Someone asked me the most simple and seemingly the most important question about a week ago. We were talking about life at the moment and after everything he asked me, “Are you happy?” I liked the way he posed the question, as if even though a lot of things had happened, if I was happy in the end then that was all that truly mattered. I was glad that I could confidently answer “Yes” with a smile on my face. The truth is, I’m the type of person who rarely answers “No” to that question. No matter what happens I know how to look at the bright side of things; I know that I’m completely responsible for my own happiness. People universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend on you like good weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. And once you’ve found that state of happiness, you have to never become lax about maintaining it. If there’s one thing that I am most grateful for in life it’s that I’ve found the ability to stay happy no matter what circumstances may come around. Just thought I’d share that little tidbit.
Something else that I’ve also realized especially just in the past few days is that I am SO excited for my future; mostly for my job. I am excited because I know that athletic therapy is what I’ve wanted to do for so many years and I know that it is the perfect profession for me. It incorporates everything I love from the complexity of the human body and solving the injuries of athletes to the mere concept of travelling around the world. The other day I was reading about the woman who is the head AT for the Cirque De Soleil world tour, and picturing myself in that position or one like it in the future fills me with the great desire to learn and grow. I love gaining knowledge and being surrounded by people who are intelligent and have the same desire to learn as I do. Even looking forward to conferences I would be attending every year as an AT inspires me. To me, nothing sounds better than hanging out in Banff for 5 days with a bunch of ATs learning about sport-related concussion, joint contractures, training concepts, kinesiotape, and even chronic traumatic encephalomyelopathy to name a few. As I said, I love being surrounded by people of intelligence and people with a real desire to learn. I am aware that becoming an athletic therapist will be a challenge because the programs are extremely competitive, but I see it as a challenge that I plan to conquer. I always keep in mind what my dad has told me over the years, “you are lucky to have all of the resources you need to be the very best, so go out and do that.” And that, my friends, is what I plan to do.
Dreamwishing 