COVID-19 made me a Blogger!

Ok, so I've finally decided to take a swing at blogging and it's all because of "THE RONA"! I guess not all things about being on a 24hr lock down are bad. I mean when else was I really going to get all this time to convince myself to do this?! LOL #silverlinings

Truthfully, I've thought about diving into the blogging world for several years now but I've never been able to actually sit still long enough and set it all up. Anyway.... after almost a month of being locked inside due to the COVID-19 pandemic, here I am typing my very first blog post. I'm super proud of myself about it too!

"Pair this with the undeniable fact that while I can be a very VOCAL person; vocalizing my own feelings has never been my strong suit.."

At first the idea scared me to be totally honest; mostly because I inherited my Great-grandmother's ability to be scarily secretive. My personal life and anything or

anyone that I love are not usually open topics for conversation with me (I'm super territorial like that). Pair this with the undeniable fact that while I can be a very VOCAL person; vocalizing my own feelings has never been my strong suit. My Taurus nature (yes! I am all the way into the zodiac signs #teamtaurus #teambull) also doesn't exactly inspire me to allow people to get to know me on a deeper level. It's probably a big reason why my relationships with men tend to struggle, but that's a topic for another post! I promise you; you will need a lot of reading time for me to take you down that road... #weallhaveourissues.

Anyway, now you can kind of understand why this idea of me blogging - which requires I open up and share my own personal thoughts with the world wide web - is a huge step. It's a major move in my journey of personal growth and development and I'm thankful that this situation has pushed me to get it done.

Writing has always been a way for me to vocalize my feelings when I think about it... I remember growing up; I'd write letters to my Mom apologizing for bad things I'd done. She'd scold me for being downright rude and after some time spent alone in my room (where she sent me on many occasions) some deep thought would help me return to my senses. I'd recognize my wrongs, feel awful about how badly I'd behaved and write my feelings down on paper - as if I were actually speaking to my mother. I'd literally write letters to apologize to her because I was so horrible at vocalizing my feelings - something she herself reminded me of just a few weeks ago.

While I like to think I turned out to be a pretty ok citizen of this world I wasn't always so good during my teen years. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a complete terror either, but I've always been an extremely strong-willed young woman and I gave my parents a real challenge sometimes. Like most teenagers I had my share of "phases". You know, that age when a teenager feels like they have figured life out and everyone seems to be against them. Yeah, I went through it big time! All I can say is I am so thankful to God for my folks, because when I needed them most they were there. They didn't give up on me and despite being divorced they did their best to keep me on the straight and narrow. If they hadn't, I really don't think I would've ended up being as good of a person as I am today and for that I will forever be grateful.

Anyway; fast forward to now. I'm a grown woman, it's 2020 and this virus has me taking life super seriously. With so much going on around us and with all the news of people dying by the thousands, it sort of forces you to sit back and really consider your life. Where you're at, what you're doing and whether you are truly living at your highest potential or not. It makes you take a step back and really think! I know this because that's how I got here... #blogging. I feel like I am so much more determined since this pandemic. I feel more inclined now more than ever before to make the most out of each day and to see just how much good I can gather up from this entire experience. This blog is my start to doing that, and did I mention how proud of myself I am for making it happen?? *happy dancing*

The past few weeks spent confined to the walls of my home have been hard (no doubt). Some days are better than others of course, but I do miss my social life. I especially miss the freedom to go out and enjoy a nice dinner and drinks with close friends (possibly my favorite thing to do because my friends are THE BEST). I miss the freedom of getting on an airplane and exploring the world whenever I feel stuck in a rut. I miss my team at BDC, my clients and my mentors, but while I miss all these people and things I also just want this to be over as soon as possible. So I adhere to these rules of social distancing and staying indoors and I hope that you all will too. I believe these are the best decisions by our leaders to protect us and to ensure we can get back to life soon (if not as we knew it, even better than we knew it). Until then, I'm committed to enjoying this time of solitude and I choose to use it for my own personal growth and development.

"So here's to following through with life as God sends it my way... still making plans of course but with less resistance to changing those plans as I go."

Isn't it just so amazing how quickly our lives can change though? I mean one minute you have all these plans; new business ventures, milestone birthday trips (I can't believe in just a few weeks I'll be 30), Regatta Season 2020, "Hot Girl Summer" and my baby sister's wedding! Then.... here comes "THE RONA" and everything is at a halt. It makes you realize just how much power and control we DO NOT have over lives and why the trivial things we worry about most of the time don't even matter. If we can do a better job at keeping that reality at the forefront of our minds we would be so much happier. Life would be so less complicated and people would actually spend their days living and enjoying life - as we should!

There's a saying that goes, "we make plans and God laughs". WOW! I don't think I need to say more there.. So here's to following through with life as God sends it my way... still making plans of course, but with less resistance to changing those plans as I go. I hope I can encourage you to lighten up and do the same...

Stay encouraged; be blessed and keep safe

xo

Kristin