It is well documented how much I love to eat food.  One of my favorite foods is chocolate!!  Cake, cookies, ice cream, doesn’t matter I love it all.  I don’t always need a lot of it, just a little piece.  So I frequently have Dove Chocolates on hand.  I love how they give me quotes to think about as I am enjoying my treat.  Sometimes I don’t connect with the quote or have heard it before, but I recently ran across one and I fell in love with it.  The quote came from Erin in Kentucky, according to the wrapper, and it said……

“Always make your past self jealous”

Thanks Erin in Kentucky!!  You made my day!!

I think about my past self and how much I have grown since……. whenever; youth……high school…….college……..the beginning of my teaching career…….  I think about all of the things I wanted for myself before I had them.  What I have come to realize is, the things and people I have in my life now, are so much more than I thought they would be, back when I wanted them.  Try to ponder that sentence for a minute………

Here is what I mean………

In my teenage years, I knew I would get married someday.  I met Jason when I was a senior in high school.  We got married pretty young and had our 15 year anniversary this summer.  Do we have our ups and downs like all couples?  Absolutely!!  Do we have less ups and downs than we did after first getting married?  Also, yes…… But building a life with someone you love and respect is more rewarding than I would have thought it to be, all those years ago.  Our plans and dreams are exciting and give us something to work for and look forward to, as the years continue to pass.  My past self would have been jealous of how wonderful my relationship is now……..

Another dream was to have children.  While I was not ready for them in my early twenties and enjoyed just being married; I knew we would have them one day.  But I did not understand what it meant to love someone so much; be amazed and in awe watching them grow up.  Catching little moments even when they don’t know I am looking at them, fills me with such love, I could almost cry.  Seeing how excited my children can get when they accomplish something wonderful and how sad they are when they have made a mistake only makes me continue to hope they will be good people as they grow older.  I don’t think my past self would have understood what children do for you and how they can change your life…….

I am positive my past self would have been jealous of the confidence and knowledge I have gained in education.  My colleagues have given me more than I could ever hope to give to all of them.  I am better in the classroom than when I was a beginning teacher.  When I was a new teacher I lacked confidence in myself and was never sure if what I was doing was a good strategy or the right way to handle a situation.  Now I know there are hundreds of “right” ways and I need to stick to a style fitting me.  I try to be a positive teacher everyday and my ability to stay calm and deal with situations is definitely better, even though I can still be my fiery red-headed self.  My past self didn’t understand the strength I had and would find with the help of so many…..

While these are just a few of the ways I can make my past self jealous, I have many areas needing attention.  Do I still struggle with patience and being the best version of myself?  Yes, every day…….every day……but I can only hope if I have made progress, I will continue to make progress in the areas of life that matter most.  I will never again have my high school body back, but my three children remind me it’s okay.  I will never be able to run wild and free like back then, but I was never really good at that anyway, and much more prefer to be grounded and safe.  If something were to happen to me or my husband, my kids would have to endure that kind of loss and I don’t want that for them.  Youth is a wonderful time, filled with dreams and promise.  I thought I knew everything as a teenager, but you don’t realize how much you don’t know until you age.  With age comes wisdom and while I don’t think my past self would have been jealous about it, I also don’t think you can appreciate wisdom until you gain it.  I know while I have gained some wisdom, I still have a more to learn.  Maybe I would have been jealous……..

Challenge Time!!  Think about all of the good things in your life.  What ways would you make your past self jealous?  What are all of the things you are thankful for in your current life?  It is easy to forget some of these things, but try to make your past self jealous and be the best version of yourself everyday.  We can all thank Erin in Kentucky for this idea!!  Share your comments on this site or on the Facebook page, Speaking Jelinese.  Hit those sharing buttons and keep reminding everyone to make their past self jealous!!!

Talk to you soon,

Angie