Howdy Y'all!

I was talking to a new friend this morning about a past experience I once had and it brought up the subject of getting to know ourselves.

I shared with her that when my last child moved out I was sitting in my house staring. In a quiet voice, out loud, I murmured... "Now what do I do?" I honestly didn't know. I then came to the realization that I had no clue who I was! Who is Teresa? What do I like to do? What are my interests, if I even have any interests at all? Do I? At this point, I started an amazing adventurous journey to my soul! A transformation that introduced myself, well, to me. Hi Teresa, how are you? Some days pretty good and others, back then, not so much...

I now ask you, do you feel this way? Are you busy in your life as a mom or dad, or in your career, in college or, as I like to say, doin' the do, that you just don't have the time? Or did you know yourself but have gotten lost somewhere along the way?

You are not alone!

My friend brought something to my attention that I hadn't specifically thought about. She said that there are a lot of people who are just starting to figure out who they are in their 50's and 60's. That getting to know our self is constant and is something that continues without end. I agree with that perspective myself. I see in society quite often people are just now finding their voice and navigating the "People Pleaser Complex". You have a right to your voice, to know your voice matters and to use it. You have the right to say NO too. AND to say NO without feeling badly about it! It is important to take care of yourself and practice self-love. Kind of like putting the oxygen mask on yourself first so you are able to , not passed out, help your loved ones, your littles. This is a really good analogy to practice in our daily life.

Although my journey started in my late 30's, I feel it is an ongoing opportunity to learn everyday. Our transformation is ongoing and don't we want it to be? If we stop, then we aren't growing, we become stagnant and that is never good. Please ask yourself who am I? What do I like to do as an individual? Have fun with it and enjoy the adventurous ride we call life! Have a wonderful day and if you would like a Soul Share please let me know.

Sincerely,

Teresa

Hi Y’all, 

When I was in college, just a short time ago... 25 years... I wrote an essay about a contraption I like to call, Joy Killer. It is the dreaded scale. I was asked to give a speech to my class. So picture this, an insecure mother of three going through a divorce in a state where I didn’t know anyone in the middle of the worst winter on record to date at that time. I was scared and trying to survive. Here I am thinking, oh s$@t... my professor wants Meeee to get up in front of the entire class and speak about the essay I wrote which was, yes, about self worth and throwing away that evil monster, Joy Killer, that lays in the corner on the bathroom floor of most homes. Why? Why do we do this to ourselves? So that’s exactly what I did. I gave a speech entitled, “Throw Away Your Scale”. I stood up in front of everyone seeing all their eyes staring back at me with my knees knocking. I just knew they could see me quivering and they could hear the sound of my knocking knees so loudly they probably couldn’t hear what I was even saying. That kinda brought a little comfort in a weird way. They couldn’t hear me. That might be good, right? All I needed was my professor to hear me so hopefully I would get the ever coveted “A”. I was a perfectionist 25 years ago. I am now, well, not. As I spoke, I asked the class, how do you feel when you wake up in the morning? I will tell you that when I wake up and I am feeling pretty darn good, when I step on the Joy Killer, I usually do not feel so good after that. I came to the realization that I am letting a number ruin my day, a measly number. That is all it is after all, a number. So I threw away my scale! I learned to ask myself, how do I feel today deep in my soul, not in my clothes, but within myself. My response now is flippin’ fantastic! Isn’t that what is important? Isn’t that all that we want is to be happy and feel joy? Ladies, gents I implore you to join me! PLEASE, THROW AWAY YOUR SCALE! Ask yourself how you feel? If you’re not feelin’ so good let’s find out why but don’t let it be because of a number... Let’s start a revolution to take our power back! When I saw Valerie Bertinelli on the Today Show this past week, I cried. She was talking about finding her bliss and describing how she feels when she steps on a scale. It was heart breