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Our RECOVERY Reasons May Differ, but RECOVERY Is What Saved Us!

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Our RECOVERY Reasons May Differ, but RECOVERY Is What Saved Us!

September is National Recovery Month, and when I am given a reason to speak up for those in recovery, you better believe I will jump on the opportunity to do so! This month is all about sharing our stories, spreading awareness, and joining together to increase the understanding of mental and substance use disorders.

In this post, I ask the question, “What does RECOVERY mean to you?” and I share some of the answers I received from a handful of influential people that have helped me in my own journey to recovery. We all have our own stories to share, and our own reasons for recovery, but one thing remains the same: recovery changes lives for the better.

Help me fight the stigma that surrounds mental and substance use disorders!

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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Change Is Important... So, Why Do We Fight It?

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Change Is Important... So, Why Do We Fight It?

We have all been told that change is necessary for growth, and if this is the case, why do we avoid it at all costs? Is it fear of the unknown that we are the most afraid of? Or is it the comfort of an ‘okay’ life that keeps us from feeling like anything needs to change in the first place? Change is scary and you are not alone in thinking that, but also, the only thing you should fear, is never getting to experience your fullest life; the one on the other side of change.  

 
In this post, I talk about the importance of change in our lives, and why we shouldn’t fear it as much as we should just embrace it. Change is inevitable, and it will hurt a lot less if we don’t fight it.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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It's A Hopeless Time to Be A Hopeless Romantic!

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It's A Hopeless Time to Be A Hopeless Romantic!

Dating in this day and age has become much more complicated than it needs to be, and it certainly has changed drastically in the last 10 years alone. Whatever happened to being able to strike up a conversation with a stranger, or letting someone know how you feel about them without playing games? With online dating apps becoming the social norm, it has become a difficult time for 'hopeless romantics' to find that good old fashioned story you now only read about, or see in movies. 

In this post, I talk about some of the frustrations I have come across with dating apps, and I provide a positive perspective for those who may be feeling a bit hopeless. 

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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Setting Boundaries Is Not Selfish; It's Survival!

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Setting Boundaries Is Not Selfish; It's Survival!

One of the hardest challenges we must face in life is learning how to set boundaries within our relationships. What makes it so hard is the fact that we have grown so used to being a certain way, that it can feel like we are learning to walk again once we decide to put our foot down. Unfortunately, most people will never learn to set necessary boundaries, and I do not want you to fall into that category.
 
In this post, we will talk about recognizing when we need to take a step back and reevaluate some of the unhealthy boundaries we have in place currently. It is not selfish to value the relationship you have with yourself and to notice when you may be giving up too much of who you are. Creating boundaries is essential to your happiness, and it is a means of surviving this often, cruel world.
 
Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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Two Years Sober & Learning How to Love Myself Again.

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Two Years Sober & Learning How to Love Myself Again.

I never thought this day would come, because, like most addicts, I never wanted to admit that I had a problem. Nobody grows up knowing that one-day sobriety will become their fate, nor does anyone plan to self-destruct their way to ‘rock bottom’. But here I am, at day 731, and still choosing to climb up the wall of recovery.

In this post, I talk about the struggles I have faced in my two years of sobriety, as well as the beautiful things I have learned during the process of this lifelong journey. This post is less about sobriety and more about becoming who I was meant to be. Regardless of if you are sober, we are ALL having to heal from something, and this is just a story of my recovery thus far.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you. 

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“You Aren’t Enough!” & Other Lies My Mind Tries to Convince Me Of!

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“You Aren’t Enough!” & Other Lies My Mind Tries to Convince Me Of!

The idea for this article came to me while in the middle of another moment of weakness, and I decided it was time to talk about it. Not acknowledging our mental illnesses and pretending that everything is okay, I believe, is worse than the mental illness itself. I refuse to let my anxiety get the best of me, or my depression to feed off the worst. I no longer want to feel like I must stay quiet about topics that need to be talked about, so I am here to talk about my own.

In this post, I talk about the lies my mind has often been good at convincing me of, and what I do when I go into panic mode. Whether these moments of weakness last a couple hours, a couple days, or a couple weeks, I am slowly but surely learning how to talk about them because I KNOW I am not alone when it comes to being at war with myself.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you. 

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Gaining Followers for Losing Weight: How My Online Presence Fueled My Eating Disorder!

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Gaining Followers for Losing Weight: How My Online Presence Fueled My Eating Disorder!

