Some people may think I’m crazy for doing what I do – getting up everyday and working out so I can be healthy. There are numerous reasons I do it. I can list them all here and maybe some of them would resonate with you or maybe they wouldn’t and you’d still think I was a little nuts. And that’s okay … I’m fine with that because I know WHY I do it. I will however, share one thing with you. Here it is
22 years is a long time to live without someone you lov . Today marks the day that my life changed … 22 years ago I lost my Dad unexpectedly to a heart attack. I will tell you that after all these years I still feel sad and although the sadness is different, much different than it was 22 years ago… I still get sad. I often wonder what my life would have been like if he was still here. I was just a teenager when he died and I know that loosing him shaped who I am today. He never saw me graduate from high school, earn my degree, or get married. He’s never met my husband and my kiddos have never had the chance to sit on grandpa’s lap and read a story. These are all things that I wonder about every day.
When I lost him I went into a place that some might call “dark”. I coped by drinking alcohol until I couldn’t speak words and felt numb so I couldn’t feel sadness anymore. I often cried and sobbed to my friends once I was in that state. I know I wasn’t much fun to be around at that point but that’s how I coped. Now I’m not trying to say I was an alcoholic but I know that what I wasn’t doing wasn’t healthy. I did what I did because I didn’t know any other way. Fast forward to meeting my now hubby and my life changed and I matured.
It’s taken me a little while to understand that being healthy is a choice and it’s an important one. (Maybe I’m a slow learner?) I look at my kiddos and I know that I’m willing to put in the hard work so hopefully they won’t have to experience the loss and grief that I did as a kid. I work hard everyday so I can have the piece of mind knowing that I’m controlling what I can.
I recently had some genetic testing done and I know that the lifestyle I was leading before finding this opportunity was leading me closer to that same fate. I NEED this in my life so I can be here for my kids. I NEED to be healthy so I can be here for my hubby.
So today as you go through the motions of life … stop. Just stop and look around you. Allow yourself to feel gratitude for the people that are in your life.
And know that your life can change in the blink of an eye just like mine did that night 22 years ago.
Do me a favour today? Stop and have GRATITUDE.
Today I am grateful for my life. I am grateful for waking up and walking on this earth another day.
What are you grateful for?
