I was a busyness addict, a calendar filler, and checking the boxes made me feel accomplished. I was a “fixer.” I spent most of my days in a state of stress. I worried a ton. Worse, I didn’t even realize it was having a negative impact on my health, wellness, waistline, etc., and the scale seemed to be a central part of my daily habit.
Author and humanitarian Chris Hertz says:
“We live un-awakened lives marked by self-perpetuating lies about
who we think we are or who we wish we could be seen to be.”
So many of our struggles, even our struggles with our wellness – fitness, weight, size, etc. – stem from our own identity and who we really think we are and who we want to be.
Today, we are influenced by so many external factors that – at the core – do not matter. In our society, we can be surrounded by:
“I am what I have.”
“I am what I do.”
“I am what others think of me.”
Who we are, our identity, stems directly from the voice to which we choose to listen. For a long time, I was listening to a lot of external voices and my health and overall sense of well-being suffered. Over time, through committing to my own personal wellness journey, I have come to realize that I am who I am. I am not the things I do, what I have, who I please, or what I accomplish. I am who I am and the anchor I most hold dearly and whom I want to please is my Maker and myself. As I embrace this, my commitment to and journey to wellness strengthens every day.
My own personal wellness story is a combination of family roots and my outgrowing those that made me feel like less than a gift. It is an adventure I’m still on, yet now I have perspective, an abundant mindset, and do believe each of us is the combination of the five people with whom you spend the most time.
Mine is a story rooted in my faith and finding my own anchor in me, no one else. Not how many likes on Facebook or Instagram, but how many times I say “I’m awesome” or “I’m grateful” to me, the one I aim to please. This has been a challenge for a fitness industry professional where “likes” and tags are what “make you.”
Putting my personal story out there like this to you feels vulnerable and scary, yet as one of my latest favorite authors, Brené Browne, says, we need to Dare to Lead. I’m daring all of us to lead the new movement for wellness in Alexandria. I dare each one of you to take a fresh look at your wellness.
Over the next few weeks, I will share with you my own relationships with each portion of my Alexandria Wellness wheel and how you, too, can overcome any struggles to achieve your own definition of wellness.
