I was born on a Wednesday, October 12th, 1988.

This will be the year I turn 30 years old. I am dealing with this, so bear with me. This past year was quite eventful–emotionally, mentally and financially. I struggled a lot with my biggest fear: failure. For years, I had been successful at most things I’d attempted in life. This list includes school, relationships, finances, my job, dancing…I could go on, but really, I’m not that awesome. Anyway, the year of 2017 challenged me to do something I’d avoided for so long! When I say ‘avoid’, I literally mean that. I’d never gone outside my comfort zone which would put me in a position to fail. You see, the only way to not fail is to only do things you’re good at. It made sense to me. And it proved to be correct–for a moment.

In 2016, my husband and I decided to venture out and start our own businesses. Yes, two brand new business at the same time. Made sense to me. Long story short, one of our businesses did not do so well and we officially closed it down this past November. Just 11 months after opening, the doors were shut–a decision that dinged our pride and self-esteem. But as the present shows, we got through the toughest obstacle we’d faced as a married couple. Strangely, we bonded more than ever during this crazy part of our lives!

All in all, the year 2017 taught me one extremely valuable lesson: remember all the good things and blessings you have. Always. Before we went off and started becoming business owners, our household income had tripled since we got married. We were success young adults. Just to be clear, we still are young and successful, just wiser and a lil’ older. But we wanted more. We were not satisfied with the life we had because we didn’t remember all those good things. So once the first business started going downhill, all I could think was, what have we done! or how did we end up here? All the things we wanted to do were derailed in a matter of months. There were times where panic mode set in and I was scared about what to do next. All the while, I’m also thinking about turning 30 in 2018 and how to deal with being a failure at 30 when I’m supposed to be thriving.

While the difficulties of the first business were happening, our other business was succeeding far beyond what we imagined (and thank God it did!). Without us even

2018!

realizing it, we brought in the exact same amount of income we made back before we started both businesses. Almost to the dollar. Kinda weird. Kinda awesome. So, business number two has been revamped (I’m still waiting on Bob to complete the website so bear with him), and we’re off to a great start this year.

It’s funny looking back and seeing all the small blessings that were missed when the fear of failure clouded my vision. Even though that first business did not work out, I was able to take away so much strength and power I never knew I had. Now, entering this year I feel like I can do those things I never tried before. No, I will not be skydiving this year. I have the confidence to jump out of my comfort zone and really be the best version of me. I truly feel like the events of 2017 were what I needed before I begin this road to 30. It’s a new year, the same me; elevated. And I am forever grateful.

peace,

shesneon