I was about to be a Junior in college when I woke up one morning and decided I no longer liked feeling depressed about the girl I saw in the mirror. So, I changed. Almost as if something just flipped in my brain, I stopped making poor food choices, I increased the amount of exercise I was getting, and I created a “Fitness” page on Twitter to track my journey. It didn’t take long for the pounds to come off, and the followers to flood in. What my followers didn’t know was that the secret to my weight loss was no longer built on a desire to be healthy; it was based on the fact that my behavior was compulsive, and filled will a need for control.
 
In this post, I share the truth behind the girl who had all her followers fooled, and I open up about my personal struggle with a compulsive exercising eating disorder.
 
Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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Fear Has Been Lying to Us This Whole Time!

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Fear Has Been Lying to Us This Whole Time!

We are all familiar with the feeling of fear, and at one point or another, we have allowed that fear to hold us back from our growth. Whether that be taking the plunge into a new career, ending a comfortable relationship, or moving to a new city - we have all questioned if we are capable of doing something we have never done before. 

In this post, I will discuss the importance of challenging those fears that we create in our minds, and I provide examples of how facing my own fears has changed my life for the better. Fear is a LIAR, and it is about time that we stop listening to it. The life you are meant to live is right on the other side of that fence we have allowed fear to build.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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You Were Whole Before Someone Made You Feel Broken!

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You Were Whole Before Someone Made You Feel Broken!

Out of all the messages I receive, the most frequent question I get asked is, “How were you able to heal a broken heart?” It is no secret that I have felt “broken” before since my journey with writing started when I was in a very depressed state from the loss of someone I never intended on losing.
 
When I started sharing my words with the world three years ago, I was just a sad girl who was only looking for a way to heal her ‘brokenness’. What I learned in the process was something I never expected: I discovered that I had been a whole person all along and that it was up to me to brush myself off, repair the damage done, and find the love I had lost for myself while giving it to someone else.
 
In this post, I remind those out there who are suffering from feeling broken that they have always been whole; it was just ourselves that convinced us of anything different.
 
Thank you for reading. I appreciate you. 

Don't Count Me Out Just Because I Am a 'Millennial'

Don't Count Me Out Just Because I Am a 'Millennial'

When reading articles on the ‘Millennial’ generation, I was disappointed to find out that almost all of them revolve around what is wrong with us, vs. what it is that we can bring to the table. I have always known that the generation I fall under has a bad reputation, but I guess I never realized just how many outside opinions there were from people who don’t know what it’s like to grow up in the time that we did.

In this post, I bring to light the characteristics of a ‘Millennial’ that seem to get looked over, and the reasons for why I am proud to be a part of a generation that has and is, making a very large impact on this world.

Whether you like us, or not, Millennials DO have something to say, and I am here to speak on behalf of those that are tired of having to defend something that was ultimately out of our control.

Thank you for you reading. I appreciate you.

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We are All Healing on Our Own Timeline!

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We are All Healing on Our Own Timeline!

Have you ever felt pressure to be at a different place in your life? Or maybe, you are starting to feel like you should have progressed quicker in certain areas? When it comes to ‘Healing’, I have found that most of us are constantly comparing ourselves to those around us, and criticizing ourselves harshly on not being where we feel like we should.

In this post, I use my recovery timeline as an example to show that we are all healing at different speeds, and THAT IS OKAY! We may not be exactly where we want, but it is important that we recognize that everyone is healing from various things; some that take much longer than others.

Regardless of where you are in your ‘Healing’ timeline, I am here to remind you that you are exactly where you are supposed to be, and in due time, you will see why not all things work out the way we want them too.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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You DO NOT Have to Like Every Person You Meet!

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You DO NOT Have to Like Every Person You Meet!

Throughout our lives, we are going to come across certain people that we just can't seem to get along with, but you know what? This is okay. If you are anything like me, there have been a handful of times where you have felt the need to like someone just because it made the situation less uncomfortable. This could be in regards to the beginning of a romantic relationship, professional acquaintance, or the friend of friend that you just cannot relate to; and not from lack of trying. 

In this post, I talk about situations where we feel like we need to 'like' someone. I share my perspective on why we need to stop doing this, and why it is okay to not connect with every person that we come across.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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Not All Heroes Wear Capes!

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Not All Heroes Wear Capes!

It’s that time of year again where we get to celebrate the Father figure in our lives! I like to emphasize ‘Father figure’ because depending on how you grew up, there are many ways to define what this means to people. This could mean a single mom, a loyal guardian, or your own blood, but at the end of the day, whoever it is that plays that role for you, it is important that we take the time to thank them for all that they do on a daily basis.
 
