Happy New Year 2015!

*Left: 2 Years*   *Right: 19 months*

New Year, New Opportunities to push the boundaries of my comfort zone! 

As an extroverted introvert by nature, I have allowed my introversion to win while going through these surgeries. I've spent so much time alone on the long road to recovery.  After all, it was my fight to win, my challenge to triumph over...twice.  It was also tough moving away from the support system I had built over seven years and starting my faculty career right in the middle of the recovery from these surgeries.  As I reflect back, one of the hardest parts related to my feet was transitioning to a new physical therapist.  My former PT and I had built a great rapport and it was tough leaving so soon after my second surgery.  As reported in my blog, it took a while for my new PT and I to get into a groove. Now that I have a lot more function back in my feet and am a year and a half into my faculty position, I no longer have excuses to hold myself back from living out loud.  I am ready for the world again.  This year I vow to do all the things that I've always wanted to do.  Life is too short to hold back parts of myself.  I've been so focused and so programed to achieve highly academically that I haven't allowed myself nearly enough time to figure out who I am without it.  My surgeries taught me who I was without athletics, without leading an active lifestyle.

Who cares what people think about the real me?  The most important thing is that I am being my authentic self, not the person I think that people want me to be.

So...first challenge--> Going out on my own for new years for the first time.  Went to a NYE party downtown and had a blast.  Funny story, I actually ran into my RA from my freshman year of college who I hadn't seen in 9 years.  I spent New Year's Day with my swim team.  We have an annual special swim practice and party to kick off each year the right way.

Now about what to do with my blog.  Each year I post less and less, the good stuff and major changes are in the first few days and months after surgery.  Year 1, I posted almost daily.  Year 2, I posted monthly.  For Year 3 and beyond, I will just post the major milestones.  There is not much progress to report regarding my feet, just new life accomplishments.