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"It's Thursday and it's 6 o'clock, talk to you later" by now my best friends know the drill. For one hour of every week, I am unavailable to the world. For that one hour, I'm selfish af and nothing outside of me, myself, and I matters. Seeing a therapist has been one of the best decisions I've made in my adult life. I'm actually mad I didn't start therapy sooner but things align when they're supposed to. 

A few weeks before starting therapy I made the life-changing decision to call off my engagement. That choice made me question everything I knew and felt about love and relationships. Before I made the decision to end it, I made a pact with myself that the only way I would allow myself to walk away wholeheartedly was if I sought therapy for my feelings...or the lack thereof. So before I ended my engagement, I  found a therapist. 

To be honest with you, in the beginning it felt strange reaching out to a therapist since nothing major going wrong in my life. I always assumed therapy was for people who had an extreme mental illness, behavioral problems, or excessive life stress. I asked myself over and over again before my first session, "WTF are you going to talk about? How privileged you were for getting engaged and leaving? Girl, that is not a real problem.". The answer I told myself: suck it up, be open, honest and go with the flow. I'm glad I gave myself some positive self-talk because therapy is changing my life and I look forward to 6p.m on Thursdays. Here are 8 life lessons, thoughts, and affirmations I implemented into my life thanks to therapy:
1. Nothing has happened yet.
I am the queen of overthinking and playing out every possible ending to a situation before it's even happened. I remember telling her about a situation and she stopped me dead in my tracks and said, "Ashley, all of that is in your mind...nothing has happened yet." Whew, chile. 
2. Be present.
We're constantly in our heads processing information. Whether we're thinking about work, Facebook drama, TheShadeRoom captions, the latest dumb sh*t Donald Trump said, or whatever else in the may plague your mind...our brains are constantly working and focused on what's next. My sessions have helped me focus on being present in all moments and silencing my brains over-processing.  
3. HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE.
No one is watching your moves 24/7. We can lie to the world, but we can't lie to ourselves. And that's that on that. 
4. Things aren't happening to me, they're happening for me. 
This affirmation is all about perspective, baby. 
5. Enjoy the moment.
Having a great experience with someone doesn't mean it's meant to be in your life forever. Enjoy the moment and appreciate it for what it is not what you want it to be. 
6. You better glow, girl!
Lately, my glow has been hitting different. I'm finally discovering that my glow is given to me from one source and that source is ME! Other people and sources can add to my glow but nothing and no one can take it away. 
7. Do the work, see the results.
This one is self-explanatory and it can be applied to many aspects of our lives. For me it was all about doing the inner work. Since starting therapy and actually applying her practices to my life after session, I can see the results in the way I communicate, my work ethic, and in my personal relationships. 
8. These are the pieces of me.
There are tons of experiences that have and that still are shaping me into womanhood.