It’s been almost a year since I wrote my last Wisdom Wednesday post.
Back when I first started creating consistent content for Bowtiful Life, back in high school and at the beginning of college, these were always my favorite posts to write. Now, when I go through and read old content, the Wisdom Wednesday posts always stand out to me.
Later this month I will be celebrating my 5 year blogging anniversary.(!!!) It’s truly eye opening to look back at posts from years past and see that although so much has changed, some things have stayed the same. One of these things being my love of quotes, especially optimistic ones. I have a tendency to latch onto them when I find any that I particularly like and today I’m sharing one of my current favorites with you that I found through an author on Instagram, Victoria Erickson.
I found this quote and it resonated so deeply with me that I quickly surrounded myself with it. I wrote it down on a piece of paper and I stuck it onto the mirror that I look into each day when I get dressed, I put it up on my personal (private) Instagram account, I made it the caption of my profile picture on Facebook and I put it in my phone as my home screen so that I could look at it when I’m out an about.
I enveloped myself in these words as a gentle and loving reminder.
“Remember that you are more than skin and bones.
You are one thousand stories of before.
One thousand stories of potential.
One thousand stories you’ve yet to see and know and feel and breathe.
There’s more to come.
And it’s something beautiful.”
If I’m being honest. This year hasn’t been the easiest, this past semester in particular. I’ve alluded in many ways through blog posts, social media posts, etc. that I’ve had quite a full plate and that things have been a bit much at times.
This semester, I have had some truly amazing experiences, but I’ve definitely had my share of moments where things haven’t been so great as well. Whether that was due to school, job, friend, relationship, family or social stress, I had my share of each. To some of you, this might come as a surprise since my social media typically focuses on highlights for the most part. As a general rule, shared lows never seem to fare too well through social media, which is why you may not have seen much of what I’m about to discuss being blatantly shared, up until now.
However, I’m human. Life isn’t perfect and mine certainly isn’t. Life is about taking what the universe decides to throw at you, then reacting and balancing it accordingly. The positives this semester have greatly outweighed the negatives, but I’ve dealt with both.
Being on the verge of graduation, my whole life has been a bit up in the air. My future, career, location and more are all a big question mark floating above my head and through my mind when I find myself thinking about what is to come.
Every time I turn around someone seems to be asking me the same, classic, around-the-table-at-the-holidays question “what are you doing when you graduate?” Whether it’s family members, teachers, coworkers, friends, peers, or even total strangers, the question still hits me every time like a lightning bolt.
What am I doing?
I know that I’m not the only one of my peers feeling this way. Based on conversations I’ve shared with friends, overhearing other students worry about their futures, etc. I know I’m not alone and that this isn’t an uncommon anxiety among my graduating class. With this in mind, Erickson’s quote was the perfect reminder, right when I needed it.
We are not just our present. We are not just our worries and our fears and our stress.
We are our past, both the good and the bad. We are who we are based on how we’ve reacted to what has been thrown our way, our mistakes, our triumphs and the many lessons we’ve learned from past experiences. The times we’ve hurt and been hurt, loved and been loved, accomplished and failed. Our pasts do not determine our futures, but they teach us how to proceed.
We are our futures. Granted, this may be unknown and terrifying at times, but there’s still so much that is to come.
“One thousand stories you’ve yet to see and know and feel and breathe.”
There is so much potential within each of us, we just have to open our eyes, hearts and minds to see it.
“There’s more to come. And it’s something beautiful.”
I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday.
