We Did It!!!

Graduation y'all! Your girl finally walked across the metaphorical and literal stage and it is a moment I could hardly wait to share with you all.

I am so excited to share I have officially graduated from my family medicine residency program, and I could not be happier. I am truly, grateful to God first and foremost for the privilege and honor of seeing this day and for the joy of celebrating it with those I love. The pictures on Instagram say it all really. I was nearly drawn to tears seeing how far God brought me and it warmed my heart with gratitude being surrounded by so much support, encouragement, and love.

In the glow of such an amazing time, I realized that I was developing this sense of anxiety. When I took a moment to dig a little deeper, I realized that I was starting to become consumed by focusing on “what's next”. The next step, the next chapter, the next adventure, the next move, the next job, the next, the next, the next… I wasn’t taking enough time to sit still in the moment of celebration long enough. I wasn’t taking steps to be mindful and purposefully linger in the space of gratitude for all my achievements to this point. The 10/11 years of sacrifice meant something and was worthy of, at the very least, a well-deserved season of rest, recharge, joy, self-love/appreciation, celebration, and love/appreciation of others.

Yes, there is a next step which I will probably dive deeper into a little more in future blog posts, but for now, it is okay to simply be.

So, to all the graduates this year, regardless of profession or level of schooling, know that you deserve to revel in every ounce of joy, that you deserve to be celebrated and appreciated, and that you are deserving of a season of well-deserved rest and reflection of how far you have come.

Congratulations to all the graduates!!! We did it!!!