July 31st! This day for me in history had not been a good one, and for some reason, I just realized that right now. It was eight years ago today that I got a call and just like that I no longer had a job, my dream job that I worked my ass off to get was gone. It crushed me and killed me, and let’s be honest; it fucked me up for a long time. Then six years ago today, I was downtown jumping from one studio to the next on back to back voice gigs, having a great day until a call came in that stopped me in my tracks and instantly made my world come crashing down and destroyed me. I don’t know why I never made the connection of these two majors in my life falling on this particular day before, and I’m not sure I would have if it weren’t for the Facebook memories that popped up this morning. One post was a check-in at the mall with friends eight years ago which is where I picked up the call when my boss called and the other one was a status update about the voice gigs I was on six years ago. Maybe it’s something I pushed out of my head for a reason, and it would make sense; trust me they aren’t times I want to remember.
However, I will say these moments in my life don’t define me as a person, but they have contributed to who I am today. I often question my strength, but the truth is that I am strong! Some days more than others, but I’m strong. I’ve managed to get through every single bad day that has come my way and the truth is, I know I always will. Does it mean that I don’t feel pain or heartache? No, not at all. Of course, I do, and it kills! Does it mean that I don’t need compassion, kindness, support and love in my life? No, not at all because I do, we all do! Just because someone is strong doesn’t mean that they don’t have bad days, feel sadness or don’t need people, and I feel that I need to say that because often I get the impression that strong people are overlooked. People think, ahhhhh she’s strong, she’s got this, she can handle it, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You can be strong, but you will always need these other things in your life, we are human after all.
I always say that life can be so beautiful, but at the same time, so shit. It’s what we make of it and how we deal with it, what comes our way, what gets thrown our way…the good, the bad, the ugly! It’s what makes us who we are. So at the end of the day, it’s all up to you. Are you going to let shit in the past hold you back and keep you from living the life you deserve? Are you going to allow it define you and consume you? We have choices in life for a reason, so what are you going to pick? If you fall, are you going to pick yourself up and dust yourself off or lay there and give up? Are you going to let moments from your past hold you down when you know you deserve more? It’s so easy to throw in the towel and give up, take the path of least resistance right, but do you really want to live like that? We only have one shot at life, so live it up and whatever you do never give up HOPE! Always, always, always have hope because I said it before but let me reverse things around and say…life can be shit but at the same time it can be so beautiful! You’re not dead, you’re alive so LIVE!
Oh hey July 31st I see you and it’s going to be a good day! I got this!