Journey On
Hello wonderful readers,
Happy Monday!
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day honoring those amazing women who are in your life.
If you are a mother yourself, thank you for all you do. You do not receive enough appreciation for all that you do and you deserve more than one day to honor you strength. Thank you so much.
Another celebration occurred over this past weekend in my family and that was watching my younger sister-in-law, Ashley, graduate from Lakeland University with a undergraduate bachelors degree in criminal justice.
I am still in the denial phase of acceptance when believing that Ashley graduated from college. When I met Ashley, she was an incoming freshman at Lakeland. She came to Lakeland with of fresh eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, mind for molding, and heart for expanding. Ashley came from a very small town where everyone knows everyone and she traveled to a college where she knew very few individuals and was ready to make a name for herself.
Thinking back to her first year in college feels like eons ago, and in the same thought, it feels like yesterday.
The first time I officially met Ashley was during a freshman meeting event for incoming students and seniors. I knew I would be meeting her at this event as I started seeing her older brother Trevor, my now loving husband, not long before.
The first conversation I had with Ashley, I asked her what she wanted to study at Lakeland and what role she wanted to fill upon graduating. She told me without hesitation, “I am studying criminal justice to service upon graduating.” She said this with a huge smile on her face and with promise shining in her eyes. Ashley is a woman who sticks to her beliefs and pushes through any obstacles that come her way.
Our friendship and sisterly bond would continue to strengthen and form through her time at Lakeland.
Shortly after this initial meeting, I would date her older brother. I believe that when you have a romantic relationship with someone, you not only date the individual, you date their family. This might sound odd because I was in college and I had just begun a romantic relationship with another college student. You could say that I had a very good feeling I was not only dating my best friend or co-worker when I was dating Trevor, I knew I was dating my soon to be husband.
After Trevor and I became involved, I would spend more and more time with Ashley. Hanging out with her around campus, after classes, at sporting events, and so on. I viewed her as a friend and the next serious conversation we held together, I asked her if it is acceptable that I date her older brother Trevor.
Some might say my then boyfriends younger sister should not have a say in us dating, but the college might seem large to miss Ashley, but to me, I was coming from Madison where you knew only a few people, but this university was a LOT smaller than what I was used to.
Ashley told me it was completely acceptable for me to date her brother and our bond continued to shape.
You might be asking, “what would have happened if Ashley said she was not okay with me seeing her brother?” This is a fair question and this was a response I was prepared for. If Ashley said she was not blessing out relationship, I was going to spend more time with her and prove to her why her brother and I are a good match.
As Ashley was coming to Lakeland, I was finishing up my final semester graduating from college in three and a half years with two separate degrees. I was still heavily involved with Lakeland as Trevor was still there and I would visit from time to time, but Ashley and my relationship stayed intact. By this point I considered her a very dear friend.
Three and a half years have passed since that semester and I am in awe of the woman Ashley has become. She has matured in all areas of her life and blossomed into a fun loving, strong, fierce, quick witted, stunning woman who I am now blessed to call my sister.
So why am I sharing this journey with all of you? Watching Ashley walk across that stage to accept her diploma represents an enormous change in the life as she knows it and life as I know it.
Change is hard, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright sad even in the happiest and joyful of situations. We become comfortable and attached to life as we know it and it can be difficult to allow the milestones to pass. This life change is extremely major for Ashley as she is the one who finished her degree and is now onto "adulting". But, it is also a large change for all of us who surround her. What happens in Ashley’s life happens in my life and vice versa.
I am beyond excited and proud of Ashley for her achievement and cannot wait to see all of the lives she positively impacts as she moves forward, but I am still in denial.
You might be going through change or someone in your life might be going through change that is hard to accept. Changes do not have to be large in order to impact the individual personally going through the change or the people around the individual.
Allow yourself to notice the change, to pause and breathe into the fact that there is change going on.
Allow yourself to feel the sense of discomfort and uncertainty, this is so extremely common.
Allow yourself to mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually process the change.
Then give yourself some time to adjust to the change. There is no time frame for this piece.
This could take moments, or it could take months. This is all acceptable.
And when you are ready to accept the change for you, or for another person, you will be able to embrace the next journey that lies ahead.
We might all look back and smile at the memories and past milestones we have crossed or others have crossed, but the beauty of life is that it is forever change and we are forever adapting to and with these changes. Living in the present moment will allow us all to embrace the beauty that exists within this very moment.
Thank you all so much for reading this week’s blog post.
A huge congratulations to any of you who graduated this past weekend or are graduating this year. You all will go on to do amazing things.
Ashley, I love you and I am so proud of you. Thank you for allowing me to experience your life through my perspective. It is a beautiful blessing.
Have a great week everyone.
Subscribe, comment and share.
Together, we rise. One breath at a time.
