Warning: pretty long post, but also pretty large life update.
Life is such a machine, and here’s why, and here’s proof.
It’s been a while since I’ve written in this way. But life is a machine. The gears are always turning. The mechanics are always working. You are always, ALWAYS, in the right place, right where life put you, right in the moment you were supposed to be there.
Why did I even go to college if I didn’t even need a degree to take this recent big step in my life, I asked myself recently? Well, answering myself, if I didn’t, then my life would be completely different. That gear wouldn’t have turned, which would not have allowed all these other gears to turn, and I would not have ended up in the place I am in right now. Not the location. Not the mindset. Not the aspiration. Not the motivation.
Flashback a month or two ago to the gear in my life turned by one Briana Vega at Aerotek: that jolt of self-awareness and self-motivation that I needed to go through with this large step in my life. But how was I to meet Briana in Pennsylvania?
Flashback to the gear that was college. I never wanted to continue college. About 6 years ago, as I was in my sophomore year of school, I applied to be a server at the Red Lobster in Times Square. That would have been a “dream come true,” or so I called it then. I loved serving. I made great money serving. I would have been in the city I felt (and still feel) most alive. But then I wouldn’t have continued to speak with Chelsea. And I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Flashback to the gear that was childhood. In 3rd grade, I had a wonderful teacher named Joy Bernhard. This woman truly, truly cared. I don’t know whether it was the fact that she was a traveler, or the fact that she came to my home to check up on me during my long time out of school during my appendectomy, but something just clicked. I wanted to become a 3rd grade teacher. She was who I aspired to be. Shout out to you, Mrs. Bernhard, for giving me a reason to go to college. Or I never would have selected that major that I ended up dropping. And I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Jump forward 9 years to major selections for Slippery Rock University. Early childhood education! I can finally begin classes to teach children!
Jump to a semester and a half later when I realized that children are annoying.
Fortunately, one Chelsea Watts joined the classes with me for those couple semesters, before switching gears in college herself. Fortunate for me that she chose incorrectly too, because I would have never seen her LinkedIn post.
Flashback now to 2015: that cross country road trip that spanned 21 states in just over a month. There in my time in Portland, I met one Duane Carpenter. While we did not last, if I would have not picked up and left to live with him spontaneously, I would have never spoken with him about his friend that had just gotten hired with a marketing company. I would have never looked at LinkedIn searching for this friend. And I would have never seen Chelsea’s LinkedIn post right there on the main page, introducing me to Aerotek.
Flash forward during my time at Aerotek. The front desk is stressful, as I’m told. Therefore, I enjoy visiting with my friend Briana. Something about her—I felt like I could speak openly and honestly. She became one of the few people in the office that I could speak to about anything. We became close quickly.
Now flashback a few months ago to her turning that gear in my life and changing my life and perspective. One must not only be rich monetarily, but in time. And we talked. We talked and talked. We talked about business, and we talked about our lives, and what we want out of our lives.
Bri is a very open-minded person—one of the most open-minded people I’ve ever met in my life. So I feel like I could trust what she was saying. And I truly BELIEVED what she was saying.
Flashback to several months prior to that, searching for “gym equipment” on Craigslist, turning the gear that was a posting mentioning a gym for sale on Craigslist, something I’ve been wanting to do for years since I’ve started getting into fitness, and me giving it not one single thought. I didn’t utilize that part of the machine—yet. That is, until Bri gave me the strength, courage, and motivation to take a leap of faith.
Flash forward to the leap of faith, just over one month ago, when I signed the bill of sale, to become the owner of Balance 365 Fitness.
Did I ever get that serving job in New York City? No.
Did my major end up working out? No.
Did my relationship end up working out? No.
But “the path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell.” And as always, the gears turned perfectly to allow me to have the life that I’m living today. And the gears keep turning.
These things aren’t by chance. I keep an open mind, I live my life as wholeheartedly as possible, I talk with people, and I hear them out. I listen with my head and my heart. And I love. And so far, these gears, and God, has not steered me wrong.
So onto the next journey, and the next giant gear. God only knows the next part of the machine. But this one for sure is going to be turning lots and lots of gears.
And, just as I found this one, through love, courage, and leaps of faith, I’ll continue to find my Balance through life.
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