Life is a Journey

The past week I've been on an adventure with my best friend.  We started our journey at a wedding in Arizona, we hiked at Red Rocks in Sedona, saw Sunset Crater, and the Grand Canyon.  We then traveled to Utah where we hiked the Narrows, Emerald Pools and Observation Point at Zion.  From there we made our way to Las Vegas for a relaxing time and the Britney Spears concert.  It sure was an incredible adventure and one that was truly eye opening.

This adventure was a truly strenuous one, with so much hiking requiring great endurance.  I am so incredibly proud of myself for being able to do such hard/rewarding work.  As we were on the trails, I often reminded myself of how far I've come on my recovery journey.  I honestly do not think that I would have been able to do so much with as much strength as I had if this was a year ago.  My weight gain in treatment was difficult at first, however, I've been working hard at the gym to build my muscles and endurance and it has truly paid off.

Although I've struggled with my eating disorder for 10 years, this time a year ago I had truly hit rock bottom with my eating disorder.  This time of year was when I didn't care what happened to me.  I was spiteful towards others and could care less if my eating disorder killed me.  I had started to lose a lot of weight to eventually cause too much weight loss for my body that eventually I had to seek treatment.

Today, I am in a completely different mindset.  I am beginning to respect myself more and more everyday, and although I do not yet love myself, I am starting to like myself.  I like who I am and the things I believe in.  I like that I am starting not to care what others think of me too much.  I am also pretty weird, and I am proud to wave my freak flag ;)

In any case, I want to use this post to share a few things (and hopefully remind myself of them as well).
1.  I am proud of myself.  I am proud of my endurance, strength and also my ability to start eating things off a menu because I want them and not because they are 'less caloric'.
2.  I am grateful for my health, and strength and will continue to take care of myself, and respect myself.
3.  I encourage all of you to take adventures.  Do things that test you on a daily basis.  Try things you never thought you would like or could do.  You just may surprise yourself.
4.  Try not to worry about what others think about you, or where life is going to take you.  You only have one life to live, why fill it with worry.
5.  Breathe.
6.  "Look up and say 'thank you'.






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