Honoring Your Evolution - Life Can Be So Magical If You Allow It
I’m doing the #75Hard challenge, and part of the challenge includes reading 10 pages of a self-help book every day. So I’ve been doing that. Then it hit me, as I was thinking about what book I wanted to read next, in 2017 I read 52 books in 52 weeks.
I’m like oh, maybe I should go back to those archived instagram posts, just to see what books I read and to see if I possibly want to reread them again at 30. So as I was going through those IG posts, and basically reliving everything I posted about during that time, OMG.
Looking at 20-something-year-old me pursue her dreams, hustle and bustle across New York City, bartending, manifest working at SiriusXM, then become an Associate Producer there. She was featured in a music video, she was on the radio, hosting her own show, hosting events, she worked the BET awards red carpet, she got her production credit!! Everything she was sharing – OMG. She was so vulnerable, and open, and such a bright light, and so so strong. OMG. Oh. My. God!
Sometimes we are literally so close to our present day life that we forget everything that we’ve gone through, or we forget everything that led up to this present day moment. It almost feels like a lifetime ago. I am just so inspired by my 23-year-old self. She was doing what she wanted and absolutely killing it.
While I was reading one post, I literally said out loud, “MY BABYYY,” and I’m looking at her like she’s my child. But it was me, lol. Just younger me.
Though now, at 30-years-old, I don’t have the same dreams that 23-year-old me had, but I’m so glad that she experienced it and did everything she wanted to do.
And then we grew, and we evolved.
I do think part of the reason why I “forgot,” and it’s not like I totally forgot that part of myself and my journey. I think when we’re in it, and anxiety is a factor, depression is a factor – And oh how I remember being so anxious. I don’t even remember the exact details, but I do remember being incredibly anxious, having panic attacks, calling my mom and just crying for hours. And even in some of the captions of those IG posts I wrote, “Today we cried, but the work continues and we’re going to keep going.” I remember doing three jobs at once at a point. I shared how I traveled to two different cities in one weekend to host two different events. Craziness!
23-year-old me was tired. She was anxious. She was stressed. But she got it done. And I am so inspired by her. I am so grateful that she didn’t give up. Because all in all, she was doing exactly what her heart desired.
So when we are incredibly anxious, or depressed, our bodies, our minds, our hearts, sometimes blocks that event or period out to protect us from those traumatic feelings we felt during that time.
Wow! I am sending so much love to my younger self. I acknowledge that I wouldn’t be ‘here’ where I am today at 30, living a very restful, peaceful life; if it wasn’t for her drive, dedication, curiosity, fire, passion, love, mentality. Oh. My. God!
30-year-old me craves gentleness, slowness, and rest. But I wouldn’t have been able to enter this new era without 23-year-old me craving the hustle and the fire! 23-year-old me lived so 30-year-old me didn't have to wonder ‘what if?’ What if I pursued that? What if I went for that? What If I moved there? I know those answers because she followed her curiosity, and gave it all she had!
Everything is for a reason. The dots are never NOT connecting!
I want to encourage you to be present in this moment, and honor your evolution.
All of your current blessings are because a younger version of you prayed for it, and wanted it SO bad, and worked for it SO hard.
And everything that you’re praying for and manifesting now, your 40-year-old self, your 50-year-old self, your whatever age-year-old self, are gonna look back and say THANK YOU! Thank you for not giving up, thank you for having that dream, or for even having the courage to dream again, thank you for wanting MORE, thank you for doing that for US!
I recently turned 30 in April, and as I was reflecting on my 20’s I was moreso reflecting about the things that I was manifesting, that I haven’t received yet. Thinking about what this NEW decade would look like. I did reflect on my healing journey and the things I’ve learned. But it was almost as if I was reflecting from a “bus stop” point of view. In a sense, I was riding a bus, and passing the stops of life, still fixated on how I wasn’t at my “destination” yet. A destination from present me’s point of view. Thinking about my 20’s without really stopping and reflecting that though that time was hard and full of lots of mental health challenges, it was still full of JOY! I experienced so much! I remember in one of the IG posts the caption was, “I’m living a dream,” It’s hard to look back on that time from the eyes of my younger self, because present me has new dreams, but oh, my, goodness, how could I forget that Younger Ry was having a BALL honey!
I am so grateful that I was bold enough to pivot, to dream again, to reinvent myself, but all of the years of my 20’s were both FASCINATING and INSPIRING!
The destination will always be different, your journey will continue to evolve.
Remembering that 20-year-old ‘me’ had a different destination than 30-year-old ‘me.’ And so will my 40-year-old self.
What if we just focused on making each day the BEST day, and each year the BEST year?
We needed 10-year-old joy, to get to 20-year-old joy, to get to 30-year-old joy, and so on!
That’s the beauty of life. That’s the magic!
Everything is connected.
I’m thankful for my 23-year-old self.
I’m thankful for my 18-year-old self.
I’m thankful for my 10-year-old self.
WE did that!
We are all here!
The future, the present, the past!
All of the emotions! Ah, God is so good.
Here’s some pictures of Younger Ry joy at 20-somethin’!
And, here’s some from 30 y/o joy!
COUNT IT ALL JOY!
Life can be so magical if you allow it.
Xo,
Ry