Falling in Love with the Process – The Long Game

Whenever we begin a new endeavor related to health, fitness, career, relationships, or personal development, it’s so easy to simply focus on the point of “arrival” and where we believe we need to be.  Having a goal in mind is certainly important, but the process along the way is where the magic happens.  This is where we grow and learn about ourselves, about others, identify our strengths and areas for improvement, and learn how to pivot when things don’t go according to plan.  Which is usually the case. After all, we don’t actually have control over the end result, only our actions and our attitudes.

If we really think about it, the end goal or point of arrival is an arbitrary concept we have in our minds, and we feel as though the work will suddenly cease to exist once we get there.  “If I can just get there, then everything in my life will fall into place.” We work hard to lose weight and get the body we’ve always wanted, and then what?  We have to continue to put in the work to maintain it.  We want the promotion or to start your own business?  Once we get it, we have to work just as hard, if not harder, to stay there.  We want the dream relationship or family?  We have to consistently put in the work to grow together and independently while navigating curveballs in life.  We want to cultivate new meaningful friendships?  We have to continue to show up and put in the effort once the relationships have been established.  If we’re not in love with the process, which is actually where we spend 99.9% of our time in life, then we’re going to be constantly disappointed and focused on the next best thing.

I’ve read and listened to this concept SO many times, but it didn’t really click for me until I found myself wrapped up in starting my own business and needing to reach a certain level of success by X amount of time. And then it dawned on me: what happens when I get there?  I still have to show up in the same way I am now, with hard work and dedication.  Additionally, what am I supposed to do with all of my time until I reach that point, whenever it may be?  Am I going to be ungrateful for my life now until I reach that point, waiting for the days to tick by?  Hell no.  I’m going to focus on what I can do today and learn as much as I can about my work and myself and enjoy the shit out of the process along the way. 

This concept applies so distinctly to goals with our bodies.  We get so attached to reaching a certain aesthetic, only to realize that nothing outside of looking different has actually changed. And now we’re tasked with maintaining a body we may have obtained through hatred, loneliness, low self-esteem, or any other negative emotion. If we’re making changes to our bodies via a miserable process, mentally or physically, then not only are we not going to be able to maintain the results, but we’re going to be just as miserable internally, if not more so, once it’s all said and done. A better approach that is more sustainable and enjoyable is as follows:

1.     Identify what you want to learn and/or gain throughout the process: These items should not be related to anything outside of our control or based on an outcome (i.e. opinions of others, fitting into a dress size, achieving a PR at the gym, etc.) Rather, these need to be intrinsic motivators or factors we enjoy about the actual process. Examples include learning more about our relationship with food, making ourselves uncomfortable in workouts and pushing last limiting beliefs, demonstrating self-respect by putting our well-being first, or simply committing to a challenge.

2.     Detail why the items in Step One are important: becoming clear on the benefits we will experience as a result of the items in Step One is important, otherwise we won’t be able to connect the short-term discomfort we’re bound to experience to the long-term benefits. For example, if I am journaling and practicing awareness with my eating habits because I want to improve and gain a better understanding of my relationship with food, then I will clearly explain via journaling why increasing my awareness of this relationship is important to me. In my case, I wanted to improve my relationship with food because I wanted to free up my time and energy for things I find more important in my life.  Essentially, I wanted freedom from the obsession, and that became my north star when I started to experience doubt, laziness, or discomfort during the process.

3.     Detach from the Outcome: While striving for a specific outcome can certainly be motivating, the outcome is usually outside of our realm of control.  And failing to achieve said outcome can be a source of frustration, self-criticism, and eventually giving up.  We can only control our mindset and our efforts through action, so there is great freedom is letting the rest go. By releasing the outcome and simply focusing on the process, we remove any reason for “giving up,” as we can’t actually fail when the process never ends and we continue to put one foot in front of the other.

4.     Revisit Steps One and Two Over and Over Again: We need to remind ourselves why the process is important to us. It’s easy to lose sight of what we gain throughout the process, as changes and shifts are usually small and often unnoticeable, in addition to them being downright unenjoyable at times.  The process is where the growth happens, and in my experience, growth is uncomfortable 90% of the time (Jessie statistics). So, we need to constantly revisit the details in Steps One and Two.

