New Beginnings + GIVEAWAY!!

Good morning, y'all! Sorry for the silence last week. My move went a little less smoothly than planned- I came down with a horrible cold a few days before the scheduled move and was just exhausted through the entire process!! Thanks to this wonderful cold, I didn't take the time to set up my cable and internet before moving. So, I was a little disconnected until last Friday! I'm happy to be back and am looking forward to working towards my goal of increased post consistency.

With my move falling at the beginning of the year, I'm really overwhelmed with a feeling of newness. New apartment. New mailing address. New drive to work. New coworkers. New boss. New surroundings. Thankfully, most of the overwhelm is positive and is partnered with gratitude. But it's really gotten me thinking lately- why am I so scared of new?

It's so easy to fall into a routine and just settle in. Having an extremely "type A" personality, I actually look forward to this. However I'm realizing lately how dangerous this can be to my happiness and how important it is to stretch your boundaries. We truly don't give ourselves enough credit for the resiliency that we're wired with! I never pictured myself as a person who could move across the country alone and end up thriving. Or someone who could handle the break-up of the most serious relationship I've had thus far in my life while totally isolated from family and my main support system. Or the person who would take a job completely unrelated to their major and expertise but learn how to be successful. All of those descriptions are intimidating and sound impossible to me. But I did them all. And I'm better off than I was before any of it happened!

As I'm getting older, I'm learning that new doesn't have to mean scary. New should mean challenging but exciting, and I'm working to rewrite the definition within my life. Life should be more than just figuring out how to get by. I recently found a quote from Maya Angelou that articulates my current approach to this: “The question is not how to survive, but how to thrive with passion, compassion, humor, and style.” 

If you struggle with this as well, I hope you join me to reframe your thoughts on new beginnings to shed a more positive light and simply know you're not alone. As a celebration of new beginnings and the new year, I've partnered with a lovely group of bloggers to help you have a sweet start to 2016 with some AMAZING prizes! We are giving away a $150 Visa gift card, a $10 Starbucks gift card, the Naked Smokey palette, an Origins Charcoal face mask, three wire wrap bracelets, a custom koozie and a monogrammed keychain, and an adorable coffee mug! This giveaway will run from today, January 18 through Tuesday January 26! Enter using the raffle widget below, and GOOD LUCK! :)

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