Summing up 2017 Lessons
- Kelly Fitzgerald
- Dec 21, 2017
- 5 min read
Wow! What a year that 2017 has been!
When 2017 began, I was in a completely different mindset and life stage. I was working a full time desk job that was leaving me restless. I was frustrated that I was stuck in a career field that I did not enjoy. I was sad that I knew I was smarter than my GPA told, and graduate schools wouldn't take a chance on me. I was also hanging on to people who were trying to exit my life. Although most of the experiences I mentioned above are negative... they taught me so much. And you know what else.... when I learned to let go of things that I could't control, that is the moment when my life started to change. In March, I explored the evergreen world in Washington State, camped on the frozen La Push Beach, slept on a house boat in sleepy Seattle, and received a rejection letter from a graduate school. In April, I received a text message from a friend in physical therapy school asking if I had heard any word on my graduate school applications. I sat at my desk job and worded a text back, "Well, I got rejected from the school I thought I had a chance with. I think I'll just have to try again next year". In April, I cried happily at my 9-5 desk job as I read an acceptance letter from Georgia State University, my top choice school. In April, I called everyone I knew and shared the good news. In May, I made friends with wild horses on Cumberland island, camped under a weeping willow, made 15 peanut butter sandwiches, pretended to be a Optometrist with my sister in Jacksonville, ate sushi... and liked it, and painted a grey elephant with a blue balloon for a friend. We don't talk anymore. In May, I started Occupational therapy school with 30 new friends. In May, I moved to Atlanta and appreciated my home in the "country" more. In May, I became a "surgeon" as I learned the origins and insertions of 100+ muscles. In June, I found my favorite brewery with my best friend, saw the most beautiful sunset of my life in my own back yard, met my idol... the KITTEN LADY, and shared a coffee with adoptable cats. In July, I saw tiny fireworks in the distance as I shared a "pub sub" with my best friend, had an old fashion cook out with a great friend of 20+ years, threw t-shirts to both of my grandmas at a Braves game, shared a brownie sundae with my grandma, traveled to see my sisters new home in the middle of no where Kentucky, helped Malcolm and other shelter kittens find a forever home, and proved everyone wrong by earning a 4.0 GPA my first semester of graduate school. In August, I blew out the candles of a strawberry spongebob cake as I celebrated my 25th birthday, walked the ridge line of Charlie's Bunion, failed at throwing a surprise birthday party for my boyfriend, moved into my now Atlanta home, became Grey's Anatomy with my new cohort roommates, drove to Andrews, North Carolina with my dad and dog to experience the solar eclipse, watched the world stop and turn dark at 2:04 pm, and happily started my 2nd semester of graduate school. In September, I drank wine with my sister as we celebrated her bachelorette, made mini "tacos" out of Oreos for my sisters bridal shower, and shed a tear as I stepped on the Atlanta Braves dugout for the very last time. In October, I got stung by a bee for the first time as me and my boyfriend rode the scrambler at the fair, ran frantically from the chainsaw guy at the haunted corn maze with 2 new friends, rode a roller coaster in the dark with Luke, cried as I listened to my sister read her vows to her now husband, got bitten by the ugliest spider in the world, shared a dance with my dad, and cried as I told him it killed me that my family didn't accept my best friend. In November, I doctored Gooby's (my cat) wounded ear, drove to north Georgia with my mom and dad to look at the autumn leaves, participated in the filming of a music video, shared turkey and stuffing with my family and new friends, read a paragraph that sunk my heart, and ended a friendship that I thought would last forever. And here we are. As December comes to a close and I reflect on how much has changed, I remind myself that everything that has happened has led me to this exact spot. I am becoming the person that I am meant to be, through all of the failures and successes. I am learning to trust the process. To trust the unknown. To trust everything happens for a reason. To trust I am exactly where I need to be. To end this lengthly blog post... I leave you with my favorite quotes from 2017. They have taught me so much and each one holds significance for every defining moment of my 2017. I hope that some of them can be inspirational or comforting to you as well. I also hope that you remember to cherish each and every moment in life. Whether it is good or bad, it is an experience that is shaping you into... you. <3 1.) "The world is full of beautiful places. Let your heart be one of them." -Jenim Dibie 2.) "One day it just clicks. You realize what's important and what isn't. You learn to care less about what other people think of you and more about what you think of yourself. You realize how far you've come and you remember when you thought things were such a mess that you would never recover. And you smile. You smile because you are truly proud of yourself and the person you've fought to become." 3.) "Actually, I just woke up one day and decided I didn't want to feel like that anymore, or ever again. So I changed. Just like that." 4.) "God doesn't give you the people you want, he gives you the people you need. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you, and to make you the person you were meant to be." 5.) "The world only exists in your eyes. You can make it as big or as small as you want." - F. Scott Fitzgerald 6.) "Learning to be alone and enjoying it, is the most empowering gift you can give yourself." 7.) "I'm going to make everything around me beautiful, that will be my life." -Elsie de Wolfe 8.) "People don't realize that now is all there ever is. There is no past of future except as a memory or anticipation in your mind." -Eckhart Tolle 9.) "Always remember, God will never take away from you without the intention of replacing it with something much better." 10.) "If you have to beg someone to be in your life, they don't belong there." -Mandy Hale 11.) "It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in proper light." 12.) "You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you." 13.) "I swear to you, there are divine things more beautiful that words can tell." -Walt Whitman 14.) "Life becomes more meaningful when you realize the simple fact that you'll never get the same moment twice." 15.) "I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it, and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good."
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