5.     Re-do Steps One and Two When Goals and Priorities Shift: What we want to learn and gain throughout a particular process is inevitably going to shift at some point. This can be due to shift in priorities, changing interests, or simply needing an additional challenge after experiencing sufficient growth. When motivation starts to wane, even after revisiting the details of Steps One and Two, then it might be time to revise those details.

This mindset is relevant to aspects of life, including physical or aesthetic goals, relationships, career, and personal development.  Want to develop a better relationship with food and your body image?  Or build muscle?  Or work on your relationship with a friend or family member?  Or get promoted at work? Or improve something about yourself? All of these things take time, and the moment we achieve them is simply that: a brief moment in time.  And then we’re on to chasing the next shiny object.  We can’t neglect the journey while in pursuit of our dreams, or we’re essentially missing out on life itself.  While it’s still very much a work in progress for me, I’ve experienced a huge sense of relief and so much more enjoyment from the moment I decided to start relaxing into the process of life and focus on what I can control: my effort and my attitude. 

It's Never About the Food

Me and my travel buddy best friend in thailand in 2014

We all have a different story that brought us to a negative and unhealthy relationship with food, exercise, or body image, and uncovering the roots of where these attitudes are born is KEY in making a shift.  My relationship with food, exercise, and my body has changed in direct congruence with perceived amount of control I had over my life, my happiness, and how authentically I was living at the time. This didn’t become clear to me until I reflected on the times when I naturally ceased to obsess about food and exercise and treated my body with a new level of respect and care. To explain how I arrived at this conclusion, I'll walk you through my evolution.

As a teenager, controlling my food intake and exercise regimen provided me with a sense of control.  I was insecure and overwhelmed, so obsessing about my appearance, food, and exercise was my outlet.  In college, I again turned to obsessive behaviors about food and exercise because I felt a huge lack of control and balance in my life, and I didn’t feel as though the extreme nature of my drinking was making me happy (this didn’t stop me, however, so it stayed with me through the duration of college).  During the first few months post-college, when I was studying for my CPA exam at home in Albuquerque, NM, it was the first time I implemented a daily meditation practice and really focused on my personal development. Naturally, my eating habit regulated. I never overate, only ate when hungry, and I focused on movement over exercise.   When I returned to Denver, my partying lifestyle resurfaced, and I once again used controlling food and exercise as a way to try to find balance.

When I quit my first corporate job in public accounting and decided to backpack with girlfriends in Southeast Asia for several months, it was the first time I took a step towards creating the life that I wanted. My inclination to control my food and have a strict exercise regimen melted away just as it had when I was living at home after college.  When I returned home, I reflected on how my relationship with food and exercise had ebbed and flowed throughout my life at that point, and I was searching for the common threads.  It became clear that obsessing about food and exercise was both a coping and control mechanism, and I turned to unhealthy behaviors during times when I wasn’t living an authentic or balanced life.  Presently, I can sense when something is out of alignment in my life, because my mind will return to those negative and unhealthy thought patterns.  It’s a crystal-clear sign that I need to do some internal work when this happens.

Our relationships with food, exercise, and body image are often a reflection of misalignment within.  If we’re not living a life that is authentic to us and are searching for happiness outside of ourselves, we will rely on a form of escapism.  For me and so many women, this is an obsession with food and exercise, but it can manifest as overeating, binge watching TV frequently, excessive drinking, drugs, dependency on others, etc.  When we feel the desire to reach for these, it’s an opportunity, a calling even, to uncover what is truly making us unhappy.  Once we determine what that is, we usually have two options: change our actions/situation or change our attitude/perception.  For example, when I realized I was miserable in my public accounting job, I wasn’t able to leave right away, but I decided to start saving money and made a plan to quit and travel internationally by the end of the year.  And in the meantime, I enjoyed the relationships I developed at work and continued to put my best foot forward. I made a plan to change my situation and actively monitored my attitude at the same time.

Our negative relationships with food, exercise, and body image can be great teachers if we let them, but we have to be willing to take responsibility for our situation and put in the hard work.  Looking within to identify the root cause isn’t always easy, but it is SO worth it. We can’t solve our internal struggles with external solutions.  So, where do we begin if we’re not quite sure where these thoughts and feelings are coming from?

