Life sure throws a lot at you; sometimes in bits and pieces, often in waves and other times it just throws everything all at once.  This is how I felt the day I was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease that the doctor told me would take my life.

At that moment, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was in shock and I desperately wished I would’ve told my husband to come with me.  I had so much confidence that the doctor was going to tell me he could fix me and provide next steps that I told my husband to go to work and I’d call him with the plan.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be told my next steps would be carrying me to the grave.

The days, weeks and months that followed were full of unanswered questions, worry, hopelessness and despair.  Maybe you’ve been here before too.

I started searching for something to help me, a super food, a magic supplement, an extreme detox . . . the list goes on and on.  I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

The funny thing about the diagnosis is that I felt like it came out of nowhere.  The reality was, it had been brewing in my body for years.  My sugar and diet coke addiction, lack of sleep, and running my body into the ground all fed the problem.  But I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

And I was killing myself from the inside out.

People have said many times over “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”  And I will quickly reply, “I’m not.”  This journey has been one of the greatest gifts in my life.  It has challenged me, stretched me beyond measure, and has called me to respond with grace, truth and love.

I’ve learned many lessons along the way:

• Be present
• Don’t sweat the small stuff
• Show and tell people how much you love them
• Smile often
• Know that your best is going to look different from day to day, keep going!
• Be a bright light in the lives of others
• Serve from the heart
• Give more than you’ll ever receive in return
• Do something that scares you
• Offer grace, truth and love to others
• And do the same for yourself
• Practice gratitude
• Pray and trust
• Learn from your mistakes and get ready for round 2
• Have fun
• Nourish your body with whole foods
• Hydrate daily, every process in the body depends on it
• Listen well and speak less
• Take ownership of every choice you make, the good, the bad and the ugly

The greatest lesson of all though is the lesson about a specific relationship.

I never realized that this body of mine needed as much from me as it was giving.  Honestly, I did whatever I pleased, ate sugar, exercised a lot, lived off caffeine, slept 5 hours a night, and just thought it would show up regardless of how I treated it.

Until it didn’t.

The greatest lesson I learned is that we must treat the body like a best friend.  Feed it well, speak only words of kindness, provide it fresh air, new perspective and daily movement.  Thank it for all that it provides and promise to give the same in return.

I promise you, when this relationship is sound, it will fuel success in every area of life.

Here’s to you and your best friend!

XO,

OWN YOUR HEALTH.  It’s the one thing that must take place if you plan to achieve your goals and live a life of health and happiness.  Owning your health is about acknowledging your state of health and recognizing that you have full claim, authority and power to create a healthy body, mind and life for yourself. It is yours for the taking and now is the time to make it all happen. 

I never once considered that I needed to take ownership of all aspects of my health until my health was deteriorating at such a fast pace that doctors told me to go home and prepare for “what was to come”, meaning the slow progression of a disease that would inevitably take my life. When given news such as this, it takes your breath away, it caused my world to stop in its tracks, and it made me take a deep look into the reasons why it could be happening. 

At first, I blamed everything else for my ill state of health and questioned how I could be put through such hell. But after a couple months of my ranting I started a big internal investigation and came to the conclusion that everything about my life was contributing to my fast deterioration. 

While I exercised pretty consistently I had a few other things working against me…I always functioned at 100 miles per hour, putting everyone else’s needs before my own, committing to things I didn’t have time for, eating a lot of sugar and nutrient-void foods, drinking a few diet cokes a day to keep my energy up, staying up way to late and waking too early, worrying about what everyone thought of me versus just living in my truth, and missing out on a lot of nutrient-rich veggies, beans, whole grains, greens and nuts and seeds. 

I simply did not own my body, my mind, or my life. I just existed and thought it’d all just work out. 

I’ve learned that it doesn’t happen this way, we must each make a daily effort to rise to the occasion, make intentional choices that serve us and own every bit of our happiness, our health and our life. 

What part of your health do you need to take ownership of? 

Here’s a little exercise to get your internal investigation off to a solid start: Answer the following questions as quickly as possible, no need to analyze, just answer: 

1. I always have good intentions but never really get around to ______________________. 
2. The three things that are holding me back from just getting it done are:
3. If I were to consistently accomplish my good intention, I would feel.. _______________________________________________________________________. 
4. If I were to take my last breath today, I would regret not having done this for myself because________________________________________________________________. 
5. If it is meant to be, its up to me! I will do these three things for the next 30 days to take ownership of this one area of my life:

By doing this exercise, you’ve identified your starting point, your barriers, what it means to you to get the job done, and the steps you’ll take to make it happen. The final part of the exercise is to share your details with one person who will provide positive encouragement to help keep you on track. Lastly, keep your answers where you can read them daily; this is the best reminder to own your health and keep moving forward.

XO,