2015...I certainly don't think I ever imagined this year ever coming. It's not so much that I had something super exciting planned for this year, it's just that...well, this is the year I turn 30. As a young child, I imagined 30 as being ancient, the age when everything falls apart. However, anymore age 30 seems to be the year of reinvention, and I am certainly hoping to revitalize some aspects of my life.
In late 2014, I was plagued with some Crohn's-esque complications and a foot surgery that has me in a boot for what feels like eternity. Children and dogs seem enamored by it, and adults seem to find it as justification for the handicap placard hanging from my rear view mirror. With it occurring right before the holidays, television shows have finished their "fall season" and you are left with cliche holiday movies and shows that leave you saying, "people actually sign the waiver to appear on this show?" Being an avid reader, I decided that my time was better spent ensuring that I read all of the novels that have inspired movies coming out in the next few months. Call me strange, but I prefer to go into the movie knowing what aspects should be shown, and deciphering whether or not the story has been properly interpreted.
I had been wanting to read the memoir "Wild" for some time, and with the release of the much anticipated film (starring Reese Witherspoon) I found myself anxious to dive in. I'm not sure what my expectations were, but even though "Cheryl" and I had grown up much differently, I began to see many similarities in our lives. In the book, Cheryl is 26, and preparing to take the trek of her life on the Pacific Coast Trail as a way to properly mourn the death of her mother and become the person with the ideals that she had instilled upon her. Throughout the way, she reflects on many of the aspects of her life that have changed since her mother passed away; she left her degree incomplete with only a semester to go, she cheated on a supportive, caring husband many times, and she even sought out illicit drugs...all in an effort to make her feel the way she had before her mother passed.
Anyone who knows me would know that the last word to describe me would be "outdoorsy" but this book really inspired me to take my life back into my own hands. Perhaps I will not walk 1000 miles to achieve this goal, but I felt similar changes were necessary if I wanted to feel the happiness and relief that I so much deserved to live a fulfilling life.
Thus, I have decided to make 2015 the year of Allison. The year where it's not just about the talk, but more about the walk. I have decided to make the changes in my diet that I know I so desperately need in order to keep my Crohn's in control - no more sodas, less carbs, and more veggies. With the help of a friend, I am training for my first half marathon in May, where my goal is simply to finish...nothing more, nothing less. I will not focus on trying to find the man of my dreams, but will hope that these decisions will attract the kind of person I want to have a life with. And lastly, I hope to make better financial choices so that at the end of the year I have more than what I started with, and can begin thinking about what's next for me, instead of feeling stuck in the same, complacent place.
It's a lot to take on, but I feel like I need to embrace getting older and to share my trials and tribulations with friends and family. I may not be where I expected to be at 30, but I've still got a lot to give this world. So here's to 2015, make it your year and become the person you've always wanted to be, one day at a time. FYI, only 361 days to go!
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