Life is truly good right now. It’s relatively balanced and I’m just happy. I’m so glad to be back at this point in my life. I have great friends who love me, a great job, a great family and some great goals that I am reaching. It’s busy, and every minute is scheduled, but it feels good.

So, the new me? Well, the new me is really just the same me, but it’s the way I view myself. We are all labeled throughout our lives. For some reason, I was labeled as lazy and truth be told, the label was given for a reason–when I was twelve. The tough thing with labels is that, even when they no longer apply, the sticky residue is hard to get rid of, like on a picture frame where someone idiotically puts the price tag on the glass (whoever thought that was a good idea should be shot–okay, well not shot, but really, who thought of that?). Anyway, back to my point, over the past few years I have proven that I am anything but lazy, although the past six months have really solidified that. Not only am I not lazy, but I’m an assertive, fun, hard worker. And, over these past three weeks of being in school, again, I’ve realized that I’m no longer a procrastinator or class skipper.

It feels so good the shed those labels and start to work away at the residue. Unfortunately, those people who have known me a long time don’t necessarily know how to allow me to remove the residue. It’s not intentional but, to them, I am this particular person. That’s the person they’ve always known and loved and change is not always comfortable. So, there are some growing pains to be endured. I have to assert myself (which is one of my talents now) and kindly ask those individuals to please refrain from teasing me about certain things because such comments are a) hurtful and b) no longer true. Not the easiest adjustment to make, but well worth making.

Oh, and the fact that I’m training for a half-marathon and ran eight miles last Saturday, get up at 4:00 am to go to the gym and will be running another eight miles tomorrow also aids in the removal of the residue.

Yes, life is good!