1.     Journal.

Start by asking yourself questions related to your thoughts patterns and habits. If you’re struggling with body image, what are you hoping to gain when you obtain the “perfect body”? Is it admiration and approval from others? If you have an obsessive relationship with food, in what situations do you feel most tempted to restrict or obsess about your food intake and what are the related emotions? If you struggle with overeating, excessive drinking, or always reaching for foods that are terrible for you, what feelings are you running from or trying to solve by reaching for food, excessive booze, overeating, binging, etc.? If you tend to over-exercise, are you using this as a coping mechanism for feelings you’re avoiding, even when you know it’s just harming your body more? Or are you using it as a control mechanism?

2.     Witness Without Judgment.

Allow the answers to these questions be a stream of consciousness and see what comes up **without judgment***. This part is extremely important!  I remember coming face to face with feelings I had been suppressing for a long time, and it was overwhelming in the beginning. This is a constant practice for me when I uncover subconscious feelings, and I find it really comforting to know that this is just a normal part of any healing process.  But we need to continue to call this shit out, as uncomfortable as it may be.

3.     Consciously Choose New Thought Patterns and Behaviors.

Now that we have identified the feelings, thoughts, and/or situations that are manifesting as poor body image or negative relationships with food or exercise, we need to decide what actions or changes to our thoughts we can make to remedy the root cause. For example, if I have determined that I don’t like my body because I’m worried about not being good enough in the eyes of other people, then I will list out all of the qualities about myself that I like that have nothing to do with my appearance.  Celebrate these! I will also list out the qualities of myself that I’m not particularly fond of (still, nothing to do with appearance) and select one to work on. I HIGHLY recommend you choose one action or thought pattern to work on at a time, as this exercise can quickly become overwhelming and you may be tempted to throw in the towel before you really begin.

It’s also tempting to use the results of this exercise as a reason to berate yourself even more, and I’ve been there. However, every single one of us has things we need to work on to better ourselves, and I don’t believe this process ever ends. So, doing this work from a forgiving and loving place makes the process infinitely more enjoyable.

What does this look like in practice? When I was traveling in Asia, I really had to come to terms with my internal struggles and how they were manifesting through issues with my body.  I journaled my ass off and realized that I didn’t have healthy emotional boundaries with many (if any) people in my life (a root cause).  This lack of boundaries created emotional chaos for me and I felt like I always had to prove my worth in relationships. As a result, I was trying to control everything about my diet and exercise routine to allow for some form of consistency in my life, and I also thought I would finally feel worthy if I looked perfect. An internal struggle I was trying to solve with external means. I decided to read as much as I could get my hands on about creating healthy boundaries (this article was a huge help), and I slowly started creating boundaries with people in my life. It was uncomfortable at first, to be sure, but I started to feel so much more secure in my relationship with myself, and therefore others, as a result.  This was just one piece of the puzzle I needed to work on at the time, but I noticed an immediate shift in my need to control my food and exercise.

Realizing our struggles with food, exercise, and how we view our bodies don't actually have anything to do with our bodies is simultaneously terrifying and liberating. We cling so tightly to our thought and behavioral patterns that the idea of letting them go can be really uncomfortable. However, there is also great freedom in realizing that we have the power to change these relationships and our reality by turning our attention inward and doing the work.  A friend once told me, as we discussed how overwhelmed we were by everything we needed to work on within ourselves, "Doing work on ourselves is the some of the most challenging work in life but also the most important and rewarding." I realize I'm only 28, but so far I agree. And I certainly believe this to be true when it comes to healing our relationships with food and our bodies.

I Get Meditation is Useful, but How Do I Do It?

I was speaking to a close friend last week about her anxiety and feeling out of control with her thoughts, and when I asked if she had tried meditation, she simply replied, “I just don’t get it. How do you observe your thoughts?”

This is such a fair question, and it’s one I had myself for a LONG time.  The concept didn’t make any sense to me until I started reading Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now.”  His story is pretty remarkable, as he was suicidal until it dawned on him that he is not his thoughts. And they’re actually the source of all of his pain.  Once he was able to detach from them and observe them for what they are, simply thoughts, then he was back in control.  The real him was in control (the observer) rather than the mind chatter, or the monkey brain.  Reading his story finally made the concept of being able to observe our own thoughts click for me, because it demonstrated its plausibility.

Being open to the idea of not being our thoughts is the first step.  If we’re resistant to this idea, then meditating, journaling, or practicing self-awareness throughout our days is going to prove fruitless.  Once we’re open to the concept, we can then begin the practice of meditation and do some experimentation to find what works best for each of us.

