A Mile Walked Is a Venti Water Earned

*Peeks sheepishly around corner* Hello, again! After a long period of awkward silence, I have returned. Life is a journey, folks, and sometimes the journey requires silence and solitude. Many events have happened, some funny, some happy, and some just down right horrible. Again, that's life. 

I was in a car accident. Boom. Welcome to adulthood. As a result of the car accident, I gained bruises and lost my car. Wow. All of a sudden I find myself grounded. Ha. Grounded...because I'm on the ground..you get it. Anyways, I've never really been in this situation before. It's interesting because I've always glanced at people awkwardly half-running, half-walking across cross walks, and I've wondered to myself, "where are their cars? Who doesn't own a vehicle in this day and age?"  Isn't it just so ironic that I am that person now awkwardly running, and I mean full on running because I have legs half the size of the average adult, across a cross walk. 

Which brings me to say, Tulsa, MAKE THE WALKING PERIOD IN A CROSS WALK LONGER FOR THE LOVE OF ANYONE UNDER 5'6" WE CANNOT MAKE IT IN THE 3 SECONDS YOU GIVE US. 

Anyways...so today I walked around the area I was in. I'm familiar with it, which is a great thing. I had just gotten some good news on the phone, and I decided I wanted a Starbucks. There is one a mile of where i was located. Brilliant! One lil ol' mile isn't anything. One mile in June isn't anything. 

How innocent I was 21 minutes ago. 

I began my one mile journey in the middle of the day. The sun was so warm and friendly...for 5 minutes. Some areas didn't have a sidewalk. So I trudged through grass that was as high as my hip. I tripped on hidden rocks. I got chased my an unidentified insect. But I made it to Starbucks. I went to the back, and looked at myself in a mirror. My hair looked like a mild version of Albert Einstein's, complete with a blade of grass sticking out of the top, a pleasant sparkling of perspiration coated my neck, and I had a wild look in my eyes, probably from widening my eyes too many times when I thought a car would plow into me at the "well-timed" cross walks. 

And because of incurring adulthood expenses, I realize I cannot afford my shaken sweet iced tea. So instead I proudly order my Venti water. And let me tell you, this is the best dadgum water I have ever had in my life. 

I'm looking forward to what else walking will bring into my life. I think we all could use a dose of humility in our lives. I know I need it. So for now, I'm going to sit in this Starbucks, wild hair and all, and drink my Venti water that I know I earned. Keep an eye out for more stories to come! 

Back to Reality

I am imagining that, by now, many of you are wondering this: how is Alyssa adjusting to life after Disney? What an excellent question; thank you for asking! This post has been long overdue, I know, so hold on to your hats, ladies and gents. I will answer all of your questions to the best of my abilities. 

So... most of my Disney buds will be wondering: has the post-Disney blues hit? Am I depressed from the lack of pixie dust, or not being able to see the castle whenever I want? The answer to that is a simple no. I am completely fine. I absolutely miss my lovely fellow cast members. But I got my fill of magic. 

Another question I've received: do I want to work at Disney again? Not in the foreseeable future. Disney is a huge company, and I discovered what it's like working for a big company, the good, the bad, the ugly. The job in and of itself was so amazing, and I got to be a part of so many wonderful experiences. But I could not see myself with a successful career with Disney. 

What am I doing now? Well, currently I am back in school pursuing a degree in exercise physiology. I am back in my hometown, surrounded by my friends, family, and puppy. Life is good, and I'm so excited to see where I'm going to go in the future. 

Before I even heard of the Disney College Program, I had no direction in my life. All I knew was that I wanted to be a wife and mommy. But with no guys on the horizon, I realized that that just wasn't going to happen willy nilly. I had just decided to take a break from school because I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. It was kind of a depressing period, I'm not going to lie. But then one night, God literally clapped His hands in front of my face and screamed "wake up!" because He had a plan for me. I learned about the DCP, and I applied, and made it; you obviously know the story. And I learned so much while I was there. I made friends from all over the world. I learned more about who I was as a person and in Christ. I became 100% confident in my abilities to stand up for my beliefs even when I am the minority. I became an independent woman. I learned how to fend for myself. I learned what not to do regarding dating and guys. I'm telling you, the year in Disney opened my eyes to how the world really works. Through it all, I was able to dissect my own heart (sounds gross, but it works). I was able to ask myself what I really want out of life. 

I'm going to pause and speak directly to the girls out there who "just want to be a wife and mommy". My mom pointed this out to me the other day. Get rid of the "just". When people ask you what you want to do when you grow up, say proudly "I want to be a wife and mom". That's a pretty dang cool thing to want to be. Now, here's the tricky part. Know that that is not your sole purpose in this life. That's what took me one year at Disney to figure out. Being a wife and mom is one chapter in your life. You have a purpose. And that purpose is something that's already inside you. It's that thing that you really enjoy doing. That passion that you have. You know what it is... it's obvious because God put it there for a reason. You need to explore the options that you can do with that. I know there are probably loads of you who are all about that crafting life. Good for you! I can't even color inside the lines, so this is a pretty neat* thing to be able to do. Find the thing that keeps you going on those hard days. Do something with that! 

So in a nutshell, my experience with Disney was good. I had horrible days, awful, heart-breaking, "this-is-the-world-we-live-in" type days. But I also had amazing, heart-soaring, magical days. It balanced itself out. I'm not saying it's for everyone because it's not. But it's worth looking into if you're in a transitional phase in life.