Elle7745

I love the thought of having you guys as my new tribe. That's awesome. Good luck on your full! I have one on December 15th and I'm going in for a CT scan in an hour because I'm pretty sure my tibia is fractured. It's not going to go well because like you, my training has also been spotty. My goal is to not cancel any races. I've never had to cancel in my life. It would break my heart. I was trying to sub 2 a half this season, hurt my tibia in July, and now I'm just happy if I show up at the line (and finish and not come in dead last) to all of my races. Best of luck to you!!!

This resonates with me a lot. There is a mantra in running and I realized that I started subconsciously implementing it in other areas of life. The mantra is, "Run the mile that you're in." If I go to the starting line of a marathon thinking about "Omg 26 miles," I immediately feel sick to my stomach, overwhelmed, and defeated. I have learned to break everything down in life by small "Mile-sized" pieces instead of looking at it like "Omg a marathon" aka life. Right now, I'm trying to get through this GED book to get myself used to learning (and hello, math lol). That's my first step. Next I'm going to make an appointment to talk to an advisor. That step is giving me major butterflies but I try to frame that feeling differently. I'm calling it excitement, not anxiety. It actually helps some.

Exactly. Let's do it.

Are you nervous about not getting accepted into one? Now that is my new fear lol I didn't realize (at first) that you have to be chosen to even attend.

I wonder how hard it is to get into a nursing program? Another thing to worry about! What if someone did all that work on pre-requisites and it wasn't good enough! A 3.64 sounds good to me though!

That is super amazing! Congrats to you! What a wonderful feeling I bet that was!

Ahhh. This is so refreshing. I identify with this so much. I remember a few times while I was raising my kiddos, there were a couple of comments from a few people..."When is she going to work?" said to my husband. My daughter was only 1 year old, my last baby. I felt a sting of hurt and anger. How could I shuffle her off to a crowded day care so young, how could I miss out on so much, and most importantly, how could they not understand why I did not want to miss out on those things? Especially when we were financially doing okay. I would have missed the easy morning conversations with my little boy, the exploring of the backyard every day with my toddling toddler, I would have missed all of the magic in the smallest of moments. When my daughter was 1 year old, I began the process of thinking of nursing and brushing up on learning in general. I remember sitting there with a ged book and my one year old pulling at the pages, saying mama mama mama! My 6 year old boy telling me to watch this, watch this, mom! And I was feeling frustrated with them because I needed to study and they were getting in the way. Soon after, I closed the book for good and just decided to love in the magic for a few more years. I'm so glad I did. Now they are almost 7 and 13 and I feel that I can prioritize myself without missing out on the whimsy of motherhood. I've been so lucky because I've been able to go to all of the chorus concerts, chaperone far away field trips, and volunteer and be active in their lives. They will always remember that I was there and that I cared, and enjoyed them immensely. That is priceless. I'll be able to take that to my deathbed. Now, it's hopefully my time to shine, right along with them! Thank you for your response!

Good luck to you too! I have no idea how to start either! It's all so scary and exciting! At least you have your associates! What a great start!

I commend you on starting your journey as a single mom, fresh out of a relationship. That's incredibly hard to jump into something such as this while probably being in a weakened mental state! Aside from all of the legit wonderful reasons why nursing would be an amazing career, your story reminded me of another one. What it would be like to not NEED a man to support me. I was previously married 10 years ago had a son, got divorced soon after (his choice). I remarried a wonderful man and we've been together 9 years and have a 6 year old daughter together. While there is no intention of not staying in this relationship, it is something that has always bothered me. I'd need a man to survive. To be able to successfully and easily support myself and my kids ALL BY MYSELF if need be, and not even have to flinch is something I never thought would be possible for me. That would be a cherry on top of everything else, and beside the point really, but definitely an extra bonus. I decided to get a ged book and study it, just to brush up on everything. My brain feels like mush from being a stay at home mom forever! I'm a constantly busy mom but learning in this way is something that I'm not used to. Even my 7th grader's math homework has me Googling stuff. Haha. Just studying this silly ged book puts me in a great mood and I am already feeling accomplished and so inspired to learn more and more. I plan on going to a counselor soon to discuss a path that will work for me. Like I said, science and math terrifies me and the negative side of me keeps saying I won't be able to do it. I don't think 20 year old me could have done it, but 38 year old me might...just because I have so much more determination and life wisdom now. Life has dealt me much harder blows than math and science and surely I'll be able to apply that tenacity to those subjects. I just want to say that I'm so proud of you for all of your accomplishments! I wish you the best of luck on your new job. I hope you feel endless confidence and peace in your new position! I know that I'd be nervous as heck even with a degree under my belt, but I suppose everyone may feel like that just a little!

Inspirational! I'm loving all of these encouraging stories! Great job to all of you!

I keep thinking that. I'm going to be in my 40s either way. I'd rather be a nurse than working at Walmart or in some customer service job. I crave things that are meaningful. Thanks for the encouragement!

Thanks for lifting me up! My science and maths in high school were trash because I had no interest in them. It's good to know that you love them now. Science and math terrifies me, I love English and writing and those have always been my strongest suits. I can't get the curiousity out of my head - what if I was able to pull it off?! Thanks for the inspiration. Everyone here has been wonderful!

This is making me feel so encouraged. How old are your kids? I have a 12 year old and a 6 year old daughter. I don't work, but I do homeschool my youngest. So, that's going to be a little tricky. And yes, I feel young! That's the weird part about it. I still feel youthful but sooooo much more dedicated, determined, and wise. Thanks for the reply! Best of luck to you!

I hope so! Good for you! I'm proud of you!

I think I'm going to print this out. This resonated with me so much! Savage advice and I love it! Thank you!!!