I posted yesterday on Instagram, to celebrate my Four Year MS diagnosis Anniversary but thought I’d write a little bit more from the heart over here on the blog.
The theme for this anniversary is to think about creating space in my life.
Sunday, December 2nd, 2018 was my MS diagnosis anniversary.
4 years ago, after over the course of a week, the right side of my body had gone numb so I drove myself to the hospital to figure it out. I sat in a hospital room alone, after several hours of waiting, a CAT scan and then an MRI to be told by an internalist: “You have de-myelination on your spine, we’ll need to do another MRI with contracts to confirm but you probably have MS.”
You can read the entire diagnosis story here. I jokingly talk about going through the 4 stages of grief as fast as possible in the hospital to move to acceptance so that I could figure out how to live with this thing called multiple sclerosis. I knew that I would have to learn to live with instead of fight against this disease and I do believe that has been one of the best mindset choices I’ve personally made.
When faced with a diagnosis, we can easily get mad at it. Think of our bodies as flawed, fragile or even broken and something we need to fix. My simple choice to call MS my sidekick and learn to live with my disease, even embrace it was a choice that no one taught me. No practitioner guided me to this thought process. I intuitively was guided by my inner voice to use this language and make this choice and it’s served me so well.
I often refer to my MS as a daily reminder, a tap on the shoulder and a voice saying: “hey did you take care of yourself today?”
Most days now I forget I even “have” it. I barely even tell new people I meet unless I’m sharing information about why I’m so proactive with my health or at an essential oils class when I’m sharing when I was introduced to them.
4 years later my life looks a little different.
Eating For My Body
I’m still eating a modified (I was able to reintroduce some foods off the to avoid list) autoimmune paleo meal plan. I still avoid inflammatory foods, and foods I can’t digest. I had to reduce my alcohol consumption and I’m still working on reducing my coffee consumption. However, I have a thriving digestive system. Just ask my 💩😂.
Exercise & Fitness
I’m not obsessively obstacle course racing basically every weekend. In 2015, the year after my diagnosis, I totally was on a mission to prove that I was stronger than MS. Unfortunately I wasn’t stronger than adrenal fatigue.
I’ve learned what type of exercise and amount is actually better for my body than extreme pushing. It’s funny how a disease can show how to treat our bodies a little bit better than we might have been.
Sleep
I prioritize sleep. Those 8 hours 🙌🏻🙌🏻 are my secret weapon. The only time I’ll sacrifice sleep is when I find a new Netflix series I’m obsessed with. Just ask Mike what happened at the end of November when I discovered the Last Kingdom. I may have stayed up a few nights just to watch a few episodes!
Managing Stress
I’m still figuring out the whole stress thing although I’ve got a multitude of tactics to calm me down should I start working up an anxiety sweat. However, I’m still prone to get easily overwhelmed to situations. I’m just a little better at focusing on my breath, getting present and not taking on the feeling of overwhelming responsibility in certain situations.
Reduce Toxic Load
I’ve done a good job at eliminating my exposure to toxins to keep my immune system un-confused. I truly believe that if we give our bodies an environment to thrive in our immune systems can function as they should instead of attacking parts of our own body.
We’ve got a Santevia Water system at home, I order grass-fest, hormone free meat from
But the last piece of the puzzle…
Doing vs. Being
I’m still figuring out how to DO less. After being challenged 3 years ago by my naturopath to not be superwomen I pondered the glorification of doing things.
So while the wheels started turning, I cut a few things out of my life, I always go back to my overachiever ways. I’m truly addicted to achievement.
I love my achievements. And I’m proud of them. To be honest, they are a way I see me leaving my legacy on this world so I don’t want to stop them.
I know how to take care of myself as I go after my goals but I’ll still fall into the burn out trap every now and then. I just recently did it again.
In October, I started a new full-time job, I launched Organized Brides, announced that I was co-hosting Believe NYE 2019 (Yoga NYE Event) and I threw myself back into my dōTERRA business after taking time off for the wedding and honeymoon and hit burn out by the end of the month.
I still haven’t grasped the concept that it’s ok to DO less and that it doesn’t define my worthiness or world acceptance or love. To be honest, I love that I still have something to learn.
So as I move through December my focus is on making space in my life so that I can DO less. My body, my addiction, needs this next.