Currently, I really enjoy purely silent meditation, where I begin by focusing on my breath, and as I notice my thoughts, I bring my awareness back to my breath. Note that my mind can wander for quite some time before I catch this, but that’s not the important part. The important part is that I observe this and then bring awareness back to what I (the observer) want to focus on, not the monkey brain.        

Below is a simple practice you can do anywhere, and I often come back to this breathing pattern throughout my day when I’m feeling overwhelmed or stressed.

• Set a timer for 5-20 minutes, depending on how much time you have.
• Start by sitting in a comfortable seat, either in a chair or on the ground. Sitting on a pillow can help maintain upright posture. Place the palms of your hands on your knees, facing up or down. Your back should be straight but not too tight, and be mindful of releasing tension in your jaw and neck.
• Through your nose, inhale for three seconds, hold for two seconds, exhale for three seconds, hold the exhale for one second. Continue this pattern for the remainder of the time while bringing your awareness back to your breath whenever you notice your mind has wandered.
• It’s normal and expected to be uncomfortable while sitting in stillness without any distractions, and this discomfort isn’t just physical. We’re conditioned to be constantly stimulated, so it can be helpful to expect mental discomfort to arise. Show yourself some grace and really commit to sitting in this practice for the entire duration. It will become easier with consistency.

Another great option is guided meditation, and there are several apps on the market now with different tones and styles.  I prefer the more simplistic ones with minimal talking, so “1 Giant Mind” is my current favorite, but other popular options are “Headspace” and “Calm.”  Try a few of them and find what works best for you. Many of these apps have challenges to encourage consistency, especially when just starting, which brings me to my final thoughts.

Consistency and showing ourselves grace via limited expectations throughout this process is extremely important. I recommend committing to consistent practice every day for at least one month before deciding meditation is not for you.  In addition to an open mind, a lack of expectations is also important. You can’t expect to reach Nirvana and be like Buddha within a lifetime, let alone one month, without being sorely disappointed and frustrated.  Similar to any other healthy habit, it takes time to see notice the changes and requires some stick-to-it-iveness to really reap the benefits.

Be sure to let me know what comes up for you as you commit to this practice!

What Is Your Why? And Why It's Important to Know

I was introduced to Simon Senek and his book, “Start with Why,” by my dad a few years ago, and after completing a 1:1 evaluation, mine was pretty clear: “Trust – to create relationships based on trust.”  Most of us can go through the motions in life without understanding the “why” behind our actions for a short period of time, but confusion and a lack of motivation usually set in.  This is especially true when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle.

Understanding our “why” on a deep level allows us to sustain our healthy habits in the long run, and it makes the process WAY more enjoyable.  A shallow why, such as wanting to gain approval from others or become seemingly more attractive, is not only negative motivation, but it won’t last long either.  We need to go deeper to develop and sustain our habits for the long haul.  Why do I lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle?  It allows me to show up more fully in every part of my life. I.e. I can enjoy difficult mountain adventures, I’m able to lift and move things on my own, I can spend time with family and friends doing challenging activities, my mood is better so my relationships are stronger, my brain fires quickly so I perform better at work, and I have the energy to live life to the fullest.

Other examples might include having the ability to be active with your children, having the energy to work long hours and then spend time with family, being emotionally balanced and keeping anxiety at bay, and being able to show up more fully in every aspect of life with friends and family.  Become clear on why you want to make better choices for yourself, and you’ll quickly find that acting in the best interest of your own well-being becomes easier, and it will eventually become second nature if you’re continuously focusing on it. 

So, how does one discover their Why? Journaling. And time. Ask yourself why you want to make healthy changes a part of your lifestyle and not just a 30-day challenge. Let the ideas and words flow onto the paper (or computer screen) without judgment.  When I initially did this exercise, most of my reasons were shallow (i.e. mostly focused on my appearance), and I immediately felt a wave of discouragement and judgment towards myself.  Don’t do this! And if you do, please realize it’s a very normal response and doesn’t warrant further negativity.  **This is excellent practice in observing your thoughts without judgment and letting them go.  Keep writing until you start to dive deeper, and ask yourself “why?” 4-5 times for each item listed to get more granular. 

