We all face things in life that impact our future. Events that make us into who we are. I believe that it’s good to go back and reflect on the events that made you, you. Memories that made you into the strong person standing here today.
Thinking back on my childhood I will always remember my childhood best friend. She came into my life right before kindergarten and was my absolute soul sister till she moved my 8th-grade year.
She lived a few blocks down the road from me and we were inseparable. Having a soul sister like her for as long as I did really impacted my life. She showed me what it was like to be completely comfortable around someone. I was never afraid to be exactly who I was.
When she later moved, we were both crushed. Convinced we would always be best friends. However, with so much distance between us, it was difficult keeping the friendship going. She taught me the true value of a friend. Because of her, I always knew what to expect out of a friend. If someone didn’t give me any effort, I knew it wasn’t the kind of friendship I wanted.
Having someone like that in life and memories from so many years together- they never truly leave you. I will always love her and could pick up where our life left off at. Those are the kind of friendships I pray everyone gets to experience.
The next big event was middle school years. Lets face it, leaving your elementary into a bigger school is always hard. I suddenly had nobody. No friends, nobody to sit with at lunch, I felt like a loser. This taught me how to really break out of my shell. How to be bold and make new friends wherever I was.
Of course things aren’t always that simple, but I appreciate the difficulty in having no friends that pushed me to really be me. How to let my walls down, and open myself up to people. This hasn’t always been a strong suit for me, but it showed me that I can do it. Did you also have difficulty making new friends after leaving your elementary or was it just me?
Moving on up to my 16th birthday. Two of my grandparents had now passed away. I remember being so heartbroken and lost. I didn’t know how I could live my life without them. This was the hardest experience I’ve had. I was very close to all of my grandparents and with their passing so fresh it was extremely difficult.
However, this catapulted me into the caregiving world. Suddenly I had an immense desire to serve those around me. After graduating I went on to work at an assisted living home. Here, I lost many residents and went through grief over and over again.
While experiencing so much love for my residents, I also experienced so much pain in losing them. I told them all that they were my adopted grandparents, and I meant every bit of it.
Working as a CNA I truly understood the love I was capable of, and the love our father in heaven has for each of us. Caregiving is not an easy job, and I love all of those individuals who dedicate their lives to it.
Another major experience that shaped my life was my first real breakup. Breakups shape us into who we are because we have to fight through the almost never ending grief. I never knew I was so strong until this happened.
I never saw it coming so when it did, I felt shattered. Losing someone who was the person I was closest to, broke me about in two. This taught me how to pick up the pieces in my life and use hardships to strengthen me.
As terrible as it sounds I think breakups are a hugely humbling experience. It shaped my love life and taught me who I wanted to invest my time into. It also really showed me what I wanted in a partner. What were key elements that I couldn’t live without.
This leads us into our last event. Meeting my husband. Meeting the love of my life has shaped me into who I am for obvious reasons. He’s taught me so much about things I never cared about. Cars, insurance, money, careers, and snowmobiles (haha).
Having someone in my life who’s always teaching me and pushing me to learn more has really impacted me for the better. He has shown me so much unconditional love and acceptance for me in all my shortcomings. Love is a huge part of anyone’s life and I value it immensely.
I hope you enjoyed this post, and learned a little more about me. I’d also love to know what events have shaped you into the person you are today. The good, the bad and the ugly.
Life is a crazy thing that never stops. Even on the hardest days, it somehow pushes us to get up and keep pushing through. I used to loathe this and pray the world would just let me breathe for one minute. But now looking back on it, I can see how important it was to keep going. How not stopping pushed me to get through the difficult days.
I hope you can also see that in your life.
All my love for each and every one of you,
Talesha