I think I am a holder-on. I blame it on being the eternal optimistic and always seeing the good and the potential in people. I strongly believe in people and know they are amazing in their own way.

Sometimes, people hurt me or wrong me. Because of always wanting to see the best in people and always wanting to help them find their way, I want to love, nurture, and help them, even if they’ve wronged me.

I think this also makes me attach to people strongly and fiercely. When I love, I love with all my heart and hold nothing back. I want to do everything I can for you to help you find joy, peace, and happiness. I see the best in you and want you to see that for yourself. I just do it all fiercely.

Any of this sound familiar to you?

If so, you may have also found that having this deep faith in people makes you have a hard time of letting go. You want to be there with them in the rest of the journey, to help them succeed.

It is time for me to realize that the people of the past are just that – the past.

Yes, take all the lessons you learned from them. Take the good memories. Take the experiences. Take the changes. Take the love.

Then leave them. They are gone from your life. They were important – and now they are not.

You may be holding on to the idea of them – that idealized thought in your head when everything was perfect. Or the future idea of what could have been.

But they are your past.

Holding on to these ideals obstructs your moment and your future. It stops you from realizing all that you have now and opening your eyes as to what is in front of you.

Give up the illusions and ideals of the past and be present. Give all the thought, attention, and love to the people in the present. They can actually receive all the good you have to share.

I know it’s hard, but work with me here, as together we break the hold of the people of our past and give ourselves completely to the present.

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  • Candy Walsh

    Thanks for this Megan,
    Your article described me and my life these past few years as if you knew my story. I am one who is a nurturer and puts myself out there and always wears my heart on my sleeve, but I have learned the very hard way that some people can be toxic and you do have to rid yourself of that to be able to move on.
    But….God is so good and I am blessed with a husband, two great kids and my very first grandchild three months ago.
    I hope others read your article and realize that holding on to people that aren’t good in your life stop you from seeing the things that are good and beautiful!ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      Ohh Candy, sending you so much love!!! I am so glad that the article spoke to you! I’m so happy for the wonderful life you have!ReplyCancel

  • Lex @ Flecksoflex

    What a great post, Megan! This was one of those hard “after I turned 25” lessons I learned. This is so hard — especially when you’ve known someone for a long time — but it really does help you find peace of mind and happiness.ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      Thank you so much! It is hard but it does eventually help. 🙂ReplyCancel

  • med-hero.net

    Memories make people either happy or unhappy. People from the past are our memories and it is sometimes hard to let them go. Though nothing lasts forever and memories that hurt you will also go away with some time.ReplyCancel

Guys, I can’t help it, I love working out. I know, I know, that is so annoying to hear but really, once you get into a routine of working out and you miss a couple of days you just want to get back to the gym! And let me tell you, if you’re having a bad day, there is no better feeling than going to the gym and getting out your aggression. Those are 100% the days I have the best, hardest workouts. I also always feel better about the problem I came in with (to some degree) once I leave.

However, going to the gym can get boring and repetitious, so I highly recommend switching up your routines from time to time. I shared with you my last weight lifting workout I did. I did this one July through December and then started on the push pull workout in January. I’m anticipating changing it up again around June/July but I’m still digging this current routine. Also, if you don’t have a gym to go to right now you can always try my at home workout I shared.

Anywho, moving on to the workout. I usually do warmup by doing some quick stretches and then running for 10-20 minutes. Then I move onto pumping some iron!

One quick note: you will see that this workout has supersets. Supersets mean you do the two exercises back to back without resting between sets. Once you do them once you will realize why they are called supersets. They are super hard!

