Hello Friends!
Being that we are now going into week 4 of January (can you believe that?!), it is long overdue to reflect on the previous year. It is easy to make resolutions for the new year - what we will accomplish, what we will give up, etc. - that little is placed upon reflecting what we had already gone through. While it is always good to look forward, rather than behind us, I believe our past leaves behind lessons that makes it prudent for us to at least take a look back.
That is, if we didn't look back and learn from our past failures, we would continue on failing. Conversely, if we didn't at least analyze how we succeeded, how could we ever hope to duplicate it? With that said, I am taking 2016 and laying everything out on the table - failures, successes, & lessons I am still in the middle of learning.
Because I hate focusing on my failures (who does?) and our failures are where we learn the most, I am going to start there. Whenever I think of failures, I like to think of it as failing forward. Learning from them. When I fail, which is inevitable - everyone fails at something, I think of a quote from Michael Jordan that states, "To learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail."
2016 Failures
1.) Leaving a secure job when we were beginning to crawl out of debt. While I am a firm believer in all things happen for a reason, this is one I would count as a failure at the top of the list. In the beginning of 2016, until April, I was a Wine Steward at Ralph's Grocery Store. I was the department head and I took great pride in it. I turned it from being a complete mess to only somewhat of a mess - which is a huge feat when you are only allocated 8 hours a day with a laundry list of to-dos. I made great friends there who I miss working with tremendously. Although I would grumble about my feet feeling like I was walking on glass, and how much I hated being on a schedule, I was very grateful for the opportunity. I found that I loved being in the wine, beer, & spirits industry. I'm not a huge drinker, but I loved the challenge. There is just so much to learn, try, and experience. For someone like me who gets bored way too easily, this provided a perfect middle ground. I truly found something I enjoyed that kept me busy. I gave up the position in California to pursue Jason and my dream of moving to Texas. Although I was still a wine steward in Texas, it was drastically different and I found what I once enjoyed in Ca, I didn't enjoy so much in TX.
2.) Moving To Texas. Now, hear me out. I love Texas. I would move back because I enjoyed being there, charting new territory, and making a new life for ourselves. However, Jason absolutely hated it. He hated the heat (which I loved), he hated the mosquitoes, and he hated how far everything was. Not to mention, his profession as a plumber is extremely hard to get into as a Master Plumber. Texas did not recognize California's time. While I would love to count this one as a success, it was one of our biggest mistakes. I believe we left too early. We jumped on an opportunity to go out there when we clearly were not ready and paid the price for it. It set us back. What was suppose to be the start of a new life ended up in utter disaster and we have no one to blame for that but ourselves.
3.) Being Lazy. Man that was hard to say. But I said it. When we got back from Texas, I wallowed for a period of time because I was lost. I didn't have a direction and so I just sat. Hours had turned into days before I had realized weeks had passed and I wasn't productive in the slightest. Call it depression. Call it being directionless. Call it what you will, but all that matters is that time passed by me when I could have been doing something to make my life and situation better. Time is so short and we are certainly not promised tomorrow. Being unproductive is a fools errand and I played that fool.
2016 Success
1.) Moving To Texas. Kind of Ironic huh? I believe through our failure in Texas, it also turned into one of our greatest successes because it was a HUGE lesson we will take with us for the rest of our lives. The reason I say we is because Jason and I have had a lot of time to talk about this and we both feel the same. If we had never gone to Texas, we would still be solely focused on putting our lives on hold to get there, like we had been doing for years before we left. Going out there opened our eyes, showing us what was really important to us. Family for one. Though a few of our best friends and family members lived out there, it had been the first time we lived away from the bulk of our family. We missed them so much and it saddened us the time we spent away from them. We realized if we were going to live in any other state than California, we would have to be within hours of them rather than days. We also learned that we needed the mountains. Jason loves cold weather & I love to snowboard, so while I love Texas - this is something severely missing in that state. Though there were many things I have not listed here that we found were not for us, there are many things surprisingly the same.
We still want a farm with horses and my Totes Ma Goats. We want to live in a state that allows us to be outdoors and active from hiking to going to the river. We also still want to live in a state that respects our gun rights and doesn't have government bureaucracy breathing down our necks. I'm not going to get into anything political with anyone over what I just said. Anyone who knows us, knows where we stand and that is how I will leave it.
