Hey, it's me. Kirsten!
I haven't forgotten about you.
Instead, I fully immersed myself in this thing called self-care.
You should try it. I dare you.
Make it your New Year Challenge. You won't regret it.
But, Kirsten...
(I know, I know. I've heard it before). I have kids, a job, a husband I have to follow around and clean up after. I'm tired. I have a headache. My body hurts. Who will take care of (insert whatever you think only you are capable of doing that no one else can here).
Guess what?!! It will all be okay.
You will probably spend a couple months feeling like you have fallen behind in everything you do.
You will want to turn back to old ways.
But come on, let's be honest here, you are already chasing your tail feeling like you can't give 100%, wishing there were more hours in the day. What does it hurt to fall behind a little more so you can take care of you?
Nothing. It hurts nothing.
In fact, you will get to a point where you have gained so much and feel so good that it overspills to all those around you.
BREAKING NEWS :
This is the point where FULFILLMENT happens.
& it's fucking magical.
Anywayyyyyy -
I did that.
It's been great.
My life is very different.
Yet very much the same.
I changed a lot of my old habits. A LOT.
I reinvented my life.
I feel good.
I am happy.
I am healthy.
"Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. You need to remember that when you find yourself at the beginning; just give hope a chance to float up. And it will."
Hope Floats
>> My favorite movie. Duh!
I'm stepping off my soapbox now.
I am just really excited to share it all with you. :)
A bit of a catch up --
I came home from Mayo and quickly realized it was going to be hard to continue their protocol on my own. I spent 8 hours for 17 days taking care of only myself while there. Eight hours is a lot of time out of your day! It got difficult and I of course had quite a few days of struggle without their structure.
Here is a bit of a timeline (featuring some journal entries). PM = Post Mayo
7 days PM (August 25, 2017) :
"Feeling like a beast. Kicked today's ass. Muscles. Today i'm thankful for everything; mostly my new muscles."
13 days PM (August 31, 2017) :
"Fuck today. Today i'm thankful for the word fuck."
19 days PM (September 6, 2017) :
*They say it takes 21 days to change a habit; right on track.*
"Wow! This is the first day that I accomplished my Mayo checklist with ease. I didn't put anything off for later and finished ahead of schedule. Dammit. Am I supposed to do that? Huh. Stop overanalyzing, Kirsten. You did it. Success. Today i'm thankful to have some spare time to give to someone else."
24 days PM (September 11, 2017) :
Testing the waters. I took my first weekend trip PM. Jumped in the car with Mom for a work thing in the Dells for a couple days. Ended up in bed early this particular night with a migraine. Here was my journal entry. "Too soon, Kirsten. Too soon. No, not too soon. You must try. You tried. You had a good travel day yesterday. Your mom is proud. That is enough. Today i'm thankful for my Momma Bear."
27 days PM (September 14, 2017) :
Kirsten goes to the doctor.
This was an appointment that I had cancelled while at Mayo in April because that damn list they gave me was just too extensive. Something had to give. I crossed off the one I thought was least critical and cancelled it. Then "forgot" to reschedule it. While at Mayo over the summer for "bootcamp", I was informed the appointment needed to be rescheduled. They were very kind and found me a doctor at UIHC. I got some news. It wasn't great.
We took action and I am healthy and in a good place now. I worked my ass off and will continue to work towards better health every damn day.
I dedicated all my time and energy to my "bootcamp" skills and changing my lifestyle yet again.
This is something I had to do on my own.
No opinions, no outside influence.
Just me taking care of me, for me.
I have no video documentation of the process this time, but you better believe I documented all that shit in my journal.
I can't wait to share it with you!
I reinvented my life.
You can too.
I hope you all had the best holiday season and enjoy your New Years Eve shenanigans.
Can't wait to catch you up on my life & share all my tips at mastering your own.
Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for checking in.
You all rock.
See you in 2018!
Remember, "Count your Rainbows, not your Thunderstorms!"
xoxo Kirsten 💕
P.S. HERE is a PDF for you to print out and fill in to reflect on your year. It is one page. Short and sweet. But there is something about writing it all down to see how far you've come. Give it a try. It doesn't have to be done before the year end. DUH! It's helpful everyday. A great resource to come back to when you are feeling discouraged and unworthy. You should probably print out a couple, because i'm sure you have a few family members and/or friends who could use it too!