A Letter to Myself on My 32nd Birthday . . .

So Nichole you made it to 32. 32 . . This is by far the hardest number so far . . . I know 40 is the new 30, blah, blah, but I just can't help but wonder what the Republic will look like in 8 years, a year, a month . .

I have always said there will be more time. More time to travel, more time to make the hard decisions I avoid, more time to fit in my skinny jeans, more time to open my heart to someone else . . In a sea of "this year I am going to . . ." I find myself hoping and praying for more time . .

They say a crisis is one of those moments that makes you evaluate everything about your life and see it in more clarity then ever before and they may be right. (Well unless you are Rahm Emanuel .. but that's another story for another day). Suddenly I feel that every day is about playing catch up for all those "more time" days I have had, that the moment for it all is now. I honestly feel more alive than I have in a long time because I am making those decisions of who I am and what I believe. I am finding me and in turn I see only great things ahead . .

I see my plan to do my 1/2 marathon as a way to find peace within myself and a way to honor the body that God gave me . . I see moments with my family as more than blurs of the same thing day after day (we own a family business , enough said) . . . I see that the best me might be the me I see right now because I am taking control of my destiny, as are 1000's of others out there..

I am not sure how many tomorrows there will be to do all the things on my bucket list. But I do know that all of the hard work I see like minded individuals partaking in around the country gives me a much better chance at telling my future children about the time Americans all over our nation joined together and saved their Republic . .