A Greater Appreciation…

This past year of 2019 has taught me a lot. I have learned how to be myself, how to deal with pain and how to slow down. I have become much more mindful of what I say, what I do and what is important to me. And even though I wasn’t physically able to hit a lot of my goals for the year, I did my very best, and learned along the way, that my best is absolutely perfect.

Within this past decade, I have reached the height of my athletic endeavors, traveled the world and gained friends beyond my wildest dreams. I won gold medals, lost epic battles and gained insight into my own self-worth. I became an athlete. I became an extreme athlete. I became a triathlete and an Athena athlete as well. I started filming my fights. I started filming my planner, I started filming parts of my life. In doing these things, I learned a lot about the woman I’ve become.

I am all of these things, and so much more that’s left to discover.

I have realized over the past decade that I never cease being anything. I only evolve into something else. Something more. I grow, I learn, I hurt, I recover and I move on to the next goal, the next experience, the next adventure. I turned 53 this year, and I have realized my life could well be half over. Or not. I like to think in much longer terms now. I want to keep moving that end line further and further out so that I can keep gaining knowledge, and keep making my world better.

I have learned so much more about love, hate, friendship, and loss. But also about happiness, joy, quiet and stillness. I know that regardless of how long the Fates have foretold of my destiny, I will never learn everything about any one of those topics, and that’s good. I never want to stop learning. Or questioning. Or living life to the fullest it can possibly be.

I always want there to be more…

But I also always want to know kindness, gentleness, and grace. Along with adrenaline, wildness, and chaos. I have learned a lot about all of these as well, and have only started to experience a balance between them. Yet there’s always that tilt towards the next fantastical journey…and I will continue to grab my goggles and leap into the unknown headfirst because it’s the biggest, brightest light in the sky…

So my New Year’s wish to all of my beloved friends, far and near,

“Second star to the right and straight on ‘till morning…”