Enjoying my last days of training before surgery.
Lift weights. Push really, really heavy shit because it forces you to focus on your breath and put one foot in front of the other. Which is a solid metaphor for life when you’re navigating intense stuff and about to lose your mind. Put your phone on airplane mode. Pick up your favorite book- the one with dog-eared pages and sentences you’ve underlined. Let old, familiar words wrap themselves around you like a warm hug. Close your eyes, place your hand on your heart, and take a long, deep breath. Exhale deeply. Repeat three times. Wash your face with cool water, then hydrate your skin with jojoba oil and hyaluronic acid. Go outside on a crisp morning and watch the sunrise. Take pictures of the sky and be grateful you’re alive to witness the magic of the morning. Create before you consume. Find the watercoloring set you haven’t used in ages. Grab a blank sheet of paper, dip your thick paintbrush into the colors, and allow yourself to play on the page without judgment. Vacuum. Journal your scattered thoughts, anxieties, and worries on the page. Give them some place to call home that isn’t inside your head. Take a walk outside, even if it’s just to notice the color of the leaves, or the light streaming through the trees on a random Thursday morning. Run yourself a bath with eucalyptus spearmint epsom salts, and soak by candlelight while listening to that old album you loved in 2011. Drive to visit your old friend. The one who reminds you that you’ve survived every nightmare in your life and that you’ve made it through. Hug her tightly. Listen to the Giggly Squad podcast and find yourself laughing again. While you’re laughing, realize how lovely it is to laugh when life has felt so overwhelmingly heavy. If the task takes less than five minutes, just finish it now. Take social media off your phone. Learn to graciously ask for help. Learn to graciously receive help. Because we are human, and we need each other.