{"id":1308,"date":"2017-11-06T22:22:28","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T03:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/?p=1308"},"modified":"2017-11-06T22:22:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T03:22:30","slug":"day-4-risks-grateful-taken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-1308\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-1308-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-1308-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-1308-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_black-studio-tinymce widget_black_studio_tinymce panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"textwidget\"><blockquote>\n<p><em><strong>Sometimes, the biggest risks are those we take with our hearts.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Four years ago, the day after my college graduation, I packed up my entire house after putting it on the market, and drove down to Florida where I had no family. It was my second time leaving a place that I called home. When I moved to the states from Haiti at 14, Georgia became my second home. This is where I went to high school, college, and started my adult life. I had managed to convince myself and everyone around me that it was time for a fresh start. The closer I got to my moving date, the scarier it felt. But I was determined. I had never been more excited and nervous at the same time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My husband (boyfriend at the time) and I had been in a long distance for a few years , and although we saw each other quite often, we got to a point where a week or a weekend wasn't enough. We had been traveling and spending a good amount of time getting to know each other, but it was time to move from our friendship\/dating situation to a more serious commitment. Part of me was skeptical although I brought up the idea. Why on earth would anyone move their entire life for someone they're not either engaged or married to? My common sense weighed heavily on my conscience. I usually didn't make decisions based on pure emotions, but this time, I was willing to take the risk, and I'm so grateful that I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Things started off great! We were spending a lot of time together, going on dates, traveling, partying, and enjoying being with each other. Then the conflicts began, and the real work started. We started seeing the bad and ugly side of each other. The flaws and vices that you don't want to own up to, or talk about. We started questioning the future of our relationship, and discussing compromises, changes, and boundaries. We knew that we wanted to be together, and were willing to put in the work that was needed to build a strong foundation for the future. And that's exactly what we did.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I can honestly say that taking that risk four years ago has changed my entire life. I still think about all that could've went wrong, but the outcome is proof that it was the best decision I've ever made. <a href=\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/15\/our-wedding-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On our wedding day<\/a>, I gained a husband, a partner, a friend, a travel buddy and a lover. The joy of having him in my life far outweighs the rough patches that lead us here today.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>What risks have you taken that you're grateful for today?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes, the biggest risks are those we take with our hearts.\u00a0Four years ago, the day after my college graduation, I packed up my entire house after putting it on the market, and drove down to Florida where I had no family. It was my second time leaving a place that I called home. When I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-30-gratitude-challenge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken? - I AM Laura Charles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken? - I AM Laura Charles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sometimes, the biggest risks are those we take with our hearts.\u00a0Four years ago, the day after my college graduation, I packed up my entire house after putting it on the market, and drove down to Florida where I had no family. It was my second time leaving a place that I called home. When I [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"I AM Laura Charles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Iamlauracharles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-07T03:22:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-11-07T03:22:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/\",\"name\":\"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken? - I AM Laura Charles\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-07T03:22:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-11-07T03:22:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab2f6465cd027b5853da89b76d8afae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/\",\"name\":\"I AM Laura Charles\",\"description\":\"Live Inspired With Laura Charles\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab2f6465cd027b5853da89b76d8afae\",\"name\":\"Laura\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba2dd9ed3ed53f5119100d180d6809974e0e35314c7abff821a2856a7000f0dc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba2dd9ed3ed53f5119100d180d6809974e0e35314c7abff821a2856a7000f0dc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laura\"},\"description\":\"I am an early childhood educator who has fallen in love with the life that I have been given. I am inspired by the beauty in everything that surrounds me to live my best life, loving my hardest, and traveling the furthest possible. Join me on my adventures through life.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken? - I AM Laura Charles","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken? - I AM Laura Charles","og_description":"Sometimes, the biggest risks are those we take with our hearts.\u00a0Four years ago, the day after my college graduation, I packed up my entire house after putting it on the market, and drove down to Florida where I had no family. It was my second time leaving a place that I called home. When I [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/","og_site_name":"I AM Laura Charles","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Iamlauracharles\/","article_published_time":"2017-11-07T03:22:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-11-07T03:22:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":200,"url":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Laura","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/","url":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/","name":"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken? - I AM Laura Charles","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png","datePublished":"2017-11-07T03:22:28+00:00","dateModified":"2017-11-07T03:22:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab2f6465cd027b5853da89b76d8afae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png","width":600,"height":200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/2017\/11\/06\/day-4-risks-grateful-taken\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Day 4: What Risks Are You Most Grateful For Having Taken?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/","name":"I AM Laura Charles","description":"Live Inspired With Laura Charles","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ab2f6465cd027b5853da89b76d8afae","name":"Laura","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba2dd9ed3ed53f5119100d180d6809974e0e35314c7abff821a2856a7000f0dc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba2dd9ed3ed53f5119100d180d6809974e0e35314c7abff821a2856a7000f0dc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Laura"},"description":"I am an early childhood educator who has fallen in love with the life that I have been given. I am inspired by the beauty in everything that surrounds me to live my best life, loving my hardest, and traveling the furthest possible. Join me on my adventures through life."}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/IMG_5463.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kiIm-l6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1308"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1329,"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308\/revisions\/1329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iamlauracharles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}