Push 1

Bench Press: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps

Squat: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps

Superset:

Superset:

Close-Grip Bench Press: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps

Pull 1

Bent-Over Row:3 Sets Of 5-7 Reps

Deadlift: 3 Sets Of 5-7 Reps

Superset:

Stiff-Leg Deadlift: 3 Sets Of 3-7 Reps

Lat Pulldown: 3 Sets Of 3-7 Reps

Push 2

Military Press: 3 Sets Of 5-7 Reps

Leg Extension: 3 Sets Of 5-7 Reps

Supserset:

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 Sets Of 5-7 Reps

Superset:

Pull 2

Pull-Ups OR Lat Pulldown: 3 Sets To Failure

Leg Curl: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps

Supserset:

Deadlift: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps

Lateral Raise: 3 Sets Of 8-12 Reps

There it is! Once I go through all of the workouts I just start again at the beginning. Feel free to up your sets too. So if you’re looking for a new workout I hope this helps!

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  • Paula@SweetPea

    I love working out, too! When people talk about hating to exercise, I just can’t relate. I’m always looking for new gym routines and am going to study yours. I’ll probably have to print a cheat sheet to remember the exercises and the order. I’m been nursing a hurt foot for about a week and not exercising like I want to is no fun. I know you know all about that after your long couple of months of injury recovery last spring.ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      I feel you! Exercise makes me so happy! I’m so sorry that you’re ankle isn’t doing good. Such a bummer. Feel better soon!ReplyCancel

I find that some of my hardest and happiest times are unequivocally linked with a song.

I mean, every time I hear Macy Grey’s “I Try” I am immediately transported back to seventh grade when I wore brightly striped knee socks and thought it made me the coolest kid in school.

Fall Out Boy’s “Suga, We’re Goin Down” makes me think of the exciting and scary summer before college when I was free from high school, about to embark on a new life adventure in Illinois, and falling in love for the first time.

And now, I have found my anthem for this past year and a half in my life and leading into my new phase in Roanoke. No one will be surprised that it is my girl Kelly Clarkson’s song “Invincible”.

“You know I was broke down, I had hit the ground
I was crying out, couldn’t make no sound
No one hears silent tears collecting
You know I had lost hope, I was all alone
Never been so low ’til you came along
Teacher, I feel the dots connecting
Beat down on me, beat down like a waterfall
Cause I can take on so much more than I had ever dreamed
So beat down on me, beat down like a waterfall
‘Cause baby, I am ready to be free
Now I am invincible
No, I ain’t a scared little girl no more
Yeah, I am invincible
What was I running for
I was hiding from the world
I was so afraid, I felt so unsure
Now I am invincible
And I’m a perfect stormNow I am a warrior, a shooting star
You know I got this far, I had a broken heart
No one hears silent tears collecting
‘Cause it’s being weak that’s strong
In the truth I found
I have courage now, I’m gonna shout it out
Teacher, I feel the dots connecting

Beat down on me, beat down like a waterfall
‘Cause I can take on so much more than I had ever dreamed
So beat down on me, beat down like a waterfall
‘Cause baby, I am ready to be free

Now I am invincible
No, I ain’t a scared little girl no more
Yeah, I am invincible
What was I running for
I was hiding from the world
I was so afraid, I felt so unsure
Now I am invincible
And I’m a perfect storm

I was running from an empty threat
Of emptiness
I was running from an empty threat
That didn’t exist
I was running from an empty threat
Of abandonment
I was running from an empty threat
That didn’t exist

But now I am invincible
No, I ain’t a scared little girl no more
Yeah, I am invincible
What was I running for
I was hiding from the world
I was so afraid, I felt so unsure
Now I am invincible
And I’m a perfect storm

Now I am invincible
No, I ain’t a scared little girl no more
Yeah, I am invincible
What was I running for
I was hiding from the world
I was so afraid, I felt so unsure
Now I am invincible
And I’m a perfect storm”

This song. When I heard it I stopped. I got shivers up and down my spine. It made me feel all the girl power in the universe. It made me cry. It made me pump my fist in the air.

I play it when I wake up. I play it before I go to bed. Sometimes I even play it at work.

It is my anthem.

I believe everyone needs an anthem when they are going through a particularly sticky time – or a particularly happy time.

  • An anthem can pick you up when you are feeling particularly down.
  • An anthem makes you feel like someone gets you.
  • An anthem lets you be free to feel however you need to at that moment.
  • An anthem lets you sing at the top of your lungs to release some of that pent-up [insert emotion you are feeling at the moment].

