Another One Bites The Dust...

In just under 36 hours, I will be turning 24 years of age (as marked by rotations around the sun, not mental or emotional maturity, or counting those 9 months I spent developing in the womb). It's definitely rewarding to me to look bck at the past few years, and see that my exit from college and subsequent entry into the 'real world' marked not the ending of growth, but the beginning of an almost entirely new kind.

I entered 21 with a college degree, a black belt, and a bar tending license. I had no (paying) job, was single (with the exception of an off-again-on-again-who-knows-what), no credit, and self-imposed social-awkwardness. It was during this year that I got a (paying) job, a (real) boyfriend, and came to the conclusion that - whatever it took - I was going to get myself some footing.

At 22, I obtained a credit card, started a new career (teaching), and began the incredibly-arduous-and-ultimately-rewarding task of 'being a better human'. (Although rather amorphous sounding, this basically means taking responsibility for my actions, cleaning up all the sh*t I had left in my past, and continuing to do so on an ongoing basis.) I quit consuming alcohol (I actually did that a few days before my 22nd birthday, but made the conscious decision a few days after), cut wayyyyyy back on the red meat, and all but abolished sugar. I slept more, ate healthier, let my body start to heal from the abuse it had suffered at the hands of my diet/martial arts/sleep habits. I began to say 'yes' to social gatherings, and started on the road toward self-confidence.

Over the course of this 23rd year... well. I've stuck to that path; I've continued to work on my interactions with others, and on my interactions with myself. I'm wayyyyy more confident than I ever was prior; dresses don't scare me, formal events are a cake walk, and I'm learning how to stand up for myself in a non-retaliatory manner. I've worked on my relationship with my family, my relationship with my (now) fiance (he proposed this year), and my relationship with myself. I've become more like a gentle guardian, rather than so much of a sadistic slave driver jerk toward myself. W and I are renting a house together - our names being the ones on the lease - obtained with my credit score as the primary. I am paying rent in two places (my home with him, and my parent's house, where I'll be staying until the wedding), working full time, organizing the wedding, continuing to own and breed my reptiles, and 'partying harder' than I ever did in college. I've stuck to my diet (Two years, no beers! Woo!) - avoided most of the stuff that's bad for me, and I'm getting better at keeping away from gluten or mixing my protein and carbs. I'm laughing more, crying less, and it isn't that the circumstances have gotten any easier. It's been an incredible year; I've learned and grown a lot, and I love that I'm starting to really see the rewards of the work that I've been doing. Thank you, 23, and may 24 be every bit as blessed.