My Quarter Life Crisis

I was in a bad place in the beginning of this year.  I found myself to be depressed, extremely moody, anxious at all times and irritated at anyone that said anything to me.  I had just turned twenty-five and I felt like I was stuck in a dark place that I could not get myself out of.  I hated my job, I felt like I was trapped and that this is the best it was going to get.  I felt like I should have done more traveling before I had settled down, got married and bought a house. I had no motivation or ambition.  Some days it was hard to just take a shower and get myself ready for the day.  I didn’t care about anything or anyone. Nothing mattered to me.  I realized I needed to make a change in my life when I told my husband in the middle of an argument that I hated him.  As soon as the words came out of my mouth I knew that I had found my bottom.  My husband is the most gentle, caring, loving man.  I didn’t hate him, I hated myself.  I needed to make a change and it had to happen fast.

            I reached out to my Sil (sister-in-law) Jackie to tell her that I think I reached bottom and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  To my surprise, she felt the same way!! I couldn’t believe that all this time I was struggling; she was in a struggle of her own.  We both decided that at that moment that we were going to make a change in our lives and get out of our quarter life crises!

            Disney has always been something that makes both of us so happy! My husband proposed to me there.  We are the happiest when we are in Disney. So when we found out about the Disney Princess Half Marathon, it only took a second for us to realize that this is it, this Half Marathon was going to help us!  So.... we started running.  Running became an outlet for us to take out our aggression, get fit and be happy again. 

We started interval training three days a week.  It was probably the hardest thing we had ever tried. We could barely run for 60 seconds without being completely out of breath. Everything hurt.  But I noticed that even through all the physical pain, my mental pain started to subside.  I was feeling better and I felt like the fog that surrounded me was lifting.  Running became so enjoyable that after a long hard run I couldn’t wait until the next one! Running can certainly be a struggle at times but with hard work and dedication it can truly make a difference in your life.

Plus, getting to wear a tutu and tiara (and getting to go to Disney) is motivation enough for me.  Disney and running brought me back to happy place and made me feel normal again.  I couldn’t have asked for a better person to go on this journey with, my sil. :)

Samantha