Get Messy.

Do you ever have those morning where your mind says to you, ”Where do you think you’re going? You aren’t getting out of bed. We are going to lay here and analyze all aspects of your life. Get ready.” Well, that is how I found myself spending my Sunday morning. I woke up and felt paralyzed with emotion for no reason what so ever. My covers were engulfing me and my mind was running wild. Every trial, tribulation and everything in between was being surfaced. By the time noon hit and I realized I had only gotten out of bed to put a mask on my face in effort to clear my blemishes, I knew it was time to put my two feet on the ground and go inhale some fresh air. I took a walk down to the beach and feeling the sand in between my toes instantly allowed me to exhale. As I sat there listening to the waves crash in I opened the note section of my phone to jot some thoughts down so I could clear my head. As I was scrolling through I came across one of my favorite quotes from Emily Weiss, the badass beauty guru for Millennials , “.… how about being present in the now, and a little messy?” I sat there and thought to myself – holy s*!@ thank you God for sending me this little reminder, it was exactly what I needed to hear. We live in a culture where everyone is so caught up in the idea of perfecting perfection in the blink of an eye and not acknowledging the journey attached. Our twenties are messy enough let alone throwing in the heavy weight of not only trying to be 10 steps ahead of the person beside you but doing it with clean hands.

I have said the wrong things, acted the wrong way, worn the wrong clothes, dated the wrong people, befriended the wrong friends, thought the wrong thoughts and explored the wrong opportunities. In my quiet moments all of that "wrongness" lead me to sometimes believe that I was secretly a mess but in reality, I realized, that I wasn’t a mess - I was brave for trying. Our twenties are a time to be messy. Figuring out who we want to be, what we want to achieve, who we want to be with and how we plan on finding the perfect balance can't be done all in one clean cut. To those that tell us we are supposed to navigate finding those answers without getting tangled hair or dirty feet, I'm sorry but I am not listening to you.

I am a firm believer that if you walk away from an experience with no dirt under your finger nails (hypothetically speaking, if you have real dirt under your nails that is gross and you need a manicure) then unfortunately for you, you did not gain everything you could have. Cry. Laugh. Scream. Explore. Push yourself to be in the now.

Enjoy it. Every single up and ever single down. Embrace the mess. The mess is what will make you who you are. Remember that we aren’t perfect, we are human beings. Once it all comes together, once you grow into the person who you were meant to be and you are able to check goals of your list you will look back and be thankful for that beautiful mess. I challenge you to take a moment this week to sit back to reflect on your mess and notice how it makes you feel. My hope is that you recognize how far you have come and how far you have to go – let it bring a smile to your face and sprinkle some motivation on your journey. That mess that you have created is yours and yours only. Cherish it and don’t ever let it get the best of you.