For example, “I want to feel better in the gym.” Why? “So I’m able to push myself harder.” Why? “So I can improve my endurance and strength.”  Why? “So I’m able to complete strenuous activities with family and friends.” Why? “So I can continue to make amazing memories on adventures with my loved ones.”

Motivation driven by the ability to make amazing memories on adventures with loved ones is a much more stable and sustainable reason to make healthy choices than simply wanting to do feel better in the gym.  There is nothing wrong with the latter, but it likely won’t enable you to make this a lifestyle as opposed to a transient goal.  The transient goals are fine to have once you’re already clearly rooted in your deeper Why.

I often receive comments about being disciplined or “too responsible” when it comes to living a balanced lifestyle with my food, alcohol, exercise, and lifestyle choices, but it truly doesn’t require any white-knuckling or discipline.  I am so strongly anchored by why I live a healthy and balanced lifestyle that I don’t feel like my life is lacking in any way because of it.  In fact, I know I’m actively moving towards the life I want for myself as a result. If I hadn’t spent the time and energy to reflect on this, then I truly don’t believe I would be able to make the choices I do consistently from a stress-free foundation.

Give this exercise a whirl and feel free to share what comes up for you!

Meditation Gave Me Back My Power - It Can Do the Same for You

I became familiar with the concept of meditation after having a perceived panic attack in college. It could have very well been an intense hangover or a panic attack caused by a hangover, but nonetheless, I left during the middle of a class and went home to search for answers. I stumbled upon Eckhart Tolle and his explanation of consciousness, the idea that we are not actually our thoughts, and that we don’t have to fall victim to the thoughts we have. This was immediately comforting to me, as I had always identified so strongly with my thought patterns.  As I continued to review his articles, I discovered that he utilizes meditation as a method of detaching from thought patterns and subsequently changing them.  The goal, he said, was to become the observer.

That day, I completed my first guided meditation via a youtube video (I remember this first one so vividly), and the effects were immediate. I was calmer and felt a sense of peace from simply knowing that I had the ability to control my reactions to my thoughts, even though I hadn’t yet developed the skill. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this would be a lifelong process that would require me to choose a new way of thinking on a moment-to-moment basis, and it would essentially bring me to a place of being “awake,” for lack of a better term, after unknowingly living my life half asleep. Who knew I was able to play an active part in how I perceived my life, others, and myself?

When we identify so deeply with our thoughts, we believe the stories we have always told ourselves (i.e. I’m the victim, I’m not smart, she’s better than me, I’m not lovable, etc.) and don’t realize that these are simply thought patterns. And that thought patterns are malleable.  Meditation provided me with the awareness of these thought patterns, in addition to quiet space between these thoughts.  In this space, I was able to acknowledge the thoughts for what they were, simply thoughts, and actively choose how to react.  Slowly but surely, my thoughts had less power over me. In fact, I started to use them to my benefit by replacing the negative with positive, and the useless with the useful. For example, when I noticed thoughts that were picking apart my body, I paused, acknowledged the thoughts, forgave myself for having them, and I then chose to focus on something more productive.  Like the fact that my body supported me through years of binge drinking and eating shit, that it continues to allow me to complete difficult workouts, and simple acts like walking up and down the stairs.

Meditation gave me my power back, or rather, it allowed me to realize that I’ve always had the power to live the life I want.  I have a choice in how I show up in this world, especially when it comes to how I view and treat my body.  I don’t have to fall victim to old thought patterns about my body not being good enough, or skinny enough, or lean enough. And I don’t have to succumb to the thoughts that overanalyze food and categorize them as good or bad, or mindlessly eat when I’m not hungry and stuff myself when my body tells me it's had enough.  I certainly still have these thoughts, although less frequently, but I’m now able to acknowledge them and choose a different narrative.  And my narrative is one of compassion, responsibility, and empowerment in the treatment of myself and others.

My Journey Thus Far

I was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico with two brothers and one sister, all of us born within four years, and our wonderfully supportive parents (and crazy – having us that closely together was a bold move).  Upon graduating high school, I went to the University of Colorado at Boulder and moved to Denver shortly thereafter, where I have been ever since (save for a six-month period in which I traveled throughout Southeast Asia and subsequently moved in my with parents after I returned broke).

