Happy September to you! Today is my 29th birthday! Each birthday brings another year of disbelief at how quickly time seems to be going by. I’m going into the last year of my twenties which is hard enough to comprehend. I have been thinking back over my 28th year a lot this week, actually most of August. Normally, my birthday brings a sense of excitement at the prospect of a new year, but this year felt different. When I think about the past year I don’t see it as one of my best.

Some wonderful things happened while I was 28… I got promoted at work which was something I had been working towards, I took one of my favorite trips ever to England, and worked on projects around the house that I had been looking forward to. But overall, 28 was a struggle for me. I mentioned in this post that changes were coming for me with regards to work. I work in new home sales (in a model home) and had been working and selling in the same community for 2.5 years. In July I moved to a new community with the same company. This meant a change in familiarity, co-workers and routine.

The move has been a wonderful change. Like most change, it comes when you need it the most and usually ends up being better than you could have thought. I didn’t realize how stagnant I felt. Even though my job is fun and no day looks the same, I didn’t feel like I was growing. On top of that, I was carrying too much of the work required in running a community. I felt exhausted all of the time. Mentally, physically and emotionally… my work was taking its toll.

Because of my exhaustion, I let my heath slide. I didn’t have the energy to work out and I wasn’t eating well. There were days at work that I was so busy that in the 9 hours I was in the office I never stopped to eat a proper meal. Instead I would grab one of the fresh made cookies laid out for our homeowners as I ran by the kitchen island. I started relying on coffee to wake me up in the morning, which in my other 27 years I had never done.

When August arrived I felt like I could finally breathe. I was used to my new community and settling into a new routine there. For the first time all year I looked at myself with fresh eyes. Admittedly, I didn’t like what I saw. I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the person I saw. I looked tired, heavier than I have ever been and exhausted. This is not how I wanted to start my 29th year, so I decided it was time to make my health a priority again.

This meant making changes and prioritizing things that had fallen to the bottom of the list. I changed my morning routine to include a workout that I now look forward to. Every weekend I take the time to prepare my lunches for the week. I am also much more conscious about what types of food I am putting in my body. Since I’m not 18 anymore my body needs more love and care.

I have already seen changes in my body physically but the biggest difference has been the mental changes. I can go into this year knowing how to take better care of myself, but more importantly why I should want to. By not making my heath a priority I was letting myself down more than I could see. When you aren’t taking care of yourself, you can’t function at your full potential.

So, today I start my 29th year and I am optimistic about a better year ahead. But more importantly a year of truly understanding what it means to love yourself. There will be days, or weeks, where you are not happy with how your life is going. That is normal and happens to everyone. But you do have the power to change how you feel, it just takes a little determination. Only you can make yourself a priority and I think once you understand what your needs are, you can start to meet them. xo Bryn