Every
new year I make resolutions. Unfortunately, these resolutions tend to take a
backseat to the perils of life. It is so bad that I have given myself the
tagline "my life is a series of unfortunate events".
I
bring this up because this year, I decided that all my resolutions would
surround my search for "self". Included in my list for this year, was
to travel. You see, as life got to me I became more afraid of change. I used to
be known as that bubbly/annoyingly happy girl and I feel like I blinked and
when I opened my eyes, I was a tired scared person.
Anyway,
I went to New York for my birthday in February to visit my friend Aja and had a
great time. Sadly, I came home to a lot of bad news. When it was time for my
next trip (Chicago to visit another friend, Ravae), I was tired and stressed. I
found myself unable to make connections and generally uncomfortable around
people. When it was time to leave, I sat in the airport with Ravae discussing
the change in my personality. She made a comment about how years ago, when she
would jokingly ask a question like "can we be friends forever?" I
would answer "of course" but now, my response is more of a
"leave me alone".
Now
I am not sure if she realizes how much that affected me but I do remember the
person who was self-assured and just...happy but she seems like a distant
friend now. The money problems, family problems, and general stresses of life
consumed me and made me into an angry shell of my former self.
I
don't know if anyone has ever had that out of body experience where they cannot
even recognize themselves (or if anyone is even reading this) but I experienced
that and boy was it an eye opener. I don't know if I woke up one morning and
became cynical and rude of if there was a gradual progression. I am just upset
that it took me so long to realize.
I
say all of this to say that if anyone is reading this and is going through
something similar, just remember that it's just life and the strange thing about life is you can't skip over the parts you don't like.
We
all go through the bouts of insecurity and self-doubt. My favorite quote at the
moment is:
"Happiness
in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know" - Albert Einstein
That
image, coupled with the powerful statement just cuts me deep. We are all human
and we all struggle in some way.
Anyway,
I am going to start taking the steps to become a more expressive person again.
Believe it or not, being able to share this much about myself with God knows who is a big step for
me.
Let's
fight to be the rare intelligent and happy people.