I haven’t written anything in exactly 90 days. That wasn’t on purpose, but it feels fitting to pick back up on a round number.
Exciting news: I PASSED MY LCSW EXAM! By the end of January 2026, I’ll officially be an LCSW. It’s been a long journey, and I’m so grateful to start this next chapter of my life. I’m fully licensed, I’m my own boss, and it’s almost Christmas.
This likely won’t be posted until 2026, but it’s nice to reflect on this moment: sitting in my workout chair beside the Christmas tree, surrounded by my fur babies and my husband.
More exciting news: I’m still running! I haven’t given up. I’m finally proving to myself that I can consistently do something hard. My body has been up to the challenge, and the commitment I’ve shown to running is rewriting an old narrative. Now I know I never give up.
A couple of months ago, I got a Garmin, both as a reward to myself for consistency and a tool to help improve my fitness. It offers Garmin Coach plans for different activities, and I signed up for Coach Greg’s 5K plan. I’ve been following it for nine weeks now. I still can’t consistently run a full mile, but I can, and have, several times.
After each of Coach Greg’s workouts, I’m asked to rate two things: how strong or weak I felt, and how hard or easy the workout was. I’ve been doing this for over two months, and I just realized something today:
I can feel strong and the workout can still feel hard.
For some reason, my brain always equated “hard” with “weak.” But today, it clicked. Those two things can coexist. In fact, they have to. If the things I do are always easy, how can I ever become stronger?
Congratulations to me for figuring that out after 38 years on the planet.