God has helped me through some tough times and I’d like to share a part of my story. Perhaps, through my experiences, it may help you overcome or prevent any health and wellness-related problems you may have.
It is a spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental journey that will take all you have, but it will be worth it.
Over the course of my life, reflection and setting goals have been a constant process to achieve something great or to break bad habits. Some goals such as quitting smoking, losing weight, and ending unhealthy relationships are just a few of my accomplishments. I was born a problem solver, a hard worker, a dreamer, a lover, a creator, and the person that held me back was me.
Take your life back from the death grip society, family, friends and whoever else has on you. I want to scream for you to move forward and remember the seed God planted in you. God looked in the face of every evil and turned away from it. He wants that for you and also wants you to have all the love, joy, and gratitude you could ever feel! With every goal or accomplishment, there was a realization, or an awakening that created a fresh space in my mind that said,“This can be a good and great life!”
I have changed the many values, beliefs, and attitudes that family and society placed on me and so can YOU. You can be living your dream!
Reality Check
Do you feel like you’re on the right path? Or, do you second-guess your relationships? Do your bad habits make you feel awful? Is there a voice that keeps saying, you are miserable, you deserve more, you are unhappy? That little voice should not be ignored. In fact, if you do, the consequences could be downright terrifying!
When you live from a place of hate, discontent, anger, resentment, distrust, misery, there is no place for love, joy, happiness, and gratitude, which is the state you were meant to live. Just a heads up, in case you did not hear that, you should be in a state of joy and love if you are on the right path! Love does not hurt!
Believe me, I understand that life will bring circumstances that are out of our control and will instill all kinds of emotions, and no they will not always be blissful and invigorating.
Something I understand now is that learned behaviors from the environments we grew up in are not always the right ones. Moreover, they could be completely the wrong ones.
For an adult woman, I am embarrassed to say how long I behaved like a scornful and sad goat. So thankful I have made my breakthroughs, changed my mindset, made action plans, and went through the pain to achieve the pleasure and love I feel today.
Finding motivation is tough in life and especially during this pandemic. Achieving goals starts to feel a little more distant each day, but that does not mean we have to stay stuck in a negative mindset. These past five years I have spent quite solitary, so this isolation is something that I am accustomed to.
Time is the only way to achieve the new mindset you want, and consequently the new life you want.
Build positive and new healthy habits
In your life right now, can you gage your level of contentment spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally? Ok now, where are you scoring the lowest?
One of my lowest used to be health and fitness. Throughout my twenties, I used to smoke, and finally, my mind, heart, and soul said, “You have to quit!” There was a nagging voice that kept saying quit or you will die. That was a sign my friend, and eventually, I quit, and the negative voice went away, and so did the coughing, illness, stinking breath, and so on. The bonus of quitting smoking was the time and money I had for myself and trust me the positive outweighs the negative.
Next, I set the goal to lose weight, especially after the beating I gave my body bearing three children. I ate anything I wanted during my pregnancies, which is not the right thing to do. So, the goal to lose weight was essential.
The only way to do that was to eat a healthy diet and exercise.
Consequently, I had gained a lot more confidence and decided my next goal was to end a marriage that truly had stopped a long time ago. This was a choice that I had contemplated for years. I finally thought, if I died tomorrow, would I be happy, and the answer was a resounding no. The journey was a long and painful one, especially when it involved children, but I do not regret it for one minute. We all deserve love, joy, and happiness and I learned that we need to make choices that make us feel that way. I would rather be alone than unhappy. Choose YOU!
You will need you more than you will need anyone else. Trust me! Those are just a few changes I had to make to begin to find myself again and live the happy, joy-filled life I deserved. You can too!
Build a new daily routine
A new routine is a must in every health and wellness journey! I had tried to quit smoking and eating many times before, but always failed. I thought I could continue going about my business with the same friends and social life I had before. When I chose me, I ended the unhealthy relationships with friends and family for the most part. Some relationships could continue only when I was confident, I could be placed back into the environment and not relapse into the old bad habits of smoking and eating poorly. Over the years, I have remained strong, fit, and healthier than I have ever been.
Create new and realistic goals
Your goals can be achieved if it gets written down with some thought, passion, and a lot of love for yourself! You are doing this for you and no one else, so give this special time for you and make your dreams a reality. Write down your end goal or the result you want and take little steps. For example, I wanted to lose 30 – 40 lbs, so I tackled ten pounds at a time. Make yourself S.M.A.R.T goals,which means specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time sensitive ones. You will hit the goals and gain new strength with each one.
Create the Life You Want
If you have been unhappy, sad, depressed, and miserable for a long time, it is a sign that you need to make a change! God created each of us to be unique, special and wants us to feel love, joy, and happiness. Make your life a gift to the world, so that you can be a gift to yourself.
