The Life I Left Behind

There are always before and after moments in a person's life. Before you got that big promotion or asked your significant other to marry you. After you graduated from high school and landed the job of your dreams. We all break down our lives into a myriad of before and after moments.

My big "after" moment was the moment I gave birth to my precious little girl, Kailee Victoria.

Before I had Kai I was a completely different person. I spent my time practicing martial arts and surfing or if I could scrounge up the money skydiving! I was out every night of the week with my friends and working every single day at a job I had convinced myself I really enjoyed.

Then I had my baby girl and suddenly my old life was gone. Where I thought my life was meaningful I now look back and just see it in various shades of gray. Nothing in this world can compare to the awesome beauty of being a parent.

I left the job that I had thought would be my future and I took to babysitting for friends. One day sitting and talking with a friend as our kids played nearby, she looked up at me and asked, "what do you miss most about your life before you had Kai?"

I had to pause and think. I don't miss my life from before I had Kai. Although I thought I would be the cool mom who dragged her infant to martial art events so that I could keep up with the group, the need to practice capoeira wasn't so important anymore. I don't miss staying out until all hours of the night and working at a dead-end job that I now realize didn't make me happy at all. 

My life is different in so many ways but I don't miss the life that I left behind the day I found out I was pregnant. I think that as humans we adapt amazingly well to all the curve balls that life throws at us. We would never be content to remain stagnant in a life that momentarily seems to be the greatest life in the world. Each and everyday holds unexpected beauty and joy! 

I did love the life I left behind when it was the life that I was living on a daily basis. I wouldn't want to go back now and lose all I've gained though. Take each day as the gift that it is and don't look back with regret. Today is all we have to count on so make the most of it!