"I didn't smile all day until I walked into a Turbo Kick class."

That was me. 15 years ago. I was in graduate school for physics in what I now realize was a very bad situation. I ended up being the last woman standing my year after all the others had been chased out. I was working in a lab and as a teacher's assistant, and I just was not happy. I felt like the core part of me that made me Cat was slowly disappearing into a situation where I was never good enough or smart enough or honestly, just not "male enough" for that university. 

I would take my classes, go into the lab to work, teach some physics classes (which I LOVED, what can I say, I love teaching). Then at 5pm, I would race to go take a Turbo Kick class. Walking into that class, I would feel my facial muscles start to move in a way they didn't all day...I began to smile. 

I had some great mentors that helped me begin teaching Turbo Kick. And right away, my classes began growing. I began to feel my normal self returning through the darkness I had felt while in graduate school. I felt like there was a huge dichotomy in my day. Boring, unhappy, working in a lab Cat & then Turbo Cat in the evenings. I didn't want to give up physics yet, but I was slowly starting to realize what made me happy and fulfilled. 

Better yet, I saw my students lives changing. I knew how important that hour long class was for them: it was an escape, it was freedom, it was an hour to be yourself with no judgement after all the stresses of the day. I realized my purpose in life wasn't to be a physicist, it was to help people change their lives through fitness and self-love. 

15 year ago, I would have never thought I would own my own online gym. I never thought I would be helping hundreds of people across the world. I never thought I would find myself through fitness. This was not the path I chose to be on 15 years ago. It was the path I was meant to take. 

I often get asked if I regret going to graduate school for physics. My answer is no. It was a hard time in my life but I am a firm believer that you are meant to go through certain trials through life. And if you can find a way to learn from them, even better. I wasn't meant to be a physicist, and that is ok. I was meant to be in that location on this earth at that given moment in time. I was meant to go through the struggle to get where I am today. 

I remember when my sister graduated college (also physics major!), the professor giving the keynote speech at her graduation talked about how you don't "fall into physics." If you are going to choose physics as your major you choose it. It's not a major someone accidentally stumbles upon. I choose physics, but I fell into fitness.  I couldn't imagine my life without that happy accident. 

No matter where you are right now in life, remember, there might be a reason you are there at this moment. There is a path for you, even if you can't see it now. I remind myself that life comes in seasons, the season you are in right now is not your season for life, especially if you want to change it. 15 years ago, I never imagined this life for me. It is way better than the life I had imagined to have 15 years ago. Trust the journey, enjoy the journey, you have amazing things planned for you.