Meet Sarah. She more than deserved the Positivity Award when we gave it to her a few weeks ago. She even wrote this amazing blog post about November Project San Diego. And then she slept through her alarm on Wednesday and didn’t make it in time to return the Positivity Award to the tribe. What does that mean? Well, it means we missed you Sarah. And you owe us all a dance next Wednesday. But we still love you. And this blog post still deserves to be read by all.
So NPSD, meet Sarah.
I had a Wayne’s World moment Wednesday morning. And not in a “Party on, Wayne!” “Party
on, Garth!” sense; that’s every Wednesday at NP. In an, “I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy!”
sense. I felt unworthy of receiving such a high honor as the positivity award amongst a crowd of
extremely worthy November Project badasses. I’ve only been coming to NPSD for the blink of
an eye, my brain argued. How could I possibly be worthy of carving my name on this glorious
hunk of wood amongst the best of ‘em?
Receiving this award (and feeling worthy of it), amidst several other pieces of this puzzle we call
life, is why I’m confident that moving to San Diego was the right decision. Seven months ago, I
packed up my trusty Honda Civic with all the belongings I felt absolutely necessary for surviving
in San Diego. I hit the road with one of my best friends to make a cross country adventure
worth remembering. I hugged my parents, sister, and friends for who knew how long. Six
months before that, I turned in a letter of resignation in the school district I not only taught in
for four years but a school district I was raised in. I resigned the security of a well-paying job
and colleagues I loved, late hours of designing and prepping lessons, and the weekends of
endless grading, but not the abundance of heart for my hometown.
Six months before that I shoveled the snow and scraped the ice off that same Honda Civic that
for once was not towed from downtown Milwaukee in -25 degree weather. I was up before
dawn and working until after sunset. I was in a dead end relationship. It was then that I realized
that although I had amazing family and friends in Wisconsin, I wasn’t going to be happy in the
long run. It was then that I realized I had the power to change that. It was then that I called up
my bestie and pronounced we’d be making Vision Boards (yes, vision boards) for the New Year
proclaiming it: 2014 A Year of Change! Moving to San Diego was on my board and despite all
the reasons not to move, sunshine and happiness trumped any cons. But, would I find
happiness? Only time would tell.
In the past seven months, I’ve been ridiculously fortunate with everything that’s fallen into
place. I have a job I’m passionate about with amazing colleagues that I look forward to going to
daily. I’m in a strong, caring relationship with an amazing girlfriend that I love to the moon and
back. And when a random girl (cough cough, Mariah) at a run club told me to, “Just show up!”
for November Project and I finally got my ass there, I knew I had found my people. People that
give hugs, act ridiculous, push themselves to their physical limits, have a great sense of humor,
give back to the community, love to laugh, offer support in and outside of hills for breakfast and
appreciate a guttural profanity every now and then. Yes, yes I had found happiness. And I
intend to keep it close to my heart in my new home. #fuckyeah
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