Cancer Was My Catalyst

We are creatures of habit. It’s comforting to know what to expect every day, to keep the routines that make us feel “happy” and secure, and to have predictability on what is to come.

But how do you get a moment to really examine those routines and behaviors? How do you know if they are beneficial or harmful to your wellbeing – both physically and emotionally?

For too many of us, it takes a large, earth-shaking event to rock our routines out of orbit and reveal some pretty big truths about the way we are moving through our lives.

A parent suddenly passes away from heart disease.

A sudden job loss from a career 10 years in the making.

A highly contagious disease creates a worldwide pandemic forcing you into quarantine.

For me, it was a cervical cancer diagnosis at 18 years old.

Each of these life-altering events can be a catalyst to examine your own life, beliefs, choices, behaviors, and the outlook that you have on your finite future.

For me, a cancer diagnosis was the catalyst for looking at the ways I was neglecting my body.

You might be thinking, “At just 18 years old how could she have possibly done harm already to her body?” Well, I wasn’t a typical 18 year old and I had not had anywhere near close to “normal” or “typical” childhood. My 18 year old body had lived a pretty tumultuous life up until that point.

By my late teens I was on my own and working a full time job. However, I was participating in a ton of toxic routines as well. I was living off of a fast food diet, going out drinking most nights, and barely getting any sleep before getting up for work the next day.

I thought I was young and indestructible – as many young adults do. But I was damn tired and not feeling great.

What felt like a ton of bricks falling onto my body, I was informed after a doctor’s checkup that I had cervical cancer. This diagnosis also came with the realization that it would be difficult for me to carry children due to the way the cancer cells had to be removed from my cervix.

This was my earth-shaking event, my catalyst, to looking deeply at how I was living my life, what I was putting into my body, and figuring out what I wanted my life to be.

And not to pile on here, but just two short years later when I was 20 years old, I was involved in a major car accident that left me with a broken tailbone on impact and I was placed on short term disability.

With these two events, I woke up to my wellness.

I started living a whole new life, drinking more water, learning yoga, and not partying as I did before and began my path towards wellness that I have been following ever since.

I invite you to ask yourself – is the lifestyle you’re living supporting you in your mental and physical well being?

Or do you put your self care, nutrition, and physical care last, fearful that a life-altering diagnosis could be just around the corner.

So why not get preventative instead of waiting for a wake up call? Why not take some small steps towards well being so that you can slowly begin to lower the odds of a major health crisis in your life?

If you feel like your routines and life habits are leading you to the tipping point of a wake-up call – either physical or mental – today is the day to start considering a new approach.

On March 7th I am launching the next round of my free Epic Gut Cleanse program. This can be your first step into the benefits of focusing on what you’re putting into your body and how it is making you feel every day. It takes 21-days to make or break a habit. Join me on this journey!

Learn More about the Epic Gut Cleanse