“I still remember the days I prayed for what I have now….”

Starting out today a little differently. Asking you to take a quick moment and write down (or just think about) a few things that you have now that you used to pray/wish/hope/worked super hard for (for me, it’s personally prayer, but I acknowledge that’s not how it is for everyone). I feel as if I don’t do it often enough and I’ve been thinking about the above quote a lot lately. Given that it’s Valentine’s Day, I figured today would be an ideal opportunity to touch upon it. I had a few different ideas for this “love day” themed post…. a wellness smoothie to love yourself with… some self care ideas…. etc…. but what I really thought was important was talking about loving the life we are given…. the good and bad…. perfect and imperfect….

For me personally, as I look at my list, it’s pretty lengthy, and for that, I am profoundly grateful. I remember the days I prayed to get into graduate school… unsure if it would happen. How many job rejections I initially received post grad school (8 to be exact….) before I landed the job that was really right for me (and you better believe I prayed hard with all those rejections….). I worked, and studied, so hard to get my license to practice… We prayed hard for Harper, especially after it wasn’t as easy as initially anticipated…. We prayed for a new job for TJ (his former company had been going through a lot of changes….)….. and then we prayed for this blog….

And the funny thing is that sometimes the very things we pray (or wish) for, bring their own set of challenges. I know, duh, right? But think about it…. each “thing” I/we prayed for, brought a unique set of challenges we never had before… sometimes making life slightly more difficult than before. How was I going to pay for graduate school??… balance work, studying, + a social life….. once you get the job, there are the natural stressors…. reviews, co-worker differences, meeting expectations….. TJ’s new job (which he loves) has him working from home…. we live in a small condo, which often creates tensions we never had before…. and when Harper arrived, we had an entirely new lifestyle to become accustomed to….. which is continually evolving. Taking photos for the blog was so much easier when she was younger…. and now, just scroll below (I included those for a little humor)….

When I catch myself harping on those challenges, I find that simply reminding myself that this was something I wanted so badly, often puts it all into perspective. Life isn’t meant to be lived without challenges, low points, or frustrations…. and sometimes to get to the next phase in our lives, we have to weather through those rough patches. I think about the long sleepless evenings when Harper was a newborn…. in oder to get to where she is now, we had to go through all of that…. and the tantrums and sassiness of this stage will eventually lend itself to another beautiful phase in her life (which will also come with challenges)…. arguments with TJ often lead to a better understanding of one another (although, not always in the immediate moment)…. negative feedback from a boss can often lead to growth in our professional lives….. struggling through graduate school can often lead to a fulfilling career. I know it’s easy to say, “I didn’t ask for these challenges,” or “I didn’t ask for it to be difficult….” but I did ask for what I have… worked hard for it… and it’s up to be to me to manage the ups and downs….

I guess what I’m ultimately trying to say is that loving your life doesn’t mean that it is void of challenges…. it means embracing the journey…. the highs and the lows, and knowing that your life is much richer because of it…. because without the downs, how can we ever know the joy that come with the ups?
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(Outfit Details || Jacket (discounted here) | Henley | Jeans | Sneakers | Sunglasses | Harper’s Jacket | Harper’s Leggings | Harper’s Shoes)