This weekend I am celebrating 1 full year of blogging! It’s crazy to think I’ve been doing this for a year now, and looking back at older posts, a lot has happened throughout the last year.

In the last year, I have talked about troubles that I have faced, and how I have dealt with them. I wrote an entire blog post about my mental health, and how I have struggled with it throughout the greater part of my life. I really enjoyed the conversations I had with people after I posted that, and talking to them about their own mental health helped me realize that we all struggle in our own ways. I also hope I helped some people realize that they are not weak because of what they battle mentally! Surround yourself with good people and stay positive and it’ll make it ten times easier to fight back against your own mind.

I’ve also talked a lot about how important it is to stay active and eat healthy. Even though I dealt with some foot pain throughout many months of the last year, that didn’t mean I had to quit working out altogether! I adjusted my workouts to put less strain on my foot, while working on other parts of my body. It’s often very easy to get into the mindset that if one part of my body isn’t working properly, then I should just not work out at all and allow myself to heal. Depending on the seriousness of the injury, that’s not true at all! If it was, I’d be resting a lot! Like my dad has said in some of his older blog posts, having an injury can be an opportunity to try something new. He was having foot issues too and couldn’t run, so he swam. I already swim a lot, so I just swam more. I also took the opportunity to work on my upper body strength – which I really needed to do anyway. There’s no real excuse to not stay active, and I hope – whether through my blog, or my dad’s – more people have come to realize that. 🙂

I’ve also talked a lot about my loved ones, and what goes on in our daily lives – as well as other big events that happen as well. One of the bigger things that happened this year was that my dad started having heart issues, and he got really, really sick back in March. Even though I was halfway across the country, and my mom assured me I wouldn’t need to fly home, it scared me being so far away during a time like that. That’s one reason why I’m happy to be closer to home. You just never know what life is going to throw at you. Spend time with those you love while you can!

In upcoming posts, I’ll be updating everyone on what’s going on in my life now that I have made so many sudden changes. The last few weeks have been extremely difficult, and I’m still having a hard time some days to not get myself down. However, I really appreciate those who have reached out to me, wishing me luck, or keeping me in their prayers, or pointing me towards some job openings. It has really helped me a lot, knowing I have so many people who support me, and believe that I can get through these difficult times. If they can believe in me, I can too!

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has read my blog posts over the last year, and I look forward to more conversations in year #2!

Also, special shout out to my siblings for creating some distractions for me this weekend. I’ve enjoyed being able to spend some time with all of you, and I can’t wait to spend even more time with you now that I’m back home. Love you guys!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger