“So go ahead and live like you’re loved
It’s ok to act like you’ve been set free
His love has made you more than enough
So go ahead and be who he made you to be
And live like you’re loved
Live like you’re loved
Live like you’re loved
Live like you’re loved”
-Hawk Nelson
I feel like a huge common denominator in most of everyone’s “health and wellness” journey derives from struggles with feeling confident in their own skin. Everyone wants more than anything to feel LOVEABLE. We’ll go to the ends of the earth in order to compare ourselves on our best and worst days only to later find that we’ve spent more time causing our minds and bodies more harm than good.
The key here is that, more than anything, whenever you start a journey of finding out who you are, what you want and what you need to live the healthiest and happiest life you can–you have to love yourself ENOUGH to know this journey will be worth it. There will be ups and downs. There will be high mountains and low valleys. There will be rollercoaster twists and turns with unexpected obstacles that you couldn’t have imagined you’d face in a million years. I genuinely think that’s what I love the most is the “rawness” that healthy living forces you to break into on those hard earned days. Fighting for what you want with your life’s wellness forces you to a new humbleness and teaches you more about the true you than you would’ve ever even thought.
I can’t sit here and tell you I’ve got this whole thing figured out either by any means. This is mostly because I like to think of myself as a constant work in progress, and hopefully in a positive direction (most of the time.) However, I’ve witnessed my own fair share of heartache, rock bottoms, and highest of high mountain top feelings. I’ve come to realize that digging deep enough to bare your most vulnerable raw self not only to others but to YOU first and foremost is two things.
1) Never easy
and
2) THE most important thing you could ever do for yourself.
You have to find out what truly makes you tick, what lights you up from the inside out, and what burns you to your core. These things are of course totally and completely different for each and every person because we’re all on our own individual personal journey’s here. But, the thing is before you are able to fill others up with your light in this world as you serve your purpose, you have to first fill yourself with happiness, love and confidence. You have to find what drives you forward on the good days and the bad.
You have to know WHY you want WHAT you want.
You have to do some serious soul searching and figure out why it is you’ve found yourself in this habitual lifestyle that isn’t quite bringing out the best in you. Doing this causes you to take a look at the ways that you’re feeling in this very moment and in your past. You have to ask yourself those tough questions of “How did I get right here in this place in my life?”, “Did I make these decisions out of love for myself or out of pressure from others?”, “What is it that is causing me to treat my body the way that I am?”, “What is causing me to emotionally eat when I’m not even hungry at all?”, “Why is it that I can’t kick these old habits?”, “Where is this negative self talk coming from?” These are all questions you find yourself digging into and they’re all going to bring up different kinds of emotions. Some happy, some sad and some frustrating.
The positive here is that by taking the time to truly search your soul and your heart as you listen to your body and watch it work, you find that with every answer to your questions you become that much closer to healing those old wounds. You’re even closer to reaching a new conscious and loving mindset and filling yourself up with every tool in the confidence tool box. You finally get to know YOU and what you truly want and need to be truly healthy and happy. (Hey, remember, no one ever said getting healthy was easy! It sure is always worth it though.)
While we all have work to do in more ways than one, it’s most important to give yourself grace at the end of the day. You have to remember that while you may have these lofty weight loss goals, or dreams of a babe of a beach body one day, we’re ALL fearfully and wonderfully made. We were all individually crafted and created by our God that chose to put us together just the way we are, down to the last hair on our heads. While we can set our goals on our physical beings due to health and wellness reasons, we ultimately have to remember that we were brought to this earth for far more than just eating our greens and apples each day. We were brought here to serve others as best as we can and to be a light.
So, in order to to fulfill our God-given mission, we are to care for ourselves as best as we can first and foremost. We are to show gratitude for the way our bodies are functioning RIGHT this minute. Not tomorrow, not in a year, not last month, but right this minute. We then are able to treat our bodies as the miraculous creations that are made in such a manor that our brains cannot even begin to comprehend. We only have one body and one life. So know today and every single day that you are created for more than unhappiness and crummy habits that leave you feeling your lowest. You are created for more than depression or self-doubt that is holding you back from being your best you. You are created to breathe in love for yourself and those around you and to show others that you are a light in this world far brighter than you’ve ever known before. You are worth fighting for my friend. Your body, mind and soul is golden and you deserve the very best in everything that you do. So go ahead and treat yourself that way in all that you say and do. And, at the end of your hard earned days as a mama, friend, daughter, sister, brother, son, husband, know that you are loved. So live like you’re love because it’s okay to act like you’ve been set free.
As always, From Chelsea