In this post, I thank the man that has proven time and time again that he will always be there for me, and I get to put into words why I have always considered my Father, a hero with an invisible cape.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

#FathersDay ❤️ 

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The Role of 'Best Friend' is One of the Most Important!

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The Role of 'Best Friend' is One of the Most Important!

How many of you knew that #NationalBestFriendDay was this past week? (How many of you knew that there is a #NationalDay for practically everything?) I have always been a big supporter of this day specifically, and it is because I think the role of a ‘best friend’ needs to be celebrated more. Despite being proud of the independence I have created for myself, the ‘best friend’s’ I have in my life are a huge part of my strong personal foundation.

In this post, I talk about the importance of friendship, and I explain why the role of a ‘best friend’ should be celebrated on more than just one day. In a world that is constantly challenging our every move, thought, and belief, it is nice to know that there is someone out there who makes our world a better place. 

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.

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10 Reasons Why I Will Never Regret the Time I Spent Alone

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10 Reasons Why I Will Never Regret the Time I Spent Alone

I have spent the past couple years ‘alone’, and if you ask me, they have been the most beneficial years of my life. Somewhere along the way I think we were convinced that we must have someone to feel important, and I have learned that no one should validate our own existence except for ourselves.

In this post, I share with you 10 reasons why I will never regret the time I spent alone, and why we need to stop being so afraid of figuring out exactly who we are when no one else is around.  

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you. 

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Stop Telling Us We are Suffering. We are SURVIVING!

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Stop Telling Us We are Suffering. We are SURVIVING!

If you didn’t know already, May is the month of Mental Health, and because of this, I decided to start, and end the month with articles both surrounding this topic. It is no surprise that I am not a stranger to my own mental illnesses, but I am here to speak up for those that haven’t figured out a way to talk about their own.

I have never been a fan of using the adjective “Suffering” when it comes to describing how I choose to cope with my own struggles, for I have always thought the word “Surviving” would be more appropriate. We need to stop making it so easy for people to form a stigma around mental health. We need to show the world that we are surviving nonetheless, and we should not be treated any differently.

In this post, I challenge the all too common belief about mental health, and I offer a new perspective for those that may judge what they don’t understand.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you. 

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"What Do I Want to Do With My Life?" - Do We Ever Really Know?

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"What Do I Want to Do With My Life?" - Do We Ever Really Know?

I am sure you have asked yourself at least once or twice, "What Do I Want to Do with My Life?" And the answer to this can be kind of scary, especially when you don't really have one. This goes for all ages of people, and of all levels in their career. 

Do we ever really know what we want to do for the rest of our lives? How is one truly supposed to know if we are living out our life's purpose? 

In this blog post, I point out some alarming statistics, and I beg the question, "What Do I Want to Do With My Life?"

Thank you for reading! I appreciate you!

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Dear Mom,

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Dear Mom,

In honor of tomorrow being Mother's day, I decided to do things a little differently, and express some of the things I have never been any good at saying out loud. 

In this personal post, I write to the woman who is half of the equation for who I am today. It has been a bumpy 25 years, but she has always remained my Mom through the worst of it. 

I haven't been the easiest daughter to raise, but because of her, I have learned what is important in life. 

To all of the Mom's out there, whether you be single mom's, single dad's, or a loving guardian, YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT, and you deserve so much more than one day.

Happy Day Before Mother's Day! ❤️

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13 Reasons Why I Watched 13 Reasons Why

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13 Reasons Why I Watched 13 Reasons Why

In 2007, there was a popular best-selling book that came out by author, Jay Asher, and it was titled, 13 Reasons Why. 

In 2017, Netflix came out with a series based on the popular book. It was a 13 episode series that told the story of a girl named, Hannah Baker, and she told us 13 reasons why she decided to commit suicide. 

With the hype over this show being unable to ignore, I decided to dive into the life and death of Hannah Baker, and share 13 reasons why I decided to watch it. 

Thank you for reading. I appreciate you. 

Let Go of Who Let Go of You

Let Go of Who Let Go of You

Heart break is hard, and what is even harder, is letting go of the person in charge of our pain, but why? Why is it so hard for us to move on, when it appears that it was so easy for them?

Heartbreak, although painful, was one of the best life lessons I could have ever learned.  

In this post, I discuss some of the steps you should take when it comes to moving on, and ultimately, letting go of the person who let go of you.