Silver Linings

by hollylangley

The webster definition of AGE is: the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed.

I recently turned 41 years old.

Some of the experiences I have had in my life over the past 4 decades have, both positively and negatively, defined who I am.  Some of these things were not easily seen as learning experiences, but in retrospect, each one of them played a role in shaping my mind, body, and soul.  What I have learned the most….is that for every cloud there is ALWAYS a silver lining.

41 experiences that define who I am:

  1. Didn’t qualify for a travel ball team
  2. Named All-American as a shortstop
  3. Failed a Writing Assignment in Mr. Eckley’s English class
  4. Published a Book
  5. Was physically unable to finish a race
  6. Ran 6 full marathons
  7. Applied for a job and didn’t get an interview
  8. Earned a highly effective rating for my teaching job
  9. Played on a coed soccer team when I was 9, the boys wouldn’t pass me the ball
  10. That led me to softball, which eventually landed me scholarship money for college
  11. Had to give up a trip to Spain because I was injured
  12. Hiked Machu Picchu
  13. Applied for a Teaching Award in Social Studies and got rejected
  14. Named Technology Teacher of the Year for my district
  15. Denied permission from my superintendent to travel to China  
  16. Have traveled to 21 countries
  17. Took a job at a gym to lose weight and ended up working so much I gained weight
  18. Found CrossFit and lost said weight
  19. Had my wallet stolen from my car
  20. Had good insurance…Thank god for insurance  
  21. Got reprimanded for a bad attitude by my softball coach, was benched for a while
  22. Improved attitude, earned starting position back, made the winning play in the first televised World Series game
  23. My brother wound up in trouble for a long period of time
  24. He wrote me letters and I learned a lot about him through those words
  25. Went for a bike ride with a friend, got a flat tire and had to hitchhike to nearest bike shop  
  26. Met a super friendly redneck guy with a big truck who didn’t kidnap me   
  27. Was interrogated (by armed Israeli soldiers) at the border crossing between Jordan and Israel
  28. Made a really good friend in our bus driver who averted the crisis 
  29. Lost my dad to a heart attack
  30. Mom has recently shared many stories about him that I never knew…nostalgia is awesome
  31. Tore my ACL, MCL, and both Meniscus doing a power clean, thought I’d NEVER clean again
  32. Last week power cleaned 140 pounds multiple times
  33. Couldn’t drive or walk for 4 months
  34. Found out who my real friends were when they created a google calendar to car pool my ass around 
  35. Had to do over a year of PT, which was painful, costly, and annoying 
  36. Made some really great friends at that PT clinic 
  37. Couldn’t participate in CrossFit comps in 2015 
  38. So then Brian asked me to judge one at CF Unlocked…and that’s where I met Jason 
  39. Was told I should limit my exercise to yoga and swimming ONLY 
  40. Took up yoga and swimming….and hated both 
  41. Became a yoga instructor….. 

And so here I am…..enjoying all the silver linings of my life.

What is YOUR silver lining?