I am an optimist. And I’m also someone who just decides. When it comes to my own health and wellbeing, I make a decision and then I choose that decision every day until it no longer serves the highest version of me. We’re always shifting and always evolving (hopefully), so our decisions should move accordingly.
As I get older, I experience more worry about the future, worry each time the phone rings from someone I don’t talk to often, worry that something terrible is happening or has happened. I just worry more. And inevitably, something life-altering does happen: my grandfather passes, my dad gets a diagnosis, my husband loses his job, my grandmother gets dementia, all three of my brothers have health scares. All of it makes me want to curl up in a corner and cry and give up caring so much about my wellbeing because life feels hard and relentless. Like a fast-moving train.
Then there are the ups—my husband lands a new job, we move to our dream home, we travel between California and Italy (where my husband is from), I see more clients, our family grows. In these moments, I’m thriving, feel like I’m living my best life, and I’m taking even better care of my health. Because I want to continue feeling alive and well and good and peaceful.
But I get through the tough moments by deciding to. I make my health and wellbeing non-negotiable. Not taking care of my health is not on the table. Because there are very few things completely within our control, and how we take care of ourselves is one of them—it’s a big one. It’s the one that can move mountains, change our entire experience of life for the better.
When I’m down, when it’s hard, when I want to curl in a ball and cry, I lean into it. I sit with it. And then I have deep, unrelenting compassion for this woman that I am right now. I’ve made a decision to love me and take care of me no matter what. I’ve made a decision to be on my side, to root for me.
Since you’re human, you will live a life filled with highs and lows. Such is life. You will feel free and expansive and hopeful, and you will also feel drained and defeated. This is the duality. This is the truth. And because this just is, your decision—should you make it—to take care of your vessel as best you can doesn’t really get impacted. It remains steady.
I teach holistic practices to women every day in order to free them from the illusion that wellbeing is always a constant battle. There are many micro decisions that you make on a daily basis that are either contributing or not contributing to who you are and who you wish to be in your body. Once you get down to the root of your health needs and the root of the best version of yourself, the two can meld together and make decisions much clearer and much easier to make. Because you’ll be doing it for more than just “I can’t eat this, I can eat that.”
These words are 100% human (me, Jen) – written without AI assistance