I can’t tell you how many times I have told myself this on my continuing journey to healing myself from my Autoimmune disease. I’m not sure that I could actually count the number of times on all of my fingers and toes.
Why is it so hard? Well, taking back your health involves many things. It means giving up the foods that you love, foods that are tied to memories, emotional satisfaction. It means committing to exercising daily. Actually making the time for yourself which has become foreign to most of us. It requires figuring out what exercise really means and how to do it the right way. It means getting adequate sleep in a very busy life that doesn’t always allow us to get to bed on time. It means managing our stress which can be a huge undertaking. It means turning your life upside down.
Even, in taking all of this on, and it can be hard, it isn’t the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge that you will face is in your mind. Your mind will give up on you long before your body will. It is going to fight you every step of the way. The little gremlins that you have living up there are going to question the commitment you have made to yourself. They are going to play on your insecurities. They are going to be the biggest defeatists that you will experience. And you are going to tell yourself that you can’t do it.
What do you do? Well, you recognize that this is going to be a battle of wills. The will that wants to take back control of your life and your health against the will that just wants to take the easy road, the lazy road, the one that is comfortable. But is it really comfortable? Is it really easy? I’m thinking “NO”, because if you are sick, and it is impacting your life, your hopes and dreams. If it is affecting your family then it is not easy. It isn’t really comfortable is it. It is hard living a life that is not living up to your expectations, that is falling short of what you imagined for yourself and your family.
The reality is that staying sick is hard too. This realization is the biggest challenge. Once you realize that no matter your choice, it is all hard. So I say to you, choose your hard. Make it be your health and stay the course because when you are done, the life you will be living will be infinitely more satisfying, rewarding, full of moments that otherwise would have been missed. It is worth it, every moment of the struggle and you will thank yourself for it when you are done.
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