Namasté
Happy Monday!
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother’s Day honoring those amazing women who are in your life.
If you are a mother yourself, thank you for all you do. You do not receive enough appreciation for all that you do and you deserve more than one day to honor you strength. Thank you so much.
Another celebration occurred over this past weekend in my family and that was watching my younger sister-in-law, Ashley, graduate from Lakeland University with a undergraduate bachelors degree in criminal justice.
I am still in the denial phase of acceptance when believing that Ashley graduated from college. When I met Ashley, she was an incoming freshman at Lakeland. She came to Lakeland with of fresh eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, mind for molding, and heart for expanding. Ashley came from a very small town where everyone knows everyone and she traveled to a college where she knew very few individuals and was ready to make a name for herself.
Thinking back to her first year in college feels like eons ago, and in the same thought, it feels like yesterday.
The first time I officially met Ashley was during a freshman meeting event for incoming students and seniors. I knew I would be meeting her at this event as I started seeing her older brother Trevor, my now loving husband, not long before.
The first conversation I had with Ashley, I asked her what she wanted to study at Lakeland and what role she wanted to fill upon graduating. She told me without hesitation, “I am studying criminal justice to service upon graduating.” She said this with a huge smile on her face and with promise shining in her eyes. Ashley is a woman who sticks to her beliefs and pushes through any obstacles that come her way.
Our friendship and sisterly bond would continue to strengthen and form through her time at Lakeland.
Shortly after this initial meeting, I would date her older brother. I believe that when you have a romantic relationship with someone, you not only date the individual, you date their family. This might sound odd because I was in college and I had just begun a romantic relationship with another college student. You could say that I had a very good feeling I was not only dating my best friend or co-worker when I was dating Trevor, I knew I was dating my soon to be husband.
After Trevor and I became involved, I would spend more and more time with Ashley. Hanging out with her around campus, after classes, at sporting events, and so on. I viewed her as a friend and the next serious conversation we held together, I asked her if it is acceptable that I date her older brother Trevor.
Some might say my then boyfriends younger sister should not have a say in us dating, but the college might seem large to miss Ashley, but to me, I was coming from Madison where you knew only a few people, but this university was a LOT smaller than what I was used to.
Ashley told me it was completely acceptable for me to date her brother and our bond continued to shape.
You might be asking, “what would have happened if Ashley said she was not okay with me seeing her brother?” This is a fair question and this was a response I was prepared for. If Ashley said she was not blessing out relationship, I was going to spend more time with her and prove to her why her brother and I are a good match.
As Ashley was coming to Lakeland, I was finishing up my final semester graduating from college in three and a half years with two separate degrees. I was still heavily involved with Lakeland as Trevor was still there and I would visit from time to time, but Ashley and my relationship stayed intact. By this point I considered her a very dear friend.
Three and a half years have passed since that semester and I am in awe of the woman Ashley has become. She has matured in all areas of her life and blossomed into a fun loving, strong, fierce, quick witted, stunning woman who I am now blessed to call my sister.
So why am I sharing this journey with all of you? Watching Ashley walk across that stage to accept her diploma represents an enormous change in the life as she knows it and life as I know it.
Change is hard, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright sad even in the happiest and joyful of situations. We become comfortable and attached to life as we know it and it can be difficult to allow the milestones to pass. This life change is extremely major for Ashley as she is the one who finished her degree and is now onto "adulting". But, it is also a large change for all of us who surround her. What happens in Ashley’s life happens in my life and vice versa.
I am beyond excited and proud of Ashley for her achievement and cannot wait to see all of the lives she positively impacts as she moves forward, but I am still in denial.
You might be going through change or someone in your life might be going through change that is hard to accept. Changes do not have to be large in order to impact the individual personally going through the change or the people around the individual.
Allow yourself to notice the change, to pause and breathe into the fact that there is change going on.
Allow yourself to feel the sense of discomfort and uncertainty, this is so extremely common.
Allow yourself to mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually process the change.
Then give yourself some time to adjust to the change. There is no time frame for this piece.
This could take moments, or it could take months. This is all acceptable.
And when you are ready to accept the change for you, or for another person, you will be able to embrace the next journey that lies ahead.
We might all look back and smile at the memories and past milestones we have crossed or others have crossed, but the beauty of life is that it is forever change and we are forever adapting to and with these changes. Living in the present moment will allow us all to embrace the beauty that exists within this very moment.
Thank you all so much for reading this week’s blog post.
A huge congratulations to any of you who graduated this past weekend or are graduating this year. You all will go on to do amazing things.Ashley, I love you and I am so proud of you. Thank you for allowing me to experience your life through my perspective. It is a beautiful blessing.
Have a great week everyone.
Subscribe, comment and share.
Together, we rise. One breath at a time.
Namasté
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