When I first moved away from home to Nashville I was 20 years old. I can not even come close to explaining in words how much I have learned in the past 5 and a half years.... So for now I won't even try. I will, however, try to explain one of my favorite lessons up to this point. TRUST YOUR GUT (all the time)!
For me, moving to Nashville was the hardest and best decision I have ever made. Telling my family that I was dropping out of school was certainly no easy task. Looking back, I honestly don't know what gave me the guts to do it.
So, I get to Nashville, I get a job at the front desk of a pediatric dentist office, which I had experience doing, and I quickly realize that I hate it! They gave every child drugs to calm them down and I saw about 15 children puke in the lobby within my first week there. When one of the other receptionists looked at me and said, "you'll get used to it..." is when I decided to give two weeks notice. I didn't want to get used to that. So, my first job in Nashville, fail. I felt like a total loser. Nine million questions in my head trying to figure out if this is where I'm supposed to be. Not only did I have to tell my boyfriend, who was beyond understanding but, I hated calling my family and telling them that I quit my first real job, that I actually needed to survive.
A week or so later, I was in downtown Nashville, sitting on the a curb playing my guitar (yes, this is 100% true.. :) when a random lady walks up to me and says, "do you need a job?" What the hell? YES... YES I DO. She gives me the info I need and tells me I can start in two days. This is when I started working in a downtown gift shop. Once again, I hated it. People were rude. I had to work until midnight on some nights, and then walk to my car alone in downtown Nashville. I had to pay to park. I would cry to my mom everyday and ask her what I was doing. She would tell me to be the best gift shop cashier the world had ever seen... which is so cute in retrospect, but not at the time! I made it at this job for about 3 weeks. Once again, I felt that I had failed. Something in me told me, this not where I was meant to be. If I hadn't trusted that, I could be lead cashier at a gift shop right now. Damn!
Onto the next, nannying. I love kids and I loveddddd the little girl that I was able to see grow up for about a year, but it was just a lot. I was with her for more than 60 hours a week, and we had two, one hour outings per week. It was hard because as much as I loved seeing her learn new things everyday, I was there for over 10 hours a day and had no way of meeting anyone my own age. (I did get really good at the ABC's though.) After about a year of nannying, I realized, yet again, I needed to make a change. I moved to Nashville originally for music, and had done nothing. I also had not made 1 new friend. On the day that I gave the mom a month notice for her to find someone else, I took the little girl to gym class. When we were in her class a lady named Sheila, who is now my good friend, made an announcement saying, "we are looking for some people who think they might be good at teaching classes. If you know anyone who might be interested, let us know." Well, if that's not a sign I don't know what is. I didn't feel right doing it right then, so I called the gym when I wasn't on the clock nannying. Ultimately I ended up working there until Larry and I decided on our little traveling gig, and now I currently work there while I'm in school.
Throughout mine and Larry's travels I have worked at a couple if coffee shops and discovered my love for baking. During our travels I decided that I'd like to take this baking thing more seriously and go to school. Which is where I am currently at in this story.
My main point is, you know when you're happy, you know when you're not. At least for me, if I am doing something day in and day out that I don't feel any connection with, it is going to reflect in all aspects of my life. I won't be as good if a wife, or friend, or sister, or daughter. When I am not happy with something in my life I have a constant unsettling feeling in my stomach. It is the worst.
I guess this is one of my favorite lessons because it will make so much of a difference in your outcome. Sometimes change is not easy, but it is definitely necessary. So, to wrap this up in a pretty little package. TRUST YOUR GUT! If you trust what is inside of you, I am fairly confident you will ultimately end up where you need to be. :)