An anthem is also a reminder that you are amazing, you can do this, you are strong, and you will survive.

One day that anthem will just be a memory too. It will be that song that comes on many years from now and you smile, remembering that time in your life when it was hard but you survived. That’s right, you survived.

I would love to know, have you ever had an anthem for your life for a particularly happy or sad time? What was it?

Leave a Note
  • Paula@SweetPea

    Because I live in a cave I had not heard this song. I’m listening right now and I love it. It’s like she wrote it just for you! 🙂ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      Oh yay! I’m so glad you love it and I was able to introduce it to you! Love everything Kelly does!!ReplyCancel

Moving and purging will do one very blatant thing for you: it will show you how much stuff you have needlessly spent money on that you don’t need. It’s painful to donate, give away, or sell for a fraction of the cost of what you spent on so many items in your household.

Yes, some served a purpose for years and was worth the money. While others you look at and think, “Why on earth did I buy this?”

The more you go through this process, the more you want to carefully and thoughtfully buy any items that come into your house in the future. You want to limit impulse buys and instead focus on smart, useful, beautiful items you absolutely cannot live without.

Another element that has become more and more important to me is buying unique items that are a little quirky or make a statement. Especially when I think about downsizing to 541 square feet; I want everything I own to really be something awesome, beautiful, or extremely functional (hopefully all three).

That’s where Uncommon Goods comes in. I’ve always loved browsing around their site looking for different items for my house or for gifts. I’m always on the hunt for that special gift or unusual gift, and I can always find something that is so fun!

Recently I’ve had a lot of friends who are having babies (I’m at that age!) and I LOVE browsing their baby collections. I mean, baby stuff is so fun to look at anyways but this stuff is just good. I mean, look at this! A sloth pals mobile?! So cute!

You can check out more of their baby collection here.

Plus, I’m coming up on birthday season in my family coupled with Mother’s Day and Father’s Day so now is a good time to start planning ahead and checking these things off my list (and budget). I love this Links of Love necklace that is beautiful, simple, and I love what it represents (you can read the meaning of it here).

 

You can check out the Mother’s Day collection here.

I am always a sucker for more personalized gifts and oh goodness – they have such neat ones! I mean a personalized penguin house sign (made out of glass mosaic no less?!). I think I need to order this one immediately.

You can check out their personalized gifts collection here.

Plus, I love any company who is aware of their influence and how they can use their company to reach out and help others. They have a whole program on giving back and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to organizations last year. Plus, they are very aware of their footprint and try to be very green and use organic, recycled items. A company after my own heart!

Do you have a favorite quirky or unique item in your house? Or a favorite one from Uncommon Goods?

Thank you to Uncommon Goods with partnering with me on this post! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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  • Paula@SweetPea

    I just got an Uncommon Goods catalog in the mail. They do have great things.ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      That’s so cool! I rarely get catalogs in the mail anymore. I didn’t know they had one!ReplyCancel

I don’t even know how to start this. It feels like a big announcement but at the same time it’s not that big. What a way to start, huh?!

See, I started out in this world in Connecticut and lived there for the first six years of my life.

Then my dad was offered his choice of places to move for his job, and my parents were tired of Connecticut winters and chose to move to Roanoke, Virginia.

We lived there through third grade for me until we moved to Forest (Lynchburg area) for better schools.

That is where I called home until I was 18 (well, we had a brief two years in Bedford from 16-18) until I headed out to Illinois for college.

In college, I found my adventurous spirit. Some may call it when wanderlust hit me. I was fortunate to spend time in Spain, China, and Australia for study abroads during those four years.

The last thing I thought would happen would be that I would move back to Lynchburg after college. But the love bug and bad economy hit, so I moved back to Lynchburg (all of my family had moved away at that point – ha!) and spent that summer job hunting and falling in love.

