ended up surrounding myself with people who talked down on me and on life which I then reflected. My mindset changed, but not for the better. As the years went on I thought my mindset was getting better, but it wasn’t. Even my senior year when I was always at the church, my mindset was still so negatively based. I didn’t give God full control. I didn’t really realize that I needed to change my mindset until this time last year, but like I did with every other good thing in my life, I set it to the side to save for later. One night this past fall I was sitting in my bed crying because I was so unhappy with myself and how my life was. I felt so lost and unwanted. That night I prayed to God asking Him why I was so unhappy and why I couldn’t just be happy. I asked Him to help me see things with a more positive perspective and to help me see things the way He see them. I wanted the motivation to get up in the morning. Some weeks later I ran across this thing that mentioned an applicant screening form to be an Officer in the USMC. I was just curious if I would be able to pass the screening. That’s the farthest I thought I would go because I didn’t think I would make it past the screening. A few days later I met up with Captain Bromen and he talked to me about the officer program. The next thing I know, I’m signing a contract and doing crazy workouts I wouldn’t ever in my life have imagined doing. From September to now is where I have learned and have grown the most.

Since that day in September, I have learned to take responsibility for my own actions and to also stop making excuses. Taking responsibility is the first step to growing. Another thing I learned was to take advantage of everything life has given you. I use to be the person to just put the good things off to the side and save them for later, hoping they would still be there and come to find out that they disappeared. When I say take advantage of everything, I really mean everything. Even the bad things because those are the times when you grow the most. It’s like when the Bible talks about the hills and the valleys. The hills are amazing, they are where you want to be. But it’s our comfort zone. The hills aren’t there for us to hibernate, they are there for us to see where God is taking us so when we walk through the valleys, we are able to trust God and His plan for us. So I’m taking advantage of everything. I wake up early now so I can have more time and use that for something good. I wake up to the sunrise because then I am able to see God’s artwork. God has been helping me see the beauty in all things. Even in negative situations I tell myself that this is only going to last for a little while. I have really learned to think positively like that only in these past couple of weeks because when you do PT for the Marines, you kind of have to think positively about the situation you are in. If you chose to think negatively then you won’t even make it or you might make it, but it wouldn’t be your full self. I have to tell myself that the pain I am feeling is only going to make me stronger and so next time I do this will be piece of cake. You put in what you want to get out of it. So if you give it your max effort, then man you are gonna reap the benefits.

I really give my thanks to God for all that I’ve learned this year and I only hope to share the knowledge of what He gifted me. I am very truly thankful for all of my friends and family who support me and help me become the person God wants me to be. “You are who you surround yourself with” is a phrase that runs through my head everyday to keep me in check. As this decade comes to a close, ask God “what is my story and how can I share it with others?”, “what areas do I need to work on and grow in my life?”, and ask Him to help you have a new perspective on life. If you put Him first, your broken pieces will start falling into place. Don’t ever move backwards, keep moving forwards.

Much love to you all,

Emily 🙂