December 2018 - graduated from Northern Virginia Community College with an A.S., psychology degree - no small feat considering it took me thirty years to get there...
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| May 2019 Commencement |
July 2019 - had emergency appendectomy at 2:30 am instead of flying to Colorado later that morning for vacation and an amazing training opportunity in Denver...
and finally,
August 2019 - returned to university to complete my B.S., psychology degree.
This fall will be stressful, but also exciting and fun and I look forward to the challenge, I tell myself on good days;
How the hell am I going to make it all happen - and where the hell are my glasses [...or keys...or shoes...or books...]?!?!, I say the rest of the time.
The truth is, life is not as neat and clean and Walton's-Family-Christmas as social media might at times make us feel. For that matter, nor is it as mean and dirty and negative as the news media might project. Most of us are dwelling somewhere in between at any given moment.
Punctuated equilibrium is the term that the late, great anthropologist Stephen Jay Gould used to describe evolution. Rather than a smooth trajectory of constant change, he said that species plod along from generation to generation with no remarkable genetic changes overall until - BAM! - a cataclysmic event occurs. Those who are adapted to the new conditions created by the cataclysm survive (and subsequently reproduce, passing on their traits), while those who are poorly adapted die off (and of course don't pass on their genes).
LIFE in general is like that - punctuated equilibrium. That is how personal growth occurs (or fails to occur). We plod along in life...daily routine...minimal highs and lows then - BAM! Something big happens and we are forced to adapt - that is if we want to not just survive, but to thrive.
Which gets me back to this fall...how the hell am I going to make it all happen and thrive?
For five or so years, on and off, I've blogged about my journey through and beyond recovery from alcohol addiction, depression, and anxiety disorder. At this point, I have a pretty solid recovery under my belt. In fact, I'm working in the mental health field as a peer recovery specialist {more on that later}.
So, I've decided to focus more now on the Adventures part of this blog, and I'm taking you with me, dear reader. Not just adventures in recovery or college, but in really learning how to thrive and grow into my best self.
I invite you to join me in this journey too! Don't just read...DO. Who are you? What is your purpose on Earth? Where are you going? Where do you want to be? Share with me and others right here, or at any of the Pink Hi-Top Adventures social media sites (below).
Okay, let's power off now and get going!
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email: pink.hi.tops@gmail.com
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