A Year of Changes

As I sit here, looking at the last few days of before my 38th birthday, I find myself looking at my life and seeing many changes that need to happen to make me a happier person.  Negative start, right?  Well, it's not nearly as negative as it sounds.

For starters, I am a happy person.  I have a wonderful, loving husband; a beautiful, smart and amazing son; a family who loves me unconditionally; and a brood of animals that never fail to bring a smile to my face.  Not to mention a full-time job that I enjoy getting up for everyday; a group of friends that enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs; and all the major necessities of life... car, home, food, clothes... blah, blah, blah.

However, I can look back over the past few years and see that something went awry when it comes to taking care of my own personal happiness.  When my uncle passed away 4 summers ago, I was an avid reader and book-blogger and in dealing with grief, I found I couldn't concentrate on reading so I moved to watching YouTube videos... which led to filming videos and collecting all of the things (nail polish, makeup, candles, bath crap... you name it, I want and need it).

As I said, looking my 38th birthday in the face, I realize that I am ready to make some changes.  Not only do I want to fix my diet (or at least start a diet) which we will get into later, but I would like to re-evaluate my 'hobby'.

Nail polish has been a huge part of my life for the last 4 years and while I absolutely love painting my nails, I am tried of the constant need to have the most current collections and the time needed to swatch each collection and take pictures, film the review, edit and upload... it's about taking back my life.  Enjoying the polish and not feeling like my hobby is my job.  It's so amazing being able to get new polish collections for free but I am beginning to realize that the downfalls of spending all my time online isn't necessarily worth the benefits of a house full of nail polish.

Saying all that, can I actually sit here and say that I am 100% ready to throw in the towel?  No, not 100% but I am right there... looking the end of YouTube in the face and not feeling overly bad/sad about it.  So what's next?  How exactly do you end a 4-year hobby and something that has ultimately changed your life?  Is it something you do cold turkey or do you slowly make the transition?  I am usually more of an instant gratification gal... rip off the bandaid, right?

Well, let's see how it goes... start small and work our way to the feeling of personal happiness.  Making myself smile when I think of JUST ME is so important and I am ready to make the changes necessary to make it happen!

Here we go...