This year I turned 35. As you tend to do on milestone birthdays, or any birthday for that matter, is to reflect on your life gone by. The last 5 years have possibly been the most eventful of my life, with the birth of my son and everything that brings, a change of career, going back to study and the enormous changes I have made to my well-being through diet, exercise and spirit.
I also spent a bit of time thinking about the person I used to be. In my twenties, I was working for my family, involved in employing and managing staff, working a lot of hours, sometimes starting at 6am and finishing after 10pm. I was highly resentful of situations in my past and present, and I was very bitter, selfish, judgmental and overall a very angry little person. I was also 90 odd kilos and very unhealthy.
So I thought of a few things that I wish I had know back then, that I know now. Not saying that I live with regret, far from it. It’s just an interested exercise, isn’t it! And in saying this, I have the highest respect for the universe and the journey that I am on, and knowing that without these lessons in my twenties I would never have become the person that I am now!
12 things I would like to say to my 23 year old self….
Do yoga. This will change your life. The stretches and moves you are doing now are actually yoga poses! They have names! You are instinctively drawn to it, and with good reason. You need it in your life. It will do wonders for you!
Let go of the hate, bitterness and anger. There is no point. You can’t change people. You can’t control situations. You don’t need to try and understand why others behave the way they do. Just let it go. The only thing you can control is the way you react, and right now you are so wound up and poisoned with bitterness. It isn’t very nice is it! Believe me, it does not need to be this way, and you will feel light and free when you let it all go.
Get your illnesses under control – you don’t know it now, but you are anemic, (and this will be exacerbated after childbirth) you also have low blood sugar levels. You are also intolerant to gluten, dairy, soy and yeast.
Spend more time with your horses – they wont be around forever. Love them and hug them. Don’t be afraid to ride Kasper because you think you are too heavy for him. Its ok! And make sure you get a photo of Alex with Kasper.
Eat well – at the moment you are not eating with respect for your body. If you keep this up, over the coming years you will get very very fat and it will make getting pregnant hard. Above I mentioned the food intolerances. Right now, you are eating so much crap that you are not listening to the subtle messages your body is trying to send you about the foods that it doesn’t like.
Get into child care – this is what you were put on earth to do! Dad might not like it, but you are not meant to be an office worker or a herb packer.
Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks – for years you have had massive confidence issues, and the only way this is going to go away is to just not concern yourself with others opinions, or perceived opinions! It is actually none of your business anyway what anyone else thinks of you!
You can be vegan – it is not that hard! OK it takes a bit of planning and educating yourself, but you absolutely can do it! Just go for it!
Wear a hat and don’t put sunscreen on your face – your wrinkles are only going to get worse, and your skin will be damaged more by sunscreen than the sun in the future. So get your hat on missy! I don’t care what you think you look like or what it does to your hair!
Stop using chemicals – on your skin, in your home and in your food – eat organic, buy natural cleaning products. The shit you are putting on your skin is full of crap and cancer causing chemicals. It only takes 23 seconds for anything you put on your skin to be absorbed down into a cellular level, and get into your body. This will be your AHA moment in years to come. Do it now. There will be an amazing shop open up in Mount Gambier in about 15 years, until then, buy on line.
Educate yourself about animal testing and buy cruelty free – it does mean a lot to you, so don’t wait another 10 years before doing something about it.
Speak your mind – don’t be afraid of what people think of you. Remember how you feel when you sing ? – that people listen to you and you are good – you can feel the same way when you speak. Don’t be trodden on, have your voice heard. And stop saying yes just because you think you have to. You are not a pawn.
Sunshine and Green Tea 