What if you only had 3 years left?

I had a pretty significant situation happen in January of this year. One of my very good friends who is in their early 30s had a health scare that had the potential to significantly change their life, but thankfully it did not.

But, that situation got me to really think about life as it is lately and what I'm doing with mine. It can change for anyone in the blink of an eye.

I'm notorious for bookmarking personal development classes or articles to read them later. You should see how long that folder is on my Bookmarks bar.

I know I'm not alone by saying, "Diet starts on Monday!" I've been putting off getting my health and weight in check since my Dad died in 2016. I can't use his passing as an excuse anymore.

When it comes to work, I've been in a funk for a while now and always comparing my success to others while thinking I'm just not good enough.

And don't get me started on my dating life...

Think about this for a second. If you went to the doctor's today and he or she told you that, for whatever reason, you only have three years left in your life, how would you feel?

Would you feel proud of the progress that you've made up to this point? Or would you be disappointed that you had so many goals on your list but didn't accomplish any of them and now you're not sure you'll have time?

What would you change immediately? What is the first thing you would do?

2020 is the year of brave. My year of focus, getting out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to make serious efforts towards the goals I have for myself.

I'll never forget one of the last things my Dad said to me before he coded in the doctor's office. He had a follow-up appointment at the Oncologist's office but was really not doing well. So he was set up in the infusion center to get fluids and avoid another hospital stay.

I popped onto my phone to let my job know that something I had planned on getting to them within the hour was going to be a little late, as I had not brought my laptop with me to the appointment.

My Dad looked at me point blank and said, "All you do is work. You're always on that phone. Why can't you just put it away and watch the TV with me? Live a little; it can't always be about work."

Life isn't all about work. About making money. And you never know when your time is coming to a close.

Live a little. Live a lot. Take chances. Push boundaries. Tell people how you feel about them. Life is so incredible, but only if you're living it to its fullest.

How I know 2020 will be MY year!

Happy New Year! I know that sounds silly, being that it's already FEBRUARY, but hear me out.

If you’re still following along with this little blog of mine I want to first and foremost thank you for your loyalty as I’ve been experiencing some growing pains and a lack of creative motivation lately. If this is your first time stumbling upon my little space on the interwebs I want to welcome you and promise that this year will be a year of excitement and growth.

With that said, I am stoked that it’s the year 2020. I’m a big numbers person and my favorite number is 2. I also prefer even numbers over odd, so naturally, this year is my favorite combo yet.

2019 was one of those years that no matter what you do, every step forward you take results in a giant leap backward. It was a year of toxicity, personal failures, frustration, and jealousy. But, it wasn’t all bad and for that I’m thankful. I mean, nothing can be worse than 2016 in my book.

The end of 2019 really opened my eyes though. Two relationships that I so desperately wanted to work ended up completely dismantling in December – one family relationship and one romantic relationship.

I really stopped doing a lot of the things that I truly love (for example, blogging) in the last year. I struggled to find happiness in myself and instead relied heavily on outside people, experiences, and material objects to bring me joy. But those fixes are all temporary.

Real joy, pride, happiness, love, and acceptance starts within. And if you’re not completely in love with yourself you can’t fully love someone else.

This year, I’ll be making some great strides towards big life goals that have been on my vision board for a while now, such as:

• Become a published author
• Start a podcast
• Grow my Instagram following
• Consistently blog 2-3 times each week
• Get healthy and find joy in exercising
• Spend less and save more
• Launch a freelance consulting side hustle
• Volunteer more with and outside of church

This year's word for me is brave. 2016 really threw me a curveball, and ever since then I feel like I've been faking it. I've been hiding from what I wanted out of life in fear of what people thought of me. This year, I'm putting on those high heels and red lipstick and really taking the world by storm.

Stick around, it's going to be a fun one.