A plowed through path gives way for new growth
Updated: Apr 27, 2021
The path you've envisioned for yourself isn’t always the one you’re meant to follow.
photo credit: Butterflies of Hope Photography
I’ve spent my entire life taking the expected and right path—doing my best to be a good person and living by the code of hard work pays off. Then something happened to me that shook me to my core.
When I was very young, I was told the only way I would be able to attend college is if I made the grades because we wouldn't be able to afford it. From first grade on, I knew I HAD to have straight A’s, or my efforts wouldn’t be enough—at least that's what I always thought in the back of my mind. This is probably why I was always so hard on myself about l i t e r a l l y e v e r y t h i n g.
I am STILL extremely hard on myself, but I'm working on it.
Excelling in school, being involved, and making lots of friends was what I did best. On the outside I probably seemed as if I had it all together, but on the inside I was a constant wreck. I never realized the building of pressure in my chest—that felt as if an elephant were sitting on me—the major stomach aches I would get when I was worried—tests, someone being mad at me, something I had said— or that everything I experienced that lived on repeat in my mind was actually…anxiety.