The Power of Progress

Hello!! Sorry for the time away and it is wonderful to get back to writing! SO where did I go?

Over the past few months, coming out of lockdown and going back into lockdown, it has been hectic and a lot has happened in my personal life which has, in total honesty, left me feeling completely and utterly uninspired to write with the passion that would usually spur me on to write. HOWEVER, life has settled the way that it does, and once again I feel inspired to write to you all and keep it 100 as always, so here's the tea.

Progress is not linear. If there is one thing I have found out in the past 4 months, it is that we must expect lows in order to really appreciate and value our best moments.

Completing university, graduating with the hard earned 2:1 in a global pandemic, felt like one of those moments where you cannot use words to delineate the happiness that came in the moment. And then shortly after the high was dimmed by the news of my postponed masters, despite being absolutely heartbroken and utterly shell shocked, progress can only be made when a person is diligently proactive, and progress can only be made when we deviate from our comfort zone, so naturally, I actively deviated from my comfort zone & decided to change my course of action.

Everything happens for a reason, the path we think we are supposed to be on, finds itself twisting and turning, sometimes throwing us off the tracks, but it is how we perceive these changes and overcome them, that allows us to progress to achieve our goals and become our ultimate self.

With this being said, I landed a job in the sport I love, spreading my enthusiasm for netball to a younger generation, in a place where I was inspired to grow to love Netball and in all honesty, I'm glad my masters was cancelled! This being said, this too has not been a straight road.

A new job entails new relationships, new surroundings and new challenges, all that come alongside learning to balance personal life with work when living with your colleagues! At the start, there were wobbles. There were tears. There were tantrums. But most of all there were important lessons to be learned which are continuing to shape me into the best version of myself and how to overcome situations. These learning moments, make it so incredible to see the high's - and despite the lows, in the past 4 months of work life there have been incredible peaks - thanks to my amazing netball work squad as well as living with some of the funniest "blokes" and ladies!

Again, when speaking about progress, when you begin to see the light after a hard spell, it is extremely difficult to find strength to overcome another set back. Life has funny ways of throwing curve balls to push your patience and test your strength of character, but for once I am giving myself a pat on the back for all the courage and patience I have had to conjure up in order to overcome. It felt like one thing after another were coming to get in the way of my progress in my new job - hormone problems due to female contraception leading to finding myself suffering extremely badly with my anxiety and depression again for the first time in months. A broken hand, preventing me from actually participating in the sport I love, and finally the diagnosis of Endometriosis after having laparoscopic surgery (blog post to follow this one!!). Through all of this, I am so fortunate to have exceptionally loving, supportive and amazing best friends (PB, Rosie & Bloomie I'm talking to you) and an incredibly understanding family who managed to remind me that this "bad patch" would end & remind me of all the progress I had made in my personal life to get to where I am today mentally and physically.

Without boring you over the details of those experiences, I like to look at it like this, as helped by my best friends & family - bad things come in threes. So there are my three. With every experience we circumstance we encounter, our mindset is pushed and our identity is shaped, and from the lows, there is value even when it seems like a dark cloud is going to surround you forever. The dark cloud will lift. PROGRESS IS NOT LINEAR. There will be dark days or nights but again the sun will rise and there will be a fresh opportunity to take life with both hands and make what you want of it!

So I guess what I'm getting at today in this post to all you lovely lot reading, is that, nobody's life is perfect, there will be ever so many bumps in the road, but life is about learning how to appreciate and understand the need for lows in order to beam when enjoying the highs, our ultimate peaks and best moments! So for anyone who needs it today - please don't be disheartened if you find yourself off the beaten track, we often find the best moments come from the most unexpected of places & one day this will be a moment to reflect on with pride that your strength of character managed to overcome. For those who are smashing their goals in life and feel they are excelling in their progress, be it in your career or personal life - KEEP SMASHING IT!!!!!

Life is best when we can recognise our peaks and troughs - so if you do anything today, give yourself a pat on the back because every day you overcome challenges that you might not even realise.

Hope you all have a great week & tackle and confront all that stands in front of you - smash your goals & remember the power and process of progress!!

Love, Lauren-Yasmin x