The Last Seven Years

I was browsing through my blog tonight and I realized that I started this blog seven years ago, in my sophomore year of high school! SEVEN. I look back and I think, "Where has the time gone?!" I honestly can't believe it was that long ago. So you might ask, what does seven years have to do with this? Well, I was a totally different person back then. I'm not the same naive, drama queen I used to be. I have a thicker skin than I used to and I don't cry near as often. This is HUUUUUGE milestone, believe me.

I'm a much stronger woman. I don't allow people to walk all over me as much anymore and I say what I have to, to defend myself. I cut people out of my life that I felt needed to be cut. It was hard and I've had to burn a lot of bridges, but it was what I needed to do. I've also gotten my heart broken a few times. I went through a really tough season (spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally) there for a while....but I learned so much from it. I never realized how much power I actually had until I decided for myself  that I wanted to leave that entire lifestyle behind. I didn't want people talking in my ear telling me to stop, I wanted to do it of my own volition. That's when I realized how far I've really come over the last several years.

While I have gotten stronger in many areas, I still have one area that needs improvement. MONEY.  I spend a lot more money on food than any person should. My savings account is a lot smaller than it should be and my credit card bill is always high. What's funny to me is that I used to be very good at saving my money. I'm not sure what events transpired that made me change that, but I started getting the desire to be tan, have manicured nails every two weeks, blonde, and pay for designer brand clothing. They were just "wants" because I was depressed and wanted to fill the God-filled hole in my heart with trivial things, not God. To this day, I'm still learning to do this and I've improved immensely. However, I hope in seven years that I have broken this cycle and learn to become the adult that I need to be.

I realize that this is probably a very scatter-brained post and I'm sorry for that (It's 5:45 in the morning, so cut me some slack), but I wanted to get my thoughts out. I really wanted to write about how much I've changed in seven years. Seven years is a LONG time for growth. Especially if seven years ago, you were fifteen years old and didn't know what the heck you were doing with your life. I've made a lot of mistakes in seven years, half of which were my own fault and could've been avoided. But if I hadn't done what I did in the last seven years, I wouldn't have grown in the areas that I did. I wouldn't have excelled or improved at all. I'm proud of what I've accomplished and I'm excited to keep improving.