I picked up a new book today. Well, that’s a lie… Amazon delivered 1 of the 500 books that I’ve ordered since Covid-cation. And this one is more of a manual than a novel or self-love kinda book. This one is helping me master personal and professional greatness and the first line I read was, “What are you doing to reinvent yourself?”
Reinvent, eh. Okay. So, anyone who knows me is aware that I’ve made a few life changes since the beginning of 2020- because you know, I totally proclaimed 2020 as MY year to get my life together… and so far, this year has been one giant Pandora’s Box. Nevertheless, I’m still pushing forward in a fierce way and trying out this whole ‘reinvention’ thing. I don’t think I was a completely terrible person before… but I didn’t take care of myself mentally or physically in the way I should have. Sure, I went to the gym and watched what I ate, but I was staying up crazy late, not drinking enough water and allowing myself to play this victim card for far too long. I became a sullen pessimistic and had to fake smiles every day. It was no way to live and those behaviours were NOT going to get me ahead. Something had to give, right? And I’m glad I woke up before the pandemic and before this massive humans right movement. It’s given me a chance to make the most out of this time away from school and work and also given me a clear brain to ensure I full heartedly do my part in doing better for humanity. I’ll always be listening.
But, it all had to start within me. I had to really get fed up with my life not moving forward in the direction I wanted it to go. I had to get fed up with myself for not getting enough sleep and being a miserable cow most days. I had to get fed up with not being the best and healthiest version of myself because I simply couldn’t keep up with my kids. I had to get fed up with living pay check to pay check and not being able to pay bills on time. I had to get fed up with the majority of what I was doing because it was keeping me dormant. Because when you’re not growing, you’re not learning… and when you’re not learning, you’re not doing better to BE better. I have this burning fire in me to always be better and the only way I can do that is to be open to learning and growth. So, on January 1st 2020, after a massive bowl of fettuccini alfredo and garlic bread, I made a huge decision to change my life and build the person I wanted to become.
The first thing I did was figure out a lifestyle change in regards to what I fuelled my body with. I knew sugar had to go and I also knew (from past experience) that I love my meats (ummm hello garlic shrimp.) I chose to follow a keto lifestyle and I have had zero regrets. And let me make one thing clear, I do not eat bacon and eggs all day, every day. Mama loves her greens… but I had to imagine a life where the best and highest version of myself existed and I knew it was time to clean my health up. I drink my water, and I really mean that I drink my water. I make sure I’m constantly hydrated and I also get my sleep. I stop eating by 6pm so my body has enough time to digest before turning in for the night. (ps. who knew that eating so close to bedtime as an adult is the worst idea ever?!) I used to be that person who would need the TV on when I slept and now I do my best to end my day with a book rather than a screen. (but hey- I do have my movie nights that end up with me out cold immediately, ha.) I’ve always been an active person but I had been slacking hard within the last year so I got myself lined up with a home workout system and move my butt as much as I can. I bit the bullet and invested in an Apple Watch because I willingly admit that I sometimes need to be reminded to get my ass up and move… and apparently I need to be reminded to breathe sometimes. Oye. It looks like I’ve been holding my breath a lot more since my kiddos started their elearning… yup.
Another big thing I had to come to grips with was owning my crap. Low and behold, I am not the perfect person I thought I was aaaand I even make mistakes. Like, a lot of mistakes. But, here’s the thing: it is actually so rewarding to own up to my wrongs because it brings awareness to where I need to step up and “do better.” And there are a lot of places where I need to do better and one was how I was treating certain people in my life. I’m a mother of 5 so it’s really no shock that I’m a pretty tired lady a lot of the time, but it came at an expense. I can be short-fused and take it out on the adults in my life who are closest to me and honestly? I can’t deem it acceptable anymore. When you re-evaluate your values and maybe even change them (like I did) there are certain behaviours that had to go. And NO, they don’t disappear overnight. It’s still a massive work in progress for me but now that I’ve been able to do some deeper introspection and see my faults, I can put the work into them. Reading and writing have become my happy place and a good place for me to train my brain and continually stay inspired by like-minded people. Because that’s another thing, my brain is different than others. It’s constantly running with ideas and my challenge was always putting action to these ideas. At the end of the day, I had to get really honest with who I thought I was as a person and make an effort to ditch every behaviour that doesn’t serve me.
I’m reinventing myself to become (and not limited to) a woman who:
dreams big;
sets, writes down and chases her goals;
lives a healthy and active lifestyle;
encourages her children to chase their wildest dreams;
is kind and humble;
encourages her friends to chase their wildest dreams;
chooses and practices positivity every day;
plays her highest game as a human;
lives wisely;
confronts resistance and faces my fears;
living my life for me and no one else;
is courageous.
Albeit, this is a lifelong journey and I intend on consistently re-evaluating my goals and reinventing things about me, I’m content with where I’m at. There’s always work to do and always improvements to be made, but that’s the beauty of life. We don’t get this life back so we have to make this one great and I intend on doing that by evolving into my best self. I see so many fellow humans making some really great changes right now and it came from a place of being fed up. Now is absolutely the time to face fears and step into a place of discomfort, because that is where the real growth happens.
Cincodemumyo 