Exactly two weeks ago, I celebrated my 31st birthday alongside my family and friends! Reflecting on the last year as a 30-year old, I can say that this last year has been quite eventful, tiring, dramatic, and eyeopening for me. It was absolutely nothing unlike what I expected it to be or envisioned, but I acknowledge that everything I have experienced had a purpose and was exactly according to God's plan for me. I’m so grateful to God for keeping me safe and sound, for keeping me in good health, and for protecting my mind, body, and soul. I would not have been able to keep myself together without God's grace, mercy, and love.
In my 30th year of my time on this Earth, I laughed, I cried, I slept, I exercised, I prayed, I journaled, and celebrated often. I was faced with challenging and traumatic experiences, including financial hardship, heartbreak and deception, depressive and anxious thoughts and emotions, self-sabotaging or negative self-talk, experiencing an armed carjacking and robbery, but through it all, God kept me altogether in one piece so that I could heal and trust Him even more. I humbly yet boldly admit that I am still a work in progress and that there is still more work to be as I'm molded into the next version of the dynamic woman that I am.
This year, I also (and finally) started therapy to work on myself and improve my mental health. I understand how important it is to tend to our mental health, but I just had not quite finished the steps to get started. Well, now I can finally cross that off of my list of things to do. Therapy has been so helpful to me and I strongly advocate for it if you are in the position to do so. I've been in high and low places, completely understanding what it feels like to feel depressed or not quite know how to handle uncertainty, but there is HOPE. It is relieving to be able to share your anxieties, fears, struggles, and problems with someone who is unbiased and can offer you solutions to make your life better and more manageable. I mention all this to say that things are slowly but surely turning around for me in my life for my good. I have overcome, conquered, and healed so much. There is a sense of peace that I have now that one one could ever take from me. I am so grateful to be alive. For that, I am grateful and I knew that I had to celebrate this LIFE that God has given me.
Let’s Celebrate!
To celebrate this new chapter of my life, I arranged a few days of activities that I enjoy with family and friends. With me being the planner that I am, of course, I had to create an itinerary of coordinated events to accommodate everyone’s schedule. Those activities included a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) group fitness camp that I typically attend weekly, an adult skate night at the roller skating rink, and a birthday dinner on my actual birthday at a tasty local restaurant (Miller’s Ale House). The food was so delicious, my company left me overjoyed, and the conversations had were ever so sweet. I can truly say that my birthday week was filled with so much joy, love, support, and friendship.
This is exactly what I wanted for my birthday. I just wanted to spend moments celebrating life and channeling positivity with people that I care for. At the end of it all, I am extremely blessed, loved, and full from my birthday celebration. I am so grateful for my village. I would like to thank everyone who took the time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday, pray for me, encourage me, support me, love on me, bless me, gift me, call me, text me, celebrate with me, and so much more! It was also so fun getting dressed up for a nice night out. Here are a few pictures from my birthday celebration that I'm now just getting around to sharing. Thank you for making the start of Chapter 31 a very special time to remember. Cheers to #MJChapter31!
With Peace, Love, and Happiness!
- Maleshia J.
Commentaires