A Little Life Update: It’s Good Over Here
Someone commented to me recently that my “life is really cool.” I may or may not have responded with a very enthusiastic, “I KNOW!!” …
My 35th birthday was last week and I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the last year and current state of Jessie. I don’t mean this in a bragging way, but I have to agree - my life is really cool. And what I mean most by that is that my life is really for me. I am very aware that some of my choices are unique and, of course, some are not. But I have been actively asking myself for the last few years, “how do I want my life to look” and then intentionally choosing the things that can make it look that way on a daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly basis. Whether you believe in manifestation or not, when we set our intentions, sights, etc. on certain things, it helps tune our brains to those things and we are more likely to choose them and choose the options that brings us closer to them at each opportunity.
What are some of the pieces of this cool life? I’m so glad you asked.
I work with clients approximately 30 hours a week.
I take a weekly pottery class through the local city college.
I change outdoor activities depending on the season. We are just entering ocean swimming season which usually includes 1-2 ocean swims a week and 1 day at the pool. I also signed up for a sprint triathlon later this summer and hike on the weekends with friends.
I spent a week last month in Belize with my family. It was so fun to unplug and explore somewhere new. I’m looking forward to at least one extended weekend adventure this summer with one of my besties.
Outside of my 30 ish client hours, I work an unknown number of hours learning new things, implementing things I’ve already learned, writing newsletters…but I get to do these things on my own time, whether that ends up being after dinner on a Tuesday, first thing Sunday morning or within “normal working hours” on a Thursday afternoon.
I’ve been performing music live either by myself or with friends about once a month. I also love seeing other live music, either those same friends performing, or bigger shows at the SB Bowl.
At this point, most of my close friends train with me, so I see them at least once a week, as well as for fun activities outside of the gym.
My cat meditates with me on the couch a couple days a week.
I honestly could go on and on…but the point is that for this moment in time, I have found a balance between work, home, friends, family, fun and nature that is working really well for me. Part of the reason I am so eager to celebrate it because this has not always been the case.
For my 30th birthday I asked my family and close family friends to write me letters. it was peak covid and I had been having a hard time because of that and several other reasons. I unknowingly created a time capsule. Both of the moment I turned 30 and of all the “Jessies” (as my mom says) that came before. I am so grateful to have those kind and funny words from so many people that I love and respect to come back to when I need a little reminder of who those Jessies were.
Around year 30 is also when I started Health Coaching. So many of the tools and strategies I learned and continue to learn through this work are the exact same ones that I use for myself on a daily basis. They have played a huge role in creating this fun, cool life over the last 5 ish years. It’s not glamorous and sometimes the progress feels achingly slow, but the reason I can honestly tell people that I know it works, is because I KNOW IT WORKS. I am living proof!
Everyone is different. Your life that you live and love has different details than mine. And thank goodness it does, how boring would it be if we were all the same??? My sincerest hope is that we can all have cool lives and then come together and talk about them over our favorite snacks.
Good luck out there. Always rooting for you.
