My Best Days

13 Apr 2010 2 Comments

by Aprel Phelps Downey in Life Tags: Another Year, Birthdays, Growing, Growing older, Learning, Life, Life reflection, Living

 

Today is my birthday! There have been 35 birthdays before this one and hopefully there will be many more to come after this one. Birthdays are often a time of reflection for me. I think about where I’ve been, where I am at the present moment and where I would like to be when my next birthday rolls around. There has been a sense of accomplishment with each birthday and a sense of those things in my life that I want to improve on. This year things feel different. For the first time in my life I feel that I am coming into my own! 

I know that sounds like something crazy to say…it’s even crazier to write or realize out loud. As crazy as it is, it is a true testament to how I am feeling on my 36th birthday. I have a sense of  coming into my own in the sense that I feel strong, confident and ready to take on the world! For the first time in my life I have a true understanding of who I am and where I want my life to go. I am not afraid of standing on my own two feet and do what it takes to make my dreams come true. I know what I want out of life and am not afraid to jump in with both feet and chase after it. I realize that chasing my dreams may leave me traveling down roads by myself and I am okay with that. Truth is I will not be alone on that illusive dream chasing road. There are always two people right by my side supporting me, loving me and cheering me on in whatever crazy venture I decide to take in life. I am of course talking about my husband and my daughter! 

My husband has been my biggest fan and cheerleader every step of the way for the last 10 years of my life. As for my daughter, well even though she is only 4 1/2 years old she has taught me more about life than I have ever been able to learn on my own. These two individuals are my whole world and as long as I have their love and support there is nothing that I can not accomplish. For the first time in my life I feel strong enough to let the world know that these two individuals are my whole world, that every decision I make in my life will be made dependent on how it will affect them. These are the only two people who matter when it comes to the direction my life is heading in. As long as I have their best interests at heart, their love and their support, the rest of the world does not matter!! 

I have lived most of my life up to this point trying to make others happy. I have made choices based out of worry or fear of what others would think or feel about those choices. I did not dare make the choices based on my own wishes, after all I was in the business to please others. Thankfully those days are no longer here. I am strong enough now to make decisions based on what I want my life to be and not on what others view my life should be. I finally understand that there is a huge difference between the two. I stand ready to take my life and live it on my own terms!  For those of you who know me, this is a huge step in my life. It is a step that has taken me the better part of the last 36 years to learn. 

Yes my dear friends I can stand here today, April 13, 2010 and tell you with strength, confidence and excitement that my best days are certainly ahead of me and I could not be more excited about that fact if I tried!!! 

Until next time ~ Cheers!! 

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