The last twelve months have flown by! It blows my mind that today is the last day of 2019. This year has been crazy, full of ups and downs. I even fell down, high up on a hill in Colombia, LOL. While some of this year has been rough, some of it has been absolutely amazing! We need that contrast in our lives. We need the darkness and the light. I’m so grateful for all the stumbles. All the hurdles I’ve had to jump over this year. They make the successes that much sweeter.
The beginning of the year was spent toiling away at a dead-end job. Dealing with the same unnecessary office drama day in and day out. Finding myself experiencing the same feelings of unfulfillment and restlessness that led me to leave my whole life behind and head off to Ecuador several years ago. So, I did what I did back then. I focused inward and started to do some work on myself.
There have been a lot of transitions along the way. During the Summer, my boyfriend and I moved in together. It has been a big adjustment for us both, especially since I get up so much earlier than normal people, haha! Getting into a rhythm was difficult at first but we eventually settled in and found our groove. Around that time, I also started a little side hustle. I decided to take my love of travel and turn it into a business. I became an independent travel agent! I was so excited to have the opportunity to have access to great deals and even make money off trips I was just going to take anyway. Since I have already traveled so much on my own, I figured it was be a piece of cake. It turns out to be way more difficult than I thought. So many rules and red tape. It was a struggle for me to really get into it at first but now I really enjoy it. I feel that excitement again when researching and planning a trip for someone (or for myself). I’m so glad I made the decision to start this little business!
In August, my boyfriend and I went on our first big trip together. We spent two weeks in beautiful Colombia. We started in Medellin. We had a gorgeous view of the city and surrounding mountains from our private 9th floor terrace. We loved Medellin and the little towns we visited outside of the city. Next, we went to a little touristy fishing village on the coast called Taganga. It was fairly remote. We wanted to avoid all the tourists on the beach so we rented a house way up on a steep hill. The view was beautiful. We could see the little village where the locals lived right below the hill and all the way down to the water where the hustle and bustle goes on. It was a difficult trek up and down the hill. On our second afternoon there, on our way down to go kayaking, I fell. I fell straight down on my left knee on the rocky gravel. It was pretty gnarly. I had a nasty hole in the middle of my knee. That put a bit of a damper on the trip for a few days. I had to rest my knee and stay in the house while my boyfriend ran back and forth to town to get food and supplies. Once I was feeling better and thought I could safely maneuver the terrain, we took a boat trip and he went snorkeling. We ended our Colombian adventure in romantic Cartagena. We loved it. Breathtaking sunsets. Amazing food. The perfect end to our eventful trip.
After my knee injury, my physical abilities were limited. Going up and down stairs/steps was difficult. It was very painful to put weight into my knee when it was bent. I also had a deep hole on the front so there were not many exercises I could do without feeling lots of pain. Slowly it has healed up and I feel like I can now do pretty much everything like before. I was so lucky there was not serious damage.
Being totally self-employed is something I have wanted to do for a long time. I want to have the freedom to travel and make a schedule that fits into the life I want to live. I took a few online courses and became certified in life coaching and mindfulness. I went all in and started a life coaching business, focusing mainly on clients with Crohn’s or other forms of IBD. It was really daunting to decide to leave a job during the holidays and turn all my attention to creating something from scratch. I have spent so many hours frustrated in front of the computer. Trying to figure out how to build a website and other countless technology necessities I had to just stumble through. I planned to launch my business in January of 2020 but during the first week of December, a girl with Crohn’s I had been mentoring wished me, “Happy Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week”. I was unaware that December 1-7th is Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week. I figured I should take advantage of the timing and announce my business early. To my surprise, I signed my first client within the week! Right out the gate. Such an exciting feeling!!
I feel incredibly optimistic about 2020! There are so many amazing things in the works. I am eternally grateful for all the love and support I have received during this transitional period in my life! I hope we can all take a moment to look back and reflect on the year that has just passed. What are you most proud of? What lessons did you learn? What will you take with you that will make 2020 amazing? Only you can create the future you want…but if you would like some help working on building that future, give me a call!
HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE!!!
A Texan's Fitness 