Lifestyle
Conquering an Eating Disorder
I was thirteen years old when I learned what a calorie was.
I was always a slender child, largely in part to the organic and vegetarian food my mom kept around the house, but around the time of my eighth grade graduation, puberty and junk food joined forces to add a few extra pounds. It was the age of walking to Starbucks with friends to get frappucinos; buying king-size chocolate bars from 7-11; and eating pizza at youth group gatherings. I’d always been thin, so I took for granted that my figure wouldn’t change with my eating habits.
Ditch Your Milestones
I used to think by the time I was 24, I’d be married with a baby. By the time I was 30, I'd have had a few promotions at work. At 35, I’d have traveled the world. 40, I’d be attending my son’s high school football game. I’d be stuffing the van and taking my kids to college by 45. 50, I’d become an empty nester. I’d buy a boat or an RV or something luxurious at 55 and call myself adventurous. 56, I’d welcome my first grandchild.
If Not Now, When?
I can tell you the perfect recipe for a ruined life, for the complete destruction of the great light within you; the one sure way to put out your fire, to shrink your wild life, to dim your sparkle to one faint flicker: Settle.
The moment we allow ourselves to settle is the moment we start agreeing to live a mundane life.
Where To Invest Your ♥
I think, for a long time, I got lost in someone else. When you let someone become your entire world, it feels like your world has ended when they leave it. I’m not going to let that happen to me anymore. Because I don’t want someone to become my world. Instead, I want to share my world with someone…someday.
Becoming Strong Women
I rediscovered an old book called “The Book of Me” from when I was six years old.
Illustrated in the style of Dr. Seuss, the book contains a variety of miscellaneous questions, everything from “how many freckles do you have?” to “what do you want to be when you grow up?”
Creativity ➳ Therapeutic
Creative outlets are king. They help build relationships, learn more about who we are, and connects us to others in intricate ways we can only attribute to God’s design.
Finding Balance
Precious girl, I see you and I’m with you. You love hard and give generously. You dream big and serve well. You are kind yet fierce. You wonder if self love is selfishness, and if you ever do enough. There’s a constant battle between whether you’re doing enough or being enough. And you never seem to win.
You Are So Much More
There is something the world is keeping hidden from you; a well-worn secret.
They dress it up and flash it in front of you and pretend like it won't spread virally when it catches the wind like a wildflower seed at the first hint of summer.
Power of Affirmations
I was first exposed to the power of affirmations from my sister, Mary. I was a freshman in high school and terrified of taking my first final. I woke up the next morning to a post-it note on my bathroom mirror saying, “You can do this, G. You are smart and you are prepared.” Waking up and seeing that note changed my entire day. I believe I passed that exam largely because of the words my sister wrote, boosting my confidence knowing someone believed in me.
Forgiveness = Freedom
Forgiveness takes a lot of inner strength. You have to put aside your anger and punishing thoughts and try to understand and calm your mind to see things in a different way. If you go through life unable to forgive, it will eat you alive, kill your happiness and leave you terribly vulnerable.
Forgiveness takes time but will set you free.