About a month after the opening of our gym, I had a real moment of self doubt. My life as I knew it was crumbling around me and I wasn’t sure I could do what was being asked of me. I sat down and wrote out my thoughts and it helped me process my emotions, everything became clearer. 6 months later and we’re doing better than ever, so I thought I’d share with you all my moment of doubt that lead to some serious self discovery.

To the partners,

To the partners that have found themselves doing jobs they’d never think they’d do to support their significant others, I admire you. For the…

• hours you put in for a job you don’t get paid to do
• time spent learning new skills on top of your existing ones
• never ending thoughts about how this is going to impact on your own career and if you even care at this point
• friendships you neglect without meaning to in order to survive
• social events you decline because you’re either unavailable or too tired to attend
• family events you never make it to, have to arrive late to or leave early from
• help you ask for from your parents, whether that be borrowing things, physical labour, financial support, looking after your pets or kids, or generally accepting your reasons for doing what you’re doing, no matter how crazy it seems in the beginning
• sleepless nights wondering how it’s all going to work out
• late nights and early mornings you choose to take on so that your significant other can get some sleep
• worrying over their health because you know that if they get sick, you’ll struggle even more
• missed meals or take away that you end up relying on because who honestly has the time or energy to shop?
• constant battle of knowing they need your help but meeting resistance every time you offer because they don’t want to make your life harder
• fights and frustration
• tears and the emotional storm that comes with having to juggle everything and not just survive, but somehow thrive

But on the other hand, there’s there…

• pride you feel when you see how happy this new venture makes them
• statements made about how well they’re doing
• knowledge that they are doing everything to give you the empire they think you deserve
• satisfaction of looking around at all that you have achieved and knowing that you helped build it
• people you meet and the new friendships you form
• promises of freedom and adventure when everything works out in the end
• love and gratitude you feel towards and from your partner

This path I now walk was one I never even dreamt of doing. When I met my significant other it had never crossed my mind that one day we would be running a gym together. I am happy in my career, I have my dream job and I can never see myself leaving it for anything else, but I will do whatever it takes so that my husband-to-be can feel the same satisfaction from his chosen profession. If that means that for now I take on many more roles, so be it. We do what it takes to help those we love achieve their dreams. Valhalla Strength – South Brisbane has been his dream. It’s now mine too.

#takemetovalhalla

Image attribution: Ivan. Dreaming about the starts. (CC BY-SA 2.0)