I am officially in the final year of my 20s. On Monday I turned 29 years old and it was one of my best birthdays to date. I always enjoy my birthday tbh and every year they get better and I’m so grateful to God that they do. But, to be honest for my 28th birthday while I had a great day, I was not in a good place. I was mentally exhausted, emotionally shut down and just overall not feeling like myself. I don’t even think I did a good job of hiding just how overwhelmingly sad I was. There wasn’t a particular reason for my funk. Life was going well. I was months away from graduating. I was successfully juggling 2 internships that I loved. Physics was awful but not enough to have me in the space I was in. (OK maybe the fact that passing physics determined if I would graduate or not may have, but that wasn’t my first time in that place.) I had every reason to be over the moon, and I was excited to graduate, but I was more excited once physics was over. *insert praise dance🙌🏽*
I wasn’t sure how to get past this hump, but I knew that eventually I would, I just needed to press in. I spent time with God, prayed and fasted – although I felt like every fast failed epically. I chose to have joy even in the middle of my storm. Over time I started feeling more and more like myself again. Well mostly me, but a bit different. I was getting stronger now that I look back. By the time graduation came in August, I was genuinely happy. I was grateful and humbled and just in awe. I was walking into a new season in every way, and it was beautiful. It felt beautiful. My 28th year was amazing, but it was also really tough and I am so grateful for it.
Rick Warren defines joy as “the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”
Today, I can honestly say I have joy. I mean I’ve always had it, even when I felt all blah but these days it’s different. It’s more defined. It took me a while to battle back to this Anastasia. The one where even in the midst of trials I still radiate joy. It’s nice to be back and I can’t wait to see how different life looks and feels this time next year.
So cheers to year 29 and all that it holds🥂
