Checking off my list

I need a new winter hat!

As I walk home right now I can't say I've ever been more proud of myself than I am right now. I did it, I learned to swim, tread water and float.
I was nervous and pretty scared to leave the shallow end but I did it. I conquered it. I'm actually a pretty fast swimmer surprisingly.
I'm excited to go back again and swim some more! You'd be proud of me if you were there with me. I wish you were.
Tonight I can look in the mirror and smile like a kid who just got his first money from the tooth fairy. My day turned around when I swam that first half lap. Everything before that was sadness and missing you. But I overcame a huge hurdle in my life. I kinda like this new me thing. I like the feeling I have inside everyday. I love the person I am and am continuing to become.
My entire life there were people who didn't think I'd ever amount to anything, that I wouldn't be anybody.
I am someone
I'm a greater person now than I was when I made all of those mistakes in my life. I now see through a different lens. I know how to not ever regress and go back to that person. This is here to stay. The man I've become and will continue to become is a great man. He has his head on straight and his act together. Heck, he even knows how to swim now. The winds of change have blown the storm clouds away. I can't wait to show this change. I can't wait to let the world see me for the first time. I am excited to feel love once more.