Today was my last cancer treatment. Actually, by the time you’re reading this, it was yesterday.

It’s been a strange day, one that holds a mix of emotions that leaves me unsure of how to feel. It’s good though. On the one hand, I’m beyond excited to be done. After 14 months of treatment, I never imagined arriving at this day. The idea of finishing what felt like a list of never-ending treatments, seemed impossible. I await the moments of anxiety and fear of recurrence that will pop up, and I wonder if my life will ever stay feeling normal again. It also brings up a lot of memories, memories of a crappy road and a tough fight.

That’s a lot to process.

As I reflect on the year, I see all the growth and all the new insights I’ve discovered along the way. I also see what in some ways feels like a lost year. I look in my closet and realize a whole year passed without any wardrobe updates. My friends’ children are a year older than I expect them to be. My own memories are also a year older than I realize.

It’s as if the year passed me by, and that’s okay.

It was a year of survival, of living totally in my head while trying to escape the sickness, the pain, and the disappointment that my body had failed me.

I look back and wonder, “Did I share too much?”

This blog started out as a personal blog, so in those terms, it seems perfectly appropriate. But over time, I’ve shifted my blog, and it has become a part of my business website.

As a business owner, what is too much to share with clients and colleagues?

I don’t really know that answer, but since I’m in the business of creating relationships with people, I believe the best way to help others is to be real myself. If I expect others to open up and put their lives under the microscope, then I better walk the talk. So, I guess there was no other way, and looking back, I’m glad I did.

Part of my job is to share my belief that each of us has the power to design our lives however we wish. It feels a little weird to say, but part of my job is to inspire others and offer hope that we don’t have to suffer our way through our lives for them to be valuable.

I believe I do that by being real about my own struggles. I’ve failed a lot, but I’ve been successful at overcoming my struggles and creating the vision I had for my life. In sharing this journey with you, my intention is to help you know that you can do it too.

Sometimes I wonder if a person feels really stuck in their life, and sees me doing well without seeing my struggle, that they might not believe that I even struggled at all.

They might think I’m just lucky or that it was easy for me to find a career I love.

My biggest worry is that if you think that, then you might not believe it’s possible for you too.

When I see inspirational social media personas who portray perfect lives all the time, I don’t feel like they’re just like me. I don’t necessarily feel inspired that I can do it too when I can’t see their real struggles.

Where is the growth in perfection? Where is the growth when things are always good?

It doesn’t exist.

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know that I did indeed struggle to leave an unhappy career. You’ve also seen a lot of the good times that followed. And if I’m all about being real, you need to see that even after everything in my life finally feels “fixed,” life still throws us bigger curve balls than we can even imagine.

Getting a glimpse into my real life confirms even more that you can create the change you want too, because I’m not a phony person who got lucky. I’m a person who has problems, and I work through them, and at times I try my best to allow them to make me more of the person I want to become.

If you’re feeling stuck in your life, you can change it. It will change. I don’t care whether it’s your career, a relationship, cancer, or massive loss. These things all change, and they all change us.

It’s up to us to decide how.