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Happy new year everybody!! I hope you all had a blessed and fun-filled night and last day of 2023 with your loved ones. First things first, I am not going to apologize for us spending so much time apart, but I will explain myself. I do feel terrible for not being able to post the entire month of December, but I went through a bit of a mental hiatus. And let me tell you… I needed it so much. I don’t think we realize how much time we use up on account of the craziness of the day-to-day. The time just passes us by, and before we know it, Christmas sneaks up on us, then my birthday sneaks up on me, and then finally we are at the end of another year.

So much planning and resolutions are being put together around this time but few will actually follow through with it. Each year passes by and you expect yourself to progress as each year follows, and then life takes you back five steps. Will you be okay if that happens? Will you have the strength and courage to stand up and take ten steps forward? Or will this ruin you altogether? I don’t mean for any of this to come off as harsh, but it is very real. And real is what this blog stands for. That is what this past December reminded me of. I needed to practice what I preach on here because if not, then I am just wasting my time and yours and spreading nothing but lies.

So the time off was extremely beneficial. So much so I think I will probably take every December off. Now don’t hold me to that entirely but I do find so much value in spending quality time off of social media with family and friends and even just myself at the end of the year. It is the best time of the year to reflect and to prepare for new beginnings. (Take notice of how I worded it prepare and not plan)That is how I came up with this topic which I also used as the theme for my final project. It is a good topic to make you think, and to hopefully start you off just right for the new year.

So here it goes…

I am not a planner. Period. Point blank. I never have been and never will be. I am someone who always tries something at least once, though. So, I tried it, because of others, of course. And it was everything I thought it would be, not for me. Now, this is not meant to knock on you if you are a planner, but at this particular moment, I challenge you to NOT think in the mind of a planner. I dare you. HeHe.

Growing up, my favorite subject in school was always math, partly because there was no language barrier, but mainly because it is just very black and white. I am also only referring to math before high school. Math and I haven’t gotten along since then. More specifically, I liked dealing with only positive numbers and simple functions like add, subtract, multiply, and divide. I liked working with the whole PEMDAS thing too, but now we are getting a little advanced. The equation I present to you today is the most complicated yet very simple. It is the equation to a better life and a greater future.

Past + Present = ∞

Brilliant, right? I came up with it when I was trying to figure out why I hated planning so much. Or more, why life never went as I planned. Growing up, my goals were set pretty early on, as I picked up on softball fairly quickly. Sports became my world and from the age of five, I had my entire life mapped out until I was graduating college at twenty-two. Here is the thing, though. I am finally twenty-two, and my life couldn’t have gone or be any more different than I had planned for it to be. And I almost wasn’t okay with life sending me down another path. And I didn’t know how I could possibly stand or even physically walk ten steps forward. And all of it almost ruined me.

My mom used to have this ring that I am pretty sure she still wears with three diamonds on them. She would tell me that it symbolized past, present, and future. I loved the ring but I hated trying to think of my life in three separate and different ideas. My life always consisted of looking and planning for the future, all while talking about the highlights of the past. I never believed there was a present, just the past and future constantly interchanging. Or the present was just about waiting for the future to happen. I would drive myself nuts just relentlessly thinking of my past while trying to live in the present, all at the same time of preparing for the future.

So I just got rid of the idea altogether. I eliminated the future, and I put the past and present working together on the same side of the equation. You don't know, I don't know, and nobody but God knows what the future holds. So only look at your past, not with longing but, for the lesson you have learned. Add those lessons into your present so history doesn't repeat itself, and you really can continue to only improve. When you add the two together, the possibilities

for your future are all endless. And remember that it is three positive characters. No matter how dark your past was, you learn the lessons and find the blessings in the light. No matter if your present feels at war, you take it one day, one hour, one minute, one second at a time. And although people will tell you the present is the greatest gift, which it is, the second greatest gift will always be the future. I mean why else party so dang hard for an entire new year!

So here is to more life and that you cherish the gold memories and learn the lessons of your past, and that you thrive and live to the fullest in your present and have the greatest, safest, and blessed year, filled with love, laughter, success and joy.

God bless you all and GO BLUE!

xoxo,

Kroddyrich💋