A Reflection of 2017 and the Year Ahead

2018 is upon us. Happy New Year to all!!! The New year is always a time for reflection looking back on the previous year, new resolutions, setting goals or continuing to focus on previous goals which you may still be working towards. Currently as I am typing this, I am sitting in my pjs, (yes it's 3 pm but it's freezing in Chicago and a pajama type of last day of break) and thinking about 2017 and what is in store for me for 2018. This past year has been one of the hardest for me. 2017 brought on many new changes, loss of loved ones, and heart break. In April of 2017 I was accepted into a Dietetic Internship program. This news was so exciting as completing an internship is the final step before sitting for my exam to become a Registered Dietitian. All the hard work; going to school, multiple jobs, volunteering had finally paid off and led me to this moment. On top of getting accepted into a program I also completed my training through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, NASM, and became a certified Personal Trainer and Behavior Change Specialist. I felt great as I knew I was continuing on the right track with my career. My dream is to have my own private practice and business focusing on health and wellness through food, nutrition and fitness. In June I launched my blog Elle's Healthy Eats, which has always been something I've wanted to accomplish and work on. Blogging is wonderful platform to share recipes, nutrition, and health and wellness tips. Since the start of my internship I haven't been super active and put the blog on the back burner but it is still a work in progress and something that I will always be working towards.

My internship started up in September and it has been one roller coaster of a ride these past 3 and a half months. Internship has not been all the glitz and glam that I thought it would have been. There has been a lot of early mornings, long days and late nights, studying, projects and tears many tears. Not to mention right at the start of my internship we lost my puppy, Champ, and after losing an Aunt to cancer this summer we found out that another family member has cancer. All this sad news piling on top of each other at once brought so much heart ache to me and made the very first month of internship difficult to complete. I was sad, anxious, stressed and part of me had no motivation. By the end of my last week of my management rotation, right before Christmas break I knew that I was burnt out and the internship had seriously taken a toll on my mental, emotional and physical health. Part of me has questioned my career choice and there were many days I thought that I wouldn't make it through. Something that I loved and has always been a passion of mine was sounding less appealing and breaking me down.

Looking back on 2017 I've realized that all this darkness and sadness, challenges, hiccups and bumps along the road have helped me to grow. They have helped me to grow in my passion, career, and relationships with family, friends, and myself. Finding myself and deepening my own relationship with myself is something that has taken me a long time to do. I'm still discovering myself but with every step and move I make I keep growing and becoming stronger. Change has always scared me. It is probably one of my least favorite things and sometimes I sit back in fear and let change take over. I let change have a negative impact on myself instead of embracing it full on and learning and growing from all it has to offer.

While I was looking up something on the internet recently I came across this quote and it immediately spoke to me and helped shape my mindset for the New Year:

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make new mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”

Change is something that we will always encounter each year so instead of hiding from it this year I intend to accept it with arms wide open. I am going to take risks, not live in fear or be scared of the unexpected, take every challenge thrown at me and use it to my advantage. I'm going to live my life and each day to it's fullest and I'm going to make mistakes. We are human, we are not perfect, and we are meant to make mistakes. From our mistakes come some of our greatest triumphs.