Wednesday, January 7, 2015

2014 - The Year I Stopped Waiting

In 2014, I experienced an amazing adventure that pushed me to my limits. Working in Tokyo, in the legal department of a Japanese trading company, gave me an invaluable practical education in global business, but living in Japan and surviving the crushing loneliness of that experience was the hardest thing I've ever done. It changed me.

Then, I discovered why the boyfriend that had always said he wanted to marry me never proposed. Surviving that heartbreak changed me too.

That's when I stopped waiting.

For the boyfriend to propose.
For the husband to buy a house with.
For the law firm to send me back to the US.
For things to get better.

In the space of a couple months at the end of the year, I moved to the city that's always made my heart skip a beat, started a new (better!) job with a perfect office location, and bought a beautiful, brand new house in my favorite neighborhood.

I have never felt more at the end of my rope than I did in 2014, but I have never had things come together as quickly as they did in those final few months. You know how people like to say it gets the darkest just before dawn? Yeah, that.

Things have gotten so much better, despite that I had lost hope, and, for that, I wake up each day feeling incredibly lucky. 

A heartfelt thank you to those of you who reached out to encourage me while I was in Japan. Thank you for helping me get here.