I found a job and got married and settled into Lynchburg life. And it was a pretty good life. Two years into that life I changed jobs to a place in Bedford, which was about a 30 minute commute. It was a good commute and didn’t bother me one bit. I like a little car time for loud singing or phone calls.

When I got divorced I moved into my apartment in Forest I essentially had the exact same commute (I moved about 5 miles down the road). This little apartment has been the best place for me. It had space for me to dance, laugh, cry, mourn, love, celebrate, entertain, and recover. It was my own little oasis as I rediscovered life for myself.

However, the past few months I have felt something stirring inside me again. It was the unsettled feeling, that longing for something more, something different. I started thinking perhaps it was time to explore different areas to live.

I spent a weekend in Richmond with my friend and loved it there. I started poking around at jobs and apartments online, liking the idea of living in a city and being able to walk to all sorts of fun things.

Yet, the more I thought about it, the idea of picking up and moving my life and changing jobs didn’t seem completely right. So I revisited the idea of something that had been floating around in the back of my mind for a while — back to Roanoke, Virginia!

Moving to Roanoke allows me to keep my job (Bedford is in between Lynchburg and Roanoke) and my friends but start over in a new city. A city that is bigger, has more events, more people.

So as of April 1st I am a resident of downtown Roanoke! This is not an April Fools joke.

Source

I will be living in a COZY (code word for SMALL) loft apartment in downtown Roanoke. I am blocks  from the heart of downtown. Walking distance to everything.

My place is updated and trendy…and 541 square feet. My motto will be, “small but mighty!”

I feel like living downtown will open up so much more to me. It’s a lifestyle change.

What’s not changing is my job and friends (except for new ones I plan on making!). I will still have the same job with a little longer commute.

Ahhh! It just feels so good for me to be making this change – for myself and by myself. It feels like a fresh new step that I am just thrilled about!

Plus, I started researching small space furniture before I even signed the lease. 🙂 🙂 I’m not bringing that old couch with me! I’ve already gotten a new couch picked out (plus, it gets delivered and I don’t have to move it!). And is it weird that I am insanely excited about basically selling everything I own and down sizing? It just feels SO GOOD.

So I will spend the next couple of weeks purging, sorting, selling, and packing!!

Leave a Note
  • Cheryl @ The Creative Me and My McG

    HOW EXCITING IS THAT!! Congrats – you will be part of this tiny space movement that we’ve been seeing so much of lately. I can’t wait to see how you design and decorate your space…ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      Thank you! And yes!! I am totally on board with being part of the tiny space movement. I can’t tell you how excited I am to sell all my furniture and just buy a few multi-functional pieces!ReplyCancel

  • Alyson

    What a fun change! Looking forward to hearing how everything goes!ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      Thank you so much! We will definitely do a Google hangout so I can do a video tour! Although, we definitely need to squeeze one in before that too!ReplyCancel

  • Meg

    Sounds like a fabulous life refresh, and I’m excited for you! 541 square feet might … be a shock to the system, but I can definitely see the appeal of boiling your worldly goods down to only what you love and want in a clean, fresh space. Awesome!ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      Life refresh! That’s a perfect way to put it! Thank you so much! And I am ready for the shock to the system. It can’t feel that small if I don’t clutter it with a lot of stuff..right? 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Paula@SweetPea

    This is so exciting! I looked up your apartment building last night and just love its history. I also glanced at some of the pictures of the units and they look incredible. It’s going to be so much fun to be able to walk to restaurants, shops, and also the community market. Roanoke’s Greenway is also great and I know you’ll enjoy that. I’m telling you now that I’m making a day trip to come to see you after you are settled in. I love to visit Roanoke.ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      You better take day trips to visit me!! Yes please! We can have all sorts of fun exploring. Isn’t that building cool? I love how updated it is!ReplyCancel

  • Kim

    Oh my gosh, I am so excited for you! So fun and exciting! Can’t wait to see what you do with your new (small) space!ReplyCancel

    • Megan

      Thank you so much Kim! I can’t wait to get my hands on it! First…all the purging, packing and moving! Send people with trucks please! Haha!ReplyCancel

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