Has 2020 & 2021 been absolutely nuts for everyone? I am so excited for the hope that 2022 holds. So over feeling like life is walking in a desert in quicksand. Excited at the thought of a new year. Ready for a walk through the daisies. Even a plain old regular year would be great. I find it ironic how we notice all the little things that are so easily taken for granted during tragedy, and complete loss…..why are we like this? Or maybe it is just me. Living a TBI life has made me have empathy to a new degree…..but WHY did it take a gunshot wound to the head. I feel like i was always a good person….but man loss takes ya to a whole other level.

Two weeks left of 2021. What do you plan to do with it? I want to end it the way i hope to begin the new year. I plan to continue to get better….spiritually, mentally, and physically. It is so easy to lose yourself. I say i have the last five years, but the truth is it started at about 20 years old. As a woman we begin to take on the world….husbands, kids, jobs, college, etc. etc.and we begin to disappear little by little each year. I have done a lot of self work the last six months and was in awe of how much i have stopped doing things I use to love and get so much joy in doing. I went to see Kenny G last month, and it was a reminder of how much music was a huge part of my life and it had disappeared. It was an eye opener of how much i missed friends…..i swear girl time is vital….why do we let that go????? I forgot how much i really like to exercise. I use to write almost daily…..journaling, books, even music. I am sure others can relate, and if you can not PLEASE share with young women what you did or do……i am 43 and just finding who Heather really is again.

I in no way am saying we should just worry about ourselves…..we just need to remember we matter to. At the end of the day we are gonna be stuck with ourselves, and are deserving of those things that bring happiness and joy. It is important to surround yourself with people who are supporting of your growth. Those that support who you are ….who you really are!

I think of all the things I have done in life that are what everyone else wanted. Trying to make everyone else happy will leave you empty. Can we really have it all though? Can we have the husbands, kids, jobs, etc. and still have ourself? My 43 year old self votes YES!!!!! But it will take being intentional. It is gonna take planning. Which i plan to do more of for ME. When i am better that is gonna benefit all of those close to me, and those I come in contact with. I am gonna start being VITAL to me! I can love and serve those God has entrusted me with, and still be Heather Renee that He created.

I challenge everyone who reads this to realize you are VITAl! Analyze yourself…..who are you? What makes YOU happy? What\Who brings YOU joy? What have you not done in forever that you enjoy so much? Do something you have never done! Do those things you sat on the back burner for so long. Find YOUR purpose! Join me in some 2022 growing.