What I Did 3 Years Ago Today

September 25, 2015 was the day before Freedom Fest, so it was a day that I’ll never forget. To give some context, it had been months and months of planning which had led up to this point. Three years ago today was a Friday, it was a long day, and it was a day that taught me a lot about myself and who I am.

I already knew ahead of time that on the 25th I wanted to keep my mind occupied as much as possible. Meaning, I wanted to have the entire day planned with anything that would keep me from being too nervous or stressed about the next day. So, to start the day off, my dad took me to see “The Scorch Trials” at the theater.

It meant a lot to me that my dad would do that for me. That was a movie that I had looked forward to seeing for a long time (I was always a huge fan of the Maze Runner series) and I really appreciated my dad taking me to see it.

Next, we went to pick up the stage for the next day. My dad and I met a few people at the location to store it up in a truck, then we went to the place of the event to set it up. I remember seeing the background that the other co-founder spray painted by hand that looked amazing. We got the smoke machines, the speakers, and everything else set up on stage.

After that, I went to watch my friend’s football game at his high school. It’s pretty much safe to say I had little clue what was going on (I hate football), but either way I enjoyed watching my friend play and cheering him on.

Finally, I ended the day by going to the mall with my mom to get an outfit for the next day.

Something about this day felt whole because there was so much going on that meant a lot to me. I remember feeling that the day was very complete. I spent lots of time with my family, I spent time encouraging friends, I had a good time, and I was also productive. It was almost like everything I care about was wrapped up nicely into one day, and it was the day I assumed I’d feel the most overwhelmed with stress. So, lesson learned: keeping yourself near those core values, prevents you from feeling fearful.