Balance: My Top Five Life Changes After Creating Health

"It's not about the food!" I've said it a million times, but last night, on my call with my coach (yes, I still talk with my coach weekly to keep myself on track), I said it again - many times - as I was recounting some of the fabulous things I have learned while on my health program. 

I think the most important of all is the confidence and empowerment I have gained in really embracing the habits of health for my mind.  I cannot tell you the impact it can have when you fully embrace putting your mind's health first.  I have totally reorganized my points-of-view about life with balance. 

Here are just a few of the changes:

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#1: I don't work 10-20 hours of overtime every week.  I used to think I didn't have a choice, until I said no.  I didn't know my day job could exist without overtime or what that would look like, but I followed in faith and it absolutely worked out.  They just hired someone else.  That seems simple, but it was totally out of the picture when I was handling everything myself at work.  When I stopped doing everything, they noticed that they needed to do something (with a little prompting).  And, with the money they saved on not paying me overtime, they could afford another person.  Imagine that, a solution that didn't involve me sacrificing my own life to others.

#2: Spend more time with family.  Okay, the first and the second are kind of combined, but I have made it a priority and actually scheduled time to play with my boys and have dates with my husband.  Those are non-negotiables in my life, and now I make sure that time is a priority.

#3: Be more positive.  Before my health program, I found myself being negative and complaining about everything: on Facebook, with friends, at home.  Who wants to be around a negative Nancy, anyway?  This negativity was spawned partly because I felt like I needed to put everyone else first (and I was resentful) and partly because I was simply exhausted trying to keep up with my own schedule.  Everything bothered me.  Not anymore!  When you address the root cause of the problem, the results will resolve.  I found that when I put everything into balance, I naturally found happiness and peace in a place of hope.  Originally, I thought that putting my goals first was selfish and meant that I put my kids and husband last.  Now, I see that we have common goals that I place in front of everything else and together, we are all putting our family first in a mutually supportive and uplifting way.  We are thriving because we promote health in all aspects of our lives.

#4: Reconnect with friends.  Somewhere in the course of me working myself to death, I lost touch with friends because I didn't have the time to stay connected.  I was missing out on connecting with others because I wasn't making it a priority, not because I didn't want to talk with them, but because I couldn't see the importance of relationships.  I was just trying to get through my day without crashing.  I decided I needed to make that a priority.  Now, I am reconnecting daily with people I haven't talked to in years and creating relationships I never would have had before. 

#5: Goals!  Oh, my, they have changed.  My goals used to consist of making money.  That's it.  Well, money isn't going to do me much good when I lose my health, my family and have no friends, is it?  So, instead, I made new goals to help others, to get healthy, to run a marathon (done!), to reconnect with people, to make new connections, to balance my life, to grow with my kids instead of watching them grow, to dream with my husband about our future -- outside of work, to see more sunsets, to take more vacations, to spend time with family and do the things I never thought I had time or could do before... and I am doing them, one day at a time! 

Health is not about the food.  Health is a conscience change to reevaluate your priorities and take steps to change where you're going.  Is what you are doing NOW going to get you where you want to be TOMORROW?  If it isn't, it's time to change your path.  Afterall, you don't live forever.  Today is the day to make that change.  I am so glad I made the choice for myself.

If you would like help creating this same balance in your own life and dreaming of possibilities, or if you just need someone to help you stay accountable to your priorities, email me at HealthyandFitLife@gmail.com.