The last great success that has come from moving to Texas is that I hooked up with a great beverages company who distributes specialty wine, spirits and beer. When we left, I was saddened by the fact that I would not be in the industry anymore because what I had begun building in Texas I was leaving, and California was already dead in the water in that regard. It just so happened that the owner of the company I was working with had some big goals and wanted to move his reach out west. When he approached me with it, I was excited to continue working with them as I love everything about the company. It is something I am passionate about and feel very blessed to be a part of.
2.) Taking care of my health & starting a blog about it. I realize it has been a few months since I had written anything in my blog, but it is also something I will always turn back to. When we moved back from Texas and my health began to decline, it hit a strange nerve in me unlike what I had felt before. I went through a moment of despair, not realizing what was happening. This was probably part of my "Being Lazy" failure. It immobilized me for a bit. But then I told myself I was stronger than this so rise up and stop being a sissy. I did just that. I took charge of my health, I became an advocate to my own research, & I began to share what I learned with the world because I needed an avenue that would be my outlet. That was one of the best things I could have ever done. Through this, I have met some of the most amazing people who I had never known were struggling with the same issues. It made me realize I was not alone in this and I'd like to think it helped them to know they weren't either. I felt a whole new sense of belonging with the group of people I speak with on a regular basis. We check up on each other, see how each other is doing and how test results turned out. I can never express how grateful I am to these individuals for their love, care, wisdom, & support.
When I finally decided to stop wallowing in self pity, I began to take better care of myself. I quit soda, started eating cleaner, began working out, & looking at an alternative, more organic way to live. While I am still not perfect, I have learned quite a lot. Today, I am part of the best group/team of people who focuses on health & well-being for not only themselves but for others as well. God truly does work in some amazing ways.
3.) I learned a lot more about myself. What makes me tick. I learned what I liked & didn't like. I found my passions and the things I want to pursue. I am well known for losing focus and trying new things but never mastering in anything. I'd like to say I just have a lot of interests but the truth is, I just get bored. Quickly. Just to name a few things - I am qualified at an entry level position for the following: Real Estate Agent (I've had my license since 2006), yoga instructor, wedding planner, non-profit dog rescue, and the list can go on. As you can see...I dabble - a lot! So through 2016, it really ended up being a year of self-discovery. I finally hunkered down and thought about what I was truly passionate about. I am a creative person, so I had to have a passion that made my creativity flow. As I have said before, I am passionate about wine. I love learning, drinking, and sharing wine. So it is only fitting I pursue this field.
I have also found my passion in health & fitness, as well as helping others achieve great results. I would say this passion trumps wine any day. I love eating clean, getting in shape, being active and feeling healthy. What is even more humbling than anything is being a part of someone else's journey to achieve the same. There is always so much to do in this field, so much to learn and be creative with from recipes to making working out fun!
The last thing - which is really a two part passion - is I love to write (if you couldn't tell) and I love creating art. These last two things I have neglected in pursuit of finding and working at a "real job." The older I get and the more I discover about myself, I am finding myself asking why can I not turn my passions into a career? People do it all of the time! So that is exactly what I am working on! I won't bore you any further with the many things I have lined up but I am happy to say that I have finally started figuring out at 30 where I want to focus my time and energy.
Life is too short to not live doing the things that excites you. As you can see, there are many success & failures in the course of a year. It is a matter of reflection that reveals all we have gone through, all we have learned and what we still need to learn. One thing I always say is that if you are not happy with the way your life is headed, change it. Maybe that is why I dabbled so much? Regardless, I feel like all of the things I have tried have brought me to this point. In this season of my life, I know what I want and what I don't want. The direction I want to follow is starting to become clearer. I believe God is the one who has allowed me to try different things as each one has only enriched my life further. There was also a reason none of those things worked out. He has a different path for my life. He brought me to this moment, my ah-ha moment! This brings to mind Proverbs 16:9 - "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Oh how true that is!
I challenge you to reflect on your own 2016 year. What were your greatest successes and failures? Has it led to self-discovery? You can only know where you are going in 2017 if you realize where you came from in 2016.
God Bless & Mahalo!
Sincerely,
Brittany Bowman
