Refreshed and renewed

I sat here the other day pondering the changes in my life, and I realized something important.

I am a lot happier now.

Its been a long year of changes-I have worked hard at bringing more peace into my life and getting rid of things that disturb that.

I recently made a huge decision concerning school and where I am going with my career path. It feels so good to finally know what I am doing-and to know how right it feels.

Shawn and I have been working, even more so lately, at changing things in our home to make it more welcoming to us all. A place where we actually enjoy being on a day to day basis.
I cannot tell you how many bags of "stuff" we have gotten rid of in the last month alone. It is amazing how much accumulates with this many people.

I've also expunged from my life people - both online and in real life- that bring me down. It is hard to stay positive and enjoy a peaceful day when you have a nasty presence weighing you down.

Last summer, I met with a good friend who passed on her philosophy in life-I am forever grateful to her for it and I will not name her, but I hope that she knows who she is and how much her guidance has meant to me. Before we talked I used to think that what everyone thought of me was important. I thought that I had to try to make everyone happy all the time-and found that I often felt myself feeling things that just were not me. One night while I cried on her shoulder, she gave me a big hug and just shared her experience and what had helped her-and in that moment I knew that I had to be that same type of person-and by doing so, be true to myself. She really helped me - and I grew a lot from her words. My genuine happiness level has grown a lot, and I have her to thank for that.

I am still working on purging stuff--physically and otherwise! LOL But I cannot tell you how good it feels to finally just be ME. And to be HAPPY with who I am.

I feel refreshed. I feel like a new person. And I am definitely ok with that!