My journey with nutrition, fitness, and overall body image started in high school with what I’m sure was meant as an innocent comment regarding the fact that I consistently went back for a second helping of food like my older brother.  Mind you, I was not overweight by any means, but I had put on a few pounds once puberty came a-knocking.  I adopted a low-carb lifestyle that was all the rage at that point, in addition to engaging in high intensity exercise for 30-60 minutes per day.  Not surprisingly, I lost weight quickly.  This was highly motivating for the first few months, but it quickly turned into an obsession and my health started to deteriorate.  Within six months, I lost my period, the palms of my hands started to peel, my mood was TERRIBLE, and I had difficultly focusing on anything else. My family remembers this time in my life pretty vividly simply because of my stellar mood.

When I moved away for college, I was surrounded by binge drinking, late night eating, eating junk food when hungover, and I participated in all of it!  My weekends were filled with partying to excess, and my weekdays were spent swinging the pendulum to the other end of the spectrum in an attempt to control my weight.  I became frustrated when my weight crept up, despite my obsessively controlled behavior during the week, and my weight ebbed and flowed throughout college as a result.  When I returned from Italy after studying abroad during college, I was at my heaviest.  I don’t regret any part of this time in my life, and I actually wish I had given myself permission to fully enjoy it without all of the internal judgment.  It taught me what life is like when living in extremes, and it highlighted the fact that I need a balanced lifestyle to be happy in the long run.

Since I graduated college, my weight has changed in direct congruence with my lifestyle, priorities, and my internal state (i.e. happiness).  When I was studying for my CPA exam full-time while living with my parents after college, partying was essentially non-existent, and yoga and meditation became staples in my routine.  As a result, my eating habits stabilized, I made my emotional and physical well-being a top priority, and I gradually lost the extra weight I had gained.  When I moved to Denver to start my career in public accounting a few months later, the partying crept back in, my weight increased as a result, and my obsessively controlling behavior with food and exercise returned.  This cycle repeated itself several times throughout my young adult life until I finally had enough with the extremes.  I was utterly exhausted, and I decided that I needed to make a permanent change for myself in order to become the woman I wanted to be with the life I wanted to create for myself.

This need for a complete lifestyle change led me to quitting my corporate job at the end of 2013 and traveling throughout Southeast Asia for three months with a few girlfriends I managed to convince to come with me.  That trip was life-changing for all four of us, and I struggled throughout several parts of the journey.  I was placed in an environment completely outside of my comfort zone without any responsibilities to keep my mind occupied throughout the day, so I was forced to come face to face with the thoughts in my head and the dissonance between who I was and who I wanted to be.  I could no longer avoid the layers of myself I had assumed over the years (i.e. gossiping and judgment of others, lack of boundaries, insecurities about my body, non-existent communication skills, that I was on a career track I hated, my victim mentality, etc.).  I made a promise to myself on that trip: I will always continue to work on myself and will grow into the woman I want to be.  At that moment, I failed to realize that this will be a lifelong endeavor, but it was the first step in changing my life from the inside out.

For the last three years, I have made changes to almost every area of my life, including my career, how I choose to spend my time, relationships, and most importantly, my thoughts and my reactions to them.  Meditation laid the foundation for identifying thoughts and patterns that weren’t serving me, and I then learned how to choose a different narrative.  I truly believe awareness is the magic sauce to making lasting change, and it's a practice that is cultivated and implemented daily.  That's the goal anyway!

As I have worked on my thoughts and my development as a person, my perspective and attitude about my body has changed accordingly.  I no longer define myself by my appearance (although I still have days/moments when my mind goes there→ enter the tools of awareness and meditation), and I continue to learn to love my body where it is right now while still having goals (if I do at the time). While awareness and self-acceptance are the cornerstone of a healthy relationship with food, fitness, and our bodies, I have learned actionable tools that allow myself and others to live a healthy and obsession-free life.

It has been a long road to arrive at where I am today, and my goal is to help women find their freedom with food, exercise, and lifestyle in a way that is authentic and sustainable for them.  There is no one-size-fits-all program, and the notion that there is one is a prevailing reason we all find ourselves in an obsessive and miserable mindset, feeling as though we’re running in place. This is a life-long journey that will continue to evolve, and this evolution will also look different for each person.  There are highs and lows throughout this process, but it’s SO worth the effort.  As a result of my experiences and what I continue to learn daily, I sincerely hope to contribute to your empowered approach to creating your life of freedom.