After taking a few years off from my professional and personal goals, my body is now starting to permit me to do more. YAY life, literally. I can finally breathe outside air without freaking out about where bathrooms are and how my body will respond to living normally.
Lofty expectations while I’m still in treatmebt but I truly can’t sit still any longer.
I lived an unmotivated life twelve years ago and almost died from it so I’ve made a conscious decision to live every single day since and when I decided to take that path I opened myself up to a world I never thought I’d know and this wasn’t the kind of place you can purchase a ticket to go to, it’s a world that exists inside of you.
Then Crohn’s decided to intrude but even through the lowest moments of my illness, I never gave up the hope for a life of normalcy with my personal and professional goals.
Whether I’m having a good or bad day, Crohn’s continues to teach me the importance of self-love and self-care and for that I’m grateful.
Before 2014 I used to burn-out from ignorning my body’s signals that I was doing too much; physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
One positive lesson from my worst flare was that I learned how much energy I could give to people, places, and things because my body needed me more than my misconceived ambitions.
I wanted to be successful, philanthropic, have the best relationships, all while working out, having fun, traveling, and the whole nine yards. But there weren’t any limitations or boundaries for any of it. I gave so much that I didn’t save anything for myself.
I was foolish to think I could put the petal to the metal and speed right through all the warning lights and that’s when I crashed.
After the dust settled and I realized where I was and that I was there all by myself, I rewrote my internal user guide and added a section about listening to my body and when / how to heed my own advice.
The experience of the crash and what my life was then brought me right to this moment that I’m breathing in now.
Whether it’s been a good or bad experience, every part of my path has positively impacted my mind, heart, and energy.
Interestingly enough, the bad made me the most positive AKA “glittery” because it was the lowest and darkest so there isn’t anywhere to go but up.
Note that my energy isn’t my “vibe” it’s the charge within that pushes me to overcome challenges, shhot for my goals, and keeps my mind focused on a day-to-day basis.
With this deep background, I can now share how I keep GLOWing in the wonderful world of Louisville and it’s not from my new highlighter, it’s from a group of likeminded women I choose to surround myself with.
As fate would have it, my first GLOW meeting was at The Leadership Louisville center and led by Lisa Zangari. She shared tips on how to manage our energy. If you’ve ever met her, you know she’s a vibrant spirit so it’s difficult to convey all of her awesome-ness into a blog post but here’s the takeaways of the presentation she shared with us.
– Managing our energy is more important than managing our time.
– If we operate at “high energy” all of the time, it’s inauthentic and leads to burnout.
– We have 3 primary energy states: rocking it, surviving it, and losing it. Which of these do you find yourself in most often? How can you thrive in “rocking it” more often?
– Take a closer look at your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual energy. Figure out what decreases and increases each of these to maximize your energy.
Sound intriguing? I encourage you to check-out this group of women and see if it’s a good fit for you.
The purpose of GLOW (Greater Louisville Outstanding Women) is to form and facilitate a group of connected and civically minded women who do business or own a business in Louisville, Kentucky who meet monthly to educate, lead, advocate and empower women of all ages in our region.
