Hi Gie, my wildland fire academy was 8 weeks primarily Saturdays and Sundays aside from a week long fuels reduction project in Napa. I love that you asked the question of how my mindset has changed and my simple answer would be it’s dynamic. I’ve learned so much about myself and my own toxic traits that hold me back that I’ve come to the realization that I am in fact my own worst enemy. You see we as humans put up these barriers on ourselves that makes us fearful, avoidant, even entitled to what we think we deserve and that’s how we end up living our lives. I think realizing the endless possibilities/opportunities we have once we step out of these limits/barriers we’ve set upon ourselves is when we truly thrive in living the lives we were meant to. Once we face these fears we’ve given so much power to, it systematically limits us to what we think we’re capable of, but once you push passed even a single barrier you’ll have this entirely new mindset that is forever changing and allows you to feel like you can literally do anything your mind sets out to do. Obviously it’s easier said than done but try pushing yourself beyond that first peak that tells you you’re tired and ask yourself why? For example if you were to jog/run right now, how far would you get? What would make you stop? Is it really because you’re physically or mentally tired or is your mind telling you this is your limit? If so, humor me and push for 2-3 more minutes passed said breaking point and tell me how you felt. It basically comes down to what we’ve conditioned ourselves to sustain when in reality the human body can sustain so much more if we purposefully push ourselves to do so. For me, I felt stuck, trapped in a career I did not want to continue in so that was my why—that’s what pushed me even at my breaking point to keep going because in all honesty I would’ve rather spent my weeks filled with physical and mental exhaustion versus the traumatic/emotional and mental burdens my day job at the time left me to deal with. Overall, it’s been such a satisfying experience of growth, and I no longer recognize the woman I used to be because even when we think we know who we’re becoming don’t ever give up the willingness to learn more to evolve because life is not one size fits all it is too dynamic.

Thank you Lauren for your words of encouragement, I appreciate you so much for providing this space for myself and many others to talk about our discomfort zone.