Be patient, keep showing up as your best self, treasure your tribe, and don't pay no mind to the nay-sayers.
I was in a job that did not require the college degree I'd worked so hard to pay for - 100% on my own. It was dead-end, not much fun, had some opportunity for learning, It did not pay well, nor was it well respected. I was living at home with my folks, looking for a better opportunity. In a poor economy, I was having no luck for quite a while. I had no boyfriend, and one really good girlfriend - until she got a steady boyfriend.
The best part of life was at the pool every late afternoon after work, and swimming. There was me and 3 older guys, all great, Brian, Don and Lou.
I was in a job that did not require the college degree I'd worked so hard to pay for - 100% on my own. It was dead-end, not much fun, had some opportunity for learning, It did not pay well, nor was it well respected. I was living at home with my folks, looking for a better opportunity. In a poor economy, I was having no luck for quite a while. I had no boyfriend, and one really good girlfriend - until she got a steady boyfriend.
The best part of life was at the pool every late afternoon after work, and swimming. There was me and 3 older guys, all great, Brian, Don and Lou.
We were the regulars. They were my tribe - even though we spent our time 98% swimming and 2% talking - it was 5 days a week, at an outdoor pool, every week of the year, for years, and an odd exception if one of us was not there.
I would swim that pool and work out my frustration that despite my efforts, I was not getting anywhere with anything.
As persistently as I swam laps of 3,000 yards in 60 minutes, I kept showing up at the pool and at life. Doing my best - frustrated and a bit depressed. It felt like nothing was ever going to change and that I was completely stuck. and a failure.
What I didn't know then was the art of timing, and that sometimes, patience is needed to capitalize on it.
I had set my sights for a big dream. A stranger one day at the pool said - "you'll never do that, lots of people say that and no ones ever does."
But I meant it. Go live in Europe. LIVE, not visit, not tour. It just took a little bit more time.
I landed 3 days before my 27th birthday.