“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” – Andy Warhol
It’s been eight days.
It had been 501 days.
I didn’t plan it, but I guess it was fate since the number was almost perfect. I didn’t realize until I put the date of the last photo with the current date in a duration calculator.
Whenever someone would I ask, I would tell them that I had no intention of going back to utilizing Instagram. I had found passion again. I had found myself and my zero again. While there is always discouragement when setting new goals, it was less about external voices and more about my own in the past year. But let’s go back.
I started using Instagram in 2013 because it’s what the cool kids were doing. It was a year after I moved to Massachusetts, so my photos weren’t from college, but highlighted my adventures – if you could call them that of living here. There were a lot of low-quality selfie’s because the original camera with iPods and iPhones weren’t that great.
My profile captured me. It wasn’t content. It was my life.
This is my second blog. In total, I’ve been writing since college. That’s a long seven years. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but if I count the days from graduation until now – it’s 2,696 days. That seems like a lifetime. I know, it’s not.
This blog is intentional. It’s accountability to my choices – overall health related. Sometimes it’s shifted – it’s obvious that there were years when there was something specific like competing or running that I gravitated toward heavily. Now, it’s more dynamic. I’m just trying to be the healthiest person I can be in my environment – and if you haven’t been around for a while, I’m going to talk about environment a lot.
My Instagram account has always been mine. My name changed, but I’m still me.
For a while, my screen name had the words sparkle or glitter in them – don’t ask. So I became more intentional with Instagram. I was intentional with sharing my interests, not just a street sign or a flower.
As my interests changed so did what I posted. It focused on sharing my day-to-day routine because I worked and traveled for work. I shared what I ate, my workouts, competing. I started opening up about mental health because it had been playing a larger role in my journey that I hadn’t really shared outside of my friend group. When I left my job and went back to school, I shared that. I talked about my coaching business because that became a part of my life. That’s how we evolve as people, that’s how my account changed and that’s how my life became content.
But my life isn’t content, it’s not about sharing the highlight reel.
We’ve heard people talk about the highlight reel, but I try to talk about more than just the interesting parts, the good parts because being successful in whatever you are seeking out is hard work. There are set backs. Emotions run high. Sometimes everything we know about how to “behave” goes out the window. Sometimes we hit lows, we hit highs. We take breaks and then we come back to our center. I talk about the dynamics of my environment and the implications it has on me.
But I know for some, this is a look into another world – it’s content.
I want to tell you about the past 501 days – and I will, but in parts because it’s a lot. My purpose for talking to you about it is so that you can understand that evolving is a natural progression of things. It’s okay to continue to learn and it’s okay to change your mind. Your beliefs can change and so can your behavior.
So think about what you’ve done in the past 500 days.
What have you succeeded at? What was a failure? Did you find a new method to work towards your dreams or your goals – whatever word you want to us there?
I asked this question on Instagram when I came back online and I was in tears when I read about the babies and the weddings and the houses bought. I smiled so much when I read how so many of you had reached, grabbed and held onto new triumphs. My heart also broke when I read about rehab and injuries, but I was relieved that the writers felt capable of asking and seeking help.
I know many wrote that they missed me, that they felt their “motivation” had disappeared, but I would argue that I may just be a little kick in your butt to remind you that hard work pays off – you sprinkled the magic dust and made dreams reality with your actions and I wasn’t even there.
I’m still learning that meaningful validation comes from inside. It’s nice to have a pat on the back and hear nice words, but the relief and sense of accomplishment from your capabilities being realized leaves an impression that is untouched.
We’ll talk about my 500 days in parts and then we’ll talk about the next 500.
I can’t wait to catch up.
<3
Cristina
P.S. If you want to share your past 500 days, let me know – shoot me an email with 500 days in the subject line :]
