By Radley West
If you had asked me a year ago what I thought this year would look like, I could have given you a pretty good answer. I had plans. I had goals. I had a picture in my head of where things were headed.
Then life, as it tends to do, had its own ideas.
This has been one of the best years I’ve had in a long time, but it has also been one of the most unexpected.
Some things have gone exactly the way I hoped. Others have gone in directions I never saw coming. And a few things have gone so differently that I’ve had to stop and ask myself, “What are we doing now?”
The fitness business I’ve spent nearly two decades building is changing. Selling something you’ve poured that much time, energy, and heart into is harder than I expected. Even when you know it’s time for something different, that doesn’t mean you stop caring about what you built.
At the same time, the chiropractic and wellness practice has grown into something I’m incredibly proud of. But running a business has a funny way of reminding you that success doesn’t always look like a straight line. There are great weeks, slow weeks, unexpected expenses, exciting opportunities, and days when you wonder if you’re doing anything right.
Then there’s the wreath business. I certainly didn’t sit down and make a five-year plan that involved making bows and wreaths late into the night. Yet here we are.
It has taken off in ways I didn’t expect. Then, because apparently success likes to come with homework, I ran into the shipping problem. Turns out when you make something large and beautiful, shipping it across the country can cost almost as much as a small mortgage.
So I’ve had to regroup there, too.
And then there’s fitness.
I was invited back to compete in the Donor Games Championship this year. I’m incredibly grateful for the invitation, but if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t feel like I had done anything to earn it. I wasn’t training like I used to. I had allowed other things to take priority. I had gotten out of my competitive routine. But I decided to go anyway.
Maybe I don’t need to be the athlete I was ten years ago. Maybe I just need to be willing to become the athlete I am now. That thought has followed me around for a while.
Somewhere along the way, I think I started measuring this year against the version I had planned. And that’s probably where I was going wrong.
We do that a lot.
We decide what our lives are supposed to look like, and then when they don’t cooperate, we assume something has gone wrong.
But sometimes the plan changes because we change. Sometimes an opportunity we never expected opens a door we didn’t know we wanted. Sometimes something we worked incredibly hard to build eventually needs to be released. Sometimes success creates problems you never had before.
Sometimes you find yourself standing in the middle of a life you didn’t plan for, realizing you actually kind of like where you landed.
I’m learning that I don’t have to have the next five years figured out. I don’t even have to know exactly what next year looks like. I just need to keep moving. Keep learning. Keep showing up. Keep taking care of the things and people that matter.
And when the plan changes, adjust.
That’s something fitness has taught me over and over again. You start with a program, your body changes, circumstances change, life gets busy, and you modify the plan. You don’t throw the whole thing away because Tuesday didn’t go according to schedule.
Maybe life works the same way.
So, no. This isn’t the year I planned for. It’s messier than that. More complicated. More exciting in some ways and more difficult in others. But maybe that’s the point.
The goal isn’t to create a life where everything goes according to plan.
The goal is to build a life where, when the plan changes, you’re strong enough to change with it.
Honestly, I’m beginning to think the life we didn’t plan for might turn out to be the one we needed all along.
Radley West is married to Dr. Andrew West, and together they own 33/18 Chiropractic & Wellness in Irmo. As a former gym owner for more than 18 years, West enjoys helping people achieve non-traditional health goals. She and Andrew teach clients that while a gym is not necessary, fitness and chiropractic care are part of a healthy lifestyle. Though she’s a competitive athlete, she’s the first to say that fitness should be fun, and she never takes herself too seriously. Her and Andrew’s passion lies in empowering clients to lead healthier, more active lives, whether that means easily climbing stairs or improving posture. You can also check out West’s front door wreath and decor company, Worth the Knock. She can be found on all social platforms and Etsy @worththeknock.
