Brave Enough To Be Bliss

decisions. I looked at LinkedIn, thinking perhaps I needed to start networking when I got back to Kansas City or at least looking for open positions on the app. Even though I didn’t follow him and couldn’t remember seeing any posts in the past, a Tim Tebow post came up that said, “Don’t dismiss an idea or a prompting that wells in your soul. Pay attention to it and pursue it! ” And with that, I was reminded of the purpose and knew I couldn’t quit. In the late afternoon, I drove into East Jordan to get an ice cream cone at McDonald’s to treat myself after the long hours and late nights writing all week. I was disappointed when she handed the cone to me because it was much smaller than I was used to with the ice cream not even filling the cone to the sides. I was thinking I might need another one to satisfy my hunger as I ’ d only had an English muffin that day and it had been several days at The Shack since I had had anything sweet. After driving around for a few minutes and finishing it, I realized that I was actually satisfied. It made me wonder if I was just used to the amount of ice cream I usually received, so I assumed that’s what it took . Did I just eat it because it was given to me, even if I was full? Did I only seek out an ice cream cone when I was needing to push down a thought or feeling? Today, it was the perfect size to feel like a treat and to tide me over until I was ready to eat dinner.

“Rest and self -care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” Eleanor Brown

While I had always known regular exercise helped my mental health, in March of 2023 there was new research to prove it. The article linked below states, “ The authors explain the effect size this way: If 100 people were in the exercise group and 100 in the control group, about half of those in the exercise group would experience a meaningful reduction in their depression symptoms, compared to only 20 in the control group. ”

Exercise May Be The Best Treatment For Depression, New Studies Suggest (forbes.com)

Since I had been working with Ginger, I had become more flexible and less punishing if occasionally I didn’t exercise because I was tired or sick, or if I was out having an evening of fun. I also had begun to work a more reasonable schedule. Occasionally I would rest for a few minutes if I was exhausted, and I began to say no to things I really didn’t want to do without making up an excuse and lying. I would occasionally binge watch a series I enjoyed on Netflix. And I regularly got pedicures and occasionally got a manicure also. Doing nice things for myself was no longer a chore, but something I enjoyed doing, and I no longer questioned if I was worthy of such kind things. This led me to realize there are options about how to look at most everything. Just because I had a phrase in my mind that was negative, there was usually a way to turn it around and look at it differently. Early in this book, I wrote about how I was always too much, or that my perception was other people thought I was a lot and that wasn’t a thing anyone would want. What I hadn’t realized then, however, is that being a lot isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“She’s a lot.’ You’re right, I am a lot— I’m a lot of woman. I have a lot of depth. A lot of personality. A lot of dreams. A lot of emotions. A lot of love. So, yeah you’re right… I’m a lot of great things.” Ravenwolf

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