I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. While I’m enjoying mine as well, please welcome the words of Laura from the blog Scribbles and Sass. Her story will captivate you and make you want to take the reigns of your life as well. It’s a goody!

I was faced with the biggest decision I had to make in my young life. It was no longer about picking a group of friends, the bar to go to on Saturday night, which university to attend, grad school, or which area of town to live in. The trivial decisions that rocked me before couldn’t shine a light on this one.

I woke up one day and realized I was drowning. Metaphorically of course, unless
you count that one time I fell asleep in the bathtub. I was 25 years old and I hid in  my work; work I didn’t like. The constant verbal abuse I suffered at the office daily wore away at my confidence. Every comment that initially shocked me I started to believe. I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t smart enough, I wasn’t talented enough.

It carried over to all areas on my life. I alienated friends; I didn’t date; I traded
exercise for excuses; I ate unhealthy disgusting food, and too much of it. I took no
pride in my physical appearance: I saw no reason to dress nicely, wear makeup or
let my hair down. Because I was no longer working out, I slowly, then rapidly, began
gaining weight.

There was never any time for a fulfilling life, and if there was I didn’t think I deserved it. I was the shell of the normally bouncy blonde I knew. We looked oddly similar but the new girl had dead eyes, a sad soul, and was a little rounder.

Then came the day I mentioned above, my wake up call. Everything presented
itself clear as day. I could no longer hide in the toxic work environment that had
such a violent hold on me. I was going to take control of my own life and snap the depressing spiral I disguised as life.

Was it too much to ask for to smile daily? I finally knew it was actually a very reasonable request.

So I put my trust in myself. My gut said adventure, and my mind said plan. The Universe, my Universe, said change. My physical self decided to compromise. I combined all three. I quit my job (change), didn’t renew my lease, and packed my car and moved across the country (adventure). With a job lined up, of course (plan).

So here I am, two months into the journey, writing for Tina about self-love from a Starbucks in Calgary with the most beautiful view of the mountains and a latte in hand.

 Source

It’s not perfect. I get horribly homesick and lonely. It is colder here than back home. I have no family here, less than a handful of friends, and zero regular comforts. The
good news is I was never looking for perfect and what I do have is my own life that I am creating.

I am doing things here that I never thought were possible. I’ve taken on a new
challenge with my career and am learning daily. I’m writing a heck of a lot more
about a myriad of topics. I am learning how to run again. Oh, and I smile, a lot.

Withevery obstacle that used to render me motionless I now tell myself: You moved
across the country, you left everything comforting behind, if you could do this at any
time it would be now. You can do it.

I turned my can’ts to cans, my obstructions into adventure, myself back into me.

So what am I trying to get at? I’m not telling you to quit your job, or move across the
country. It may have been what the witch doctor prescribed for me, but that’s me. I
am telling you to trust yourself. You know exactly what you need; you have all the answers. You are more than enough.

I’d like to send a big thank you to Tina for letting me tell my story on Faith, Fitness,
Fun. I’d love to connect so check me out on Twitter (@LaurBridge) or head over to
my bloggy, Scribbles and Sass.

• Do you handle change well? What’s the last way you went out of your comfort zone or faced change?

Tags: guest post, self-love reflections