24 has been an adventure to date for certain. This was an interesting birthday year. It did not have a significance attached to it like 21 or 25, and I am not sure what I was expecting from it. It certainly has thrown me some surprises either way along with many adventures across the state of Georgia. I initially began this challenge wanting to learn more about the state that I had called my home since birth. While I was able to see many different places through my different trips, I was also able to learn a lot about myself in the process.
When I did my first birthday challenge at 23, it was a very haphazard plan that just sort of fell into place. This was the first year that I laid out a plan of something to accomplish just for myself, set out to do it, and completed it. This in itself was a major accomplishment for me, especially with this being my first full year out of graduate school and in a place where I actually had time to focus on me. The first few months of 24 were going well. I was accountable to no one but myself, which was already a change from 23 year old Shannon. I was working, doing a different natural wonder per month until winter weather hit, cultivating healthy relationships, and had started teaching a prek children’s church class with some of the sweetest kids at least once a month. I was also embracing the art of self -meal prepping and testing new vegan recipes once a week, journaling on Saturday mornings, relishing in some good alone time at a park, and truly enjoying just being with myself.
While the hikes and adventures all were fun as I reflect on my memories and look back at the pictures, I would be a liar if I said that this year and the process of completing the adventures was always easy. Planning and coordinating the different adventures themselves kept me busy, but life outside of this goal had its own turmoil to bring my way.
In March, about halfway through the year, I got into a car accident while driving to a meeting for work. It was a Friday afternoon around 12:35 pm, and I found myself sitting in the street with a damaged car across from an older lady who had appeared to just come from grocery shopping. (In my mind, I was sitting there waiting for the police to come and wondering who grocery shops at 12:35 pm on a Friday.) I was so in shock when the accident happened that I could not even get out of my car, and a kind stranger had to call the police for us and make sure that I was okay before disappearing. I’d just thought to myself the previous week how I had never experienced anything major like a car accident, then BOOM. Here I was in the middle of my own car accident. I was supposed to be going to Radium Springs the next day, and my mind immediately went to the thought that I would no longer be able to go. I did not yet realize that I would not be doing any of my trips outside of the one to Stone Mountain, 5 minutes from my home, for a few months after this. My car ended up being totaled from this incident, but I would not find out until about a week and a half later, at which point I would only have a rental car from the insurance for another week. This left me a week to find and buy a new car. Thankfully, my brother works at a Chevrolet dealership and was able to help me find a new car, but this was an unexpected major purchase that I was not really prepared for.
I was able to get a good deal, and it was a blessing in disguise because my current car had been acting up and starting to stall out. This car had better mileage, which would come in handy with all of the driving I was soon to be doing. I thought my troubles would end hear, but my back and neck had been hurting since the accident. After giving it time to see if the pain subsided as instructed by my healthcare, I ended up going in to the doctor and having to do physical therapy throughout the summer.
As a friend, I always try to show up places if I say I am attending, so I found myself making a trip to Nashville for a graduation, a quick trip to NYC to visit my best friend for the first time since she has been there for about 3-4 years, and planning things as the Maid of Honor for an upcoming wedding. I was also still going to work and physical therapy twice a week. Between these events, I was now finding myself fatigued and spent most of my time at home. I had gone from adventuring constantly to being relatively ducked off. I almost let my goal slip away from me, and truly, I let my ability to care for myself fall to the wayside for a little bit too.
Even though I was relatively ducked off, I still found myself trying to say yes to things when I should have been resting. I only took one day off from work after the car accident because I did not want to not “show up” at my job, when I really needed more time. I did not even really tell people that I had been in accident or was doing PT because I did not want them to worry or feel awkward disclosing that I was feeling hurt and vulnerable. However, I needed this time to slow down and rest. I am introverted by nature and had not been taking as much time to just sit and be with myself. Outside of hiking, I began to work on writing notes of thankfulness to counteract my frustrations with being in physical therapy or the business of life around me. I was able to spend more time reflecting, talking with the Lord. On top of this, whenever I tried to reschedule my trips to Radium Springs and the Okefenokee Swamp, the weather forecast always called for storms. It seemed like I would never finish my goal. I had one final open weekend two weeks before my 25th birthday, and I was able to cram in my last two trips to Radium Springs and the Okefenokee Swamp in one weekend.
Looking back on 24, it was fun, rough, and full of growth. I worked my first post-Master’s job, completed my goal of seeing more of Georgia through visiting the 7 Natural Wonders, totaled my first car “Jupiter”, bought my new car “Sapphire” from my baby brother, did physical therapy for my neck and back, spent a full year being vegan, spent a lot of time with friends, and managed to reflect on it all in writing. My two years in grad school were two of the roughest and lowest years in ways for me, and it brings me so much joy to think about the person that God has grown me into this year. I learned so much about myself, patience, and the ability to be comfortable in my own existence, which has been the biggest gift of all.
With 25 on the horizon, in addition to comfort with myself, this past year also gave me some of the below lessons to take into the next chapter of life:
- Make plans for yourself and just go. Those who are meant to show up will.
- You can not plan for the unexpected, but you can adjust accordingly
- Leave room for flexibility and grace with yourself.
- Rest is ok and needed.
- Prioritize what is important to me because nobody else will if I do not.
What have been some of your recent highs?
What have been some of your recent lows?
How do you reflect on these moments?
What are some of the things that these experiences have taught you?
Read more about how I started year 24: