Growth-Part 1

I have made mention a few times that we switched over to Paleo for health reasons, but I never divulged why. 

Over the last 5 months, I have been on a new health journey, and it has been one of the hardest things to do mentally, spiritually, and physically.

Feelings of hopelessness have been overwhelming at times. 

Deep depression set in for a bit...something that I previously thought only the "mentally weak" struggled with (a prideful thought on my part).

There has been a lot of anger mixed with grief.

And my family has suffered right along with me because all of these feelings weren't staying bottled up. 

So basically the five stages of grief, minus the bargaining stage because I don't bargain. 

Unless it's at a thrift store or a yard sale ;-)

I finally feel like I am in the stage of acceptance. I have pulled myself up by the boot straps, and I'm no longer fighting against who I am and how I am made.

I'm just going with it.

So a little history for you...

I have struggled with digestive issues as long as I can remember. 

I have memories of lying in front of the toilet of our little farm house in Tennessee, clenching my stomach, and sobbing because the pain was so intense.

I was diagnosed with IBS in elementary school, after a humiliating visit to the doctor, and just went about life after that...taking Milk of Magnesia (the worst tasting over-the-counter medicine known to any child of the 80's) when my symptoms would flare.
(That's me on the far right...my dress looks like it should have been wrapped around an arm chair instead of a child, HA!!)

I also struggled with other health related issues along the way, but they all seemed to be random.

I could do funny tricks with my elbows and fingers, and could gross people out with how bendy I was. Unfortunately, my "bendiness" started causing problems when playing basketball in high school.

I believe it was my freshman year when I reached in to steal a ball, that my shoulder subluxed (partial dislocation). 

Super painful.

From there on out, I suffered from shoulder subluxations frequently.

My senior year, I turned my ankle, a common basketball injury, so it didn't seem out of the ordinary.

I continued to have issues throughout my years of college basketball, and when you play contact sports, you assume that injuries will be par for the course.

I wore ankle braces on both ankles, and constantly sprained them WITH the ankle braces on. 

I had surgery on my shoulder as a junior in college to tighten the ligaments because the subluxations were getting so nasty that all I had to do was sneeze and my shoulder would pop out. 

Gross, I know.

Fast forward a few years...

Pregnancy opened new doors to new subluxations.

I had to go to physical therapy during both pregnancies because my hips started to sublux. The physical therapists worked on tightening the muscles around my hip flexors so I could walk without falling apart.

It didn't seem too out-of-the-ordinary because I had always heard that when you're pregnant, things start to loosen and spread apart. 

I thought it was normal.

And things calmed down a bit after the babies were born, thankfully.

Six years ago, I started running. 

It was a great way to relieve stress, and it was helping all my joints stay in place. I was becoming stronger again, and I was feeling great.

There were injuries along the way, but I didn't care.

That was normal for me, and I just pushed through.

I ran my first half marathon in Nashville TN, and I was super proud of myself.

I didn't run the entire way because I started to struggle with my IT bands tightening up, but I finished.

I had caught the running bug, and in a sense, taken on apart of my old identity as an athlete.

I have several half marathons under my belt, and my biggest accomplishments were competing in weekend challenges where I would run or bike in multiple races over the course of two days.
I keep all of my (participation) medals and trophies in my craft closet because, let's be honest, nobody cares :-D!!

The Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend will always and forever be my favorite challenge to participate in.
The Glass Slipper Challenge, a10K race followed by a half marathon the next day, was what started my body's downward spiral.

Little did I know that this would be the end of running for me.

To hear more, make sure to come back.

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