Shiny, Happy People, Part 2

After writing this post, both Rachel and Leah followed up with posts. Rachel wrote about the top 10 reasons why being healthy sucks. But I think we all know that being healthy can suck. It’s hard. That’s why most people don’t do it. I like showing people that you can do it. I weighed 50 pounds more last year. I’ve since run two half-marathons and am training for the Chicago Marathon.

Like I said, I was in a different place in my life even a few months ago. I had lost a lot of weight, and I was happy about that, but I still lacked confidence, and I just wasn’t where I wanted to be in my life.

Leaving my job was actually really liberating — in that terrifying way. I got really lucky and got a big freelance gig right off the bat, which kept me busy most of that time in the interim, but still wasn’t rewarding. Through a whole lot of hustling, I found some other really rewarding freelance assignments. That was fun, and it was cool snuggling with Bailey all day, but I got sick quickly of spending so much time alone. I’m single and live alone — an extra 40+ hours of me time every week was a bit much for me. I was really proud of myself for being able to find fulfilling freelance work (other times I’ve been out of work definitely haven’t been quite so rewarding), and I felt like my creativity was really being turned on. 

But that didn’t come easily to me. The healthy thinking challenge I included in my challenge was in part for myself.

Call me cheesy, call me fake (I’m not) — I don’t care. The healthy blogs and some of the books I was reading at the time talked a lot about the power of positive thinking, and I bought into it hook, line and sinker. I needed it. I needed to conciously remind myself to think positive thoughts. I put my mind to it, and it helped. Annoying stuff still happens, but I don’t really let it get to me. It’s not worth it. I spent too much time being down on myself.

But I think being healthy ultimately comes down to balance. Make healthy decisions (eating, exercising, thinking) most of the time, but if you have ice cream (I did last night) or don’t get to workout (I didn’t get to today, I’m just adjusting my schedule and making today my rest day, rather than tomorrow) on a planned day, it’s okay. As long as you get back on track. 

For me, I’m in an incredibly happy stage of my life. So I’m going to share that. 

What do you think?