Repost: The Start of the Journey - A Different Kind of Success

“There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming.” –Shauna Niequist

Becoming. That is this stage of my life. If 24 was the year of recovery, 25 and 26 have definitely been the years of self-discovery. I’ve continued to beat the disease I once deemed unbeatable. I’ve had success in crossfit and my career. I’ve built friendships deeper than I’ve ever known. I’ve loved. I’ve been hurt. I’ve healed. I’ve made mistakes; some more than once. I’ve played hard and worked harder. I’ve contemplated the direction of my life. What’s my purpose here?  Who am I and what makes me happy? I’ve started to break through the layers of figuring out what is truly important to me versus what society says should be important to me. Constantly struggling with the fear of becoming complacent and the fear of stepping out of my comfort zone. Back and forth between the ease of living the status quo and the thrill of living and learning new things.

“Be compassionate. Be open-minded. Find something you love and work at it with passion. Smile. Tell people when you appreciate them.  Be tolerant. Trust friends enough to let them see you at your weakest and be strong enough to return the favor. Admit your insecurities and be courageous enough to change. Educate yourself.  Take the time to find the good in people and learn from them.  Figure out what makes YOU happy. Be honest. Be humble. Be kind. Be strong.”

A life mission statement. One 26 years in the making. The Amanda that Amanda wants to be.

I was raised knowing the value of hard work. No one is entitled to success. It’s something that’s earned. I couldn’t be more thankful for parents who enstilled this in me so early in life. It has made me who I am. I’m a goal driven person. I honestly can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t working toward some conceived achievement of success.  Perfect grades, scholarships, internships, big first job, promotions. All stepping stones to this society-coined idea of success, and while I take pride in my accomplishments and regret absolutely nothing, I’ve come to realize that there is another side of success in life.  It’s a success that isn’t defined by a job title, or a GPA, or a salary but by the impact I have on the immediate world around me. A non-material success. Fifty years from now, people aren’t going to remember my exact job title or how much I could power clean; people are going to remember how I was a part of their lives.

I’ve learned that life is a balance of these two successes and that I am responsible for where I put my focus. There’s not a wrong answer, and I believe it is possible to be accomplished in both.  However, both take work, and both take time.  I’ve spent most of my life focused on developing the obvious success: working hard, building a resume, preparing myself financially.  Now, it’s time to take a leap off of those building blocks and develop the other success.  I finally have the means and courage to take a chance at experiencing something I’ve been talking about and planning for since early high school.  Timing is such a critical element, and it has just never been right. I feel now that it is. I’m going to travel.

Nine Months.  Eleven plus countries.  Just me. Learning the ways of the world and its people.

Becoming.

Life doesn’t have a rewind button. One shot. The journey starts May 2014.