What's My Story and How Did I Get Here?

My interest in self-care started around the age of 30 (I am currently 35), when I noticed that for someone so young, my health really wasn’t where it should be for my age - after years of living a sedentary lifestyle, eating nothing but junk, and just being plain lazy (harsh, but true), why would it be?

I still, to this day, feel that the day I turned 30 was the day that my body started to fall apart.

So, basically, I woke up one morning with a sore hip that seemingly sprung up on me out of nowhere. After a few days of discomfort, I decided to see a doctor to try and figure out what the problem was – as far as I knew, I hadn’t actually done anything to cause the pain.

Upon receiving my x-ray results it was revealed that I have scoliosis, and it turns out that my spine rotates to the left.

It wasn’t really clear whether scoliosis is a condition that I was born with, or whether my sedentary lifestyle and incorrect seating posture is what caused it (although I know that the latter certainly does not help at all, and definitely contributes to worsening my condition!).

So, after receiving my diagnosis, I was sent to a physiotherapist who took me through a series of exercises and stretches that I must do multiple times per day if I want to relieve my hip, neck, and back pain, and prevent my scoliosis from getting any worse.

I have also been instructed to try not to sit for any longer than 30 minutes at a time without taking a short break in between to stand up, stretch, and walk around (not so easy when I work in administration!).

Another area of concern for me is the circulation in my legs. My nan suffered with severe varicose veins, so I already have the genetic predisposition to end up with them.

After watching her suffer with knotted, twisted, lumpy black veins all over her feet and legs that caused her constant pain, swelling, and discomfort, I’ve decided that I want to do anything in my power to prevent ending up with them myself.

I wasn’t super-concerned about inheriting my nan’s varicose veins until recently(ish) when I noticed two little black veins in my left foot, as well as a fair few small spider veins that have appeared on my thighs and the backs of my legs.

The condition of my skin seems to have changed an awful lot too. My brother has always suffered with severe eczema, a condition that I had always felt so blessed to not have to deal with – until recently.

I’m not sure exactly what is going on with me lately, but my skin has gone from smooth and soft, to rough, dry, and scaly (mainly on my legs).

These multiple health issues were definitely the catalyst that got me taking an interest in self-care. I started off reading up on how certain compounds in different plant foods can have a positive effect on the mind and body, as well as the negative effects of processed foods and a heavily meat-based diet.

The more I read up on nutrition, the more interested I became. Articles on nutrition then led me further into the realm of health and wellbeing, self-care, spirituality, meditation, mindfulness, and manifestation, just to name a few.

I am now so interested in the topic, that I have over 200 books (not even joking, I have actually counted them!) on the subject(s) – and that’s not including all the different health and wellbeing magazines that I’ve collected and websites I frequent!

Although I have spent almost 3 years learning, I haven’t really been putting these things into practice as much as I’d like to, which is why I thought I’d take you along on this journey with me.

The more I read and learn, the more eager I am to incorporate these techniques and practices into my daily life, but as we all know, with any lifestyle change comes practice, discipline, setbacks, and repetition.

I accept that there will be times that I am rocking it with all that I am trying to achieve, and there will be other times that I simply give up because it all seems like too much effort.

So often, I do that annoying thing where I want EVERYTHING to be perfect – I want to get 8 hours of sleep per night, wake up and do a meditation session, followed by completing my stretching and exercise routine, eat nothing but organic fruit, vegetables and wholegrains the entire day without a single processed food or condiment in sight, drink 8 glasses of water, come home to practise gratitude and write in my journal, complete my “perfect” night routine and have an early night – and, if just one of these things doesn’t go the way I’d planned (perhaps I’m feeling too lazy or didn’t sleep well the night before), then oh well, I’ll just have to wait until next Monday and try again.

Until then, I’ll stay up late, eat nothing but chips, chocolates, lollies and take away food without a fruit or vegetable in sight and do nothing but sit around on the lounge doing nothing when I get home from work.

I want things to be different this time, so I’m going to try to take this real s…l…o…www… and instead of being hard on myself when I’m not looking after myself the way that I’d like to, or the way that I know I should be, I will remind myself that there are no mistakes, just lessons (another of my favourite quotes!), and each time I give up and start again, I will do better than the last time.

I acknowledge that I am human, and I am a work in progress. I would like to lose the “I’ll start Monday” mentality that constantly holds me back, as well as the “all-or-nothing” attitude that seems to have me sabotaging my best efforts, not to mention the “perfection” trap that I keep falling into. The journey toward self-care is about being better, not about being perfect, because there is no such thing.

What about you, do you ever find yourself sabotaging your best health efforts because every single little thing that you set out to do wasn’t absolutely perfect?

Would you consider yourself a “something is better than nothing” type of person, or do you lean more toward the “all-or-nothing” end of the spectrum, like me?

Do you have any goals that you are working toward in regard to improving your health and wellbeing? What about goals toward creating the life you’d like to live?

What do you find to be the most difficult aspect of self-improvement/ self-care?

Alternatively, are there any ways that you care for your health and wellbeing that you are proud of? I’d love to hear your thoughts and/ or experiences! 😊

Happy to have you here and I hope you have a great day/ night!

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Hope to have you back soon. Thanks for reading.

Lisa. 😊 xx