Oh hi, internet. It's been awhile.
It's a Sunday night, my hair's wet and in a towel turban, I'm drinking chocolate milk with ice in it because I like it super cold, and I'm not wearing pants. This is who I am at this exact moment in time, and I'm here to tell you I'm feeling pretty irresistible right about now.
I recently learned the importance of weight training, which is invaluable to me. I've only been doing cardio for as long as I can remember. I just started "training" again to run the mini again this fall, and I honestly had no idea what I was missing. I've been working on building muscle strength along with improving my core, and it's a marked difference. Random, but a little exercise education never hurt anyone!
I also just realized a couple of days ago that my dad will be 50 in January. He's never been to DC, and he's a huge history buff, and loves American history in particular. I've begun the early stages of planning a DC trip as a surprise, and I can't wait to see the look on his face as he's seeing each historical landmark for the first time. My dad deserves a getaway more than anyone I know.
This past year has opened my eyes to the professional aspect of my life. I've been so incredibly blessed to have found a career that I absolutely love. I enjoy going to work every day, I look forward to my job responsibilities (most of them, anyway), my co-workers have become my second family, and I'll be damned if I didn't end up exactly where I started 10 years ago. I've always loved working with teens, and the Y is where I started back in high school. It meant so much to me that I stuck with it as an Outreach volunteer all 4 years of undergrad. The pressures of post-grad took me elsewhere, but I've never felt more at home than when I'm helping teens realize their potential.
Imagine this:
You're introduced to a 14-year-old who has a lackluster GPA, has little to no friends, struggles to maintain eye contact, and wears extremely baggy clothes almost as if they'd literally like to disappear. Over time, you learn that they play violin, extremely well at that. They also draw and doodle on the edges of their homework, and they're pretty damn good. They slowly open up to you that no one in their family has graduated high school, and they'd be the first. No one at home can help them with their homework, they lack the support system they need to even be on time to class, and they've felt self-conscious about their weight ever since they can remember. And YOU get to be the lucky person who gets to be a part of this teen's life.
You listen to them play violin, and it nearly brings you to tears. You help them train to run and complete their first 5k. You spend hours tutoring and explaining the importance of an education to go anywhere in life. But you also explain that passion is just as important, and you should never lose sight of what you truly love. You do the research and show them that, in fact, you can go to college to become an artist and even work for Disney in animation. That there are people in this world, although not many, who have found their life's work to be the core of who they are, and they love waking up every day making a difference. And then you tell them with a smile that you are one of those people.
Just imagine. It's pretty fucking awesome.
A lot has happened since the last time I've really written anything, but the only thing worth knowing is that I've has this sensation lately that I'm on the brink of something amazing. I really don't know how to explain it, but I feel like something extraordinary is about to happen, and I'll either get to be a part of it, see it happen, feel it happen, etc. I don't know, it's weird. I get a little more hopeful each day just waiting for it, and I know it's there.
The best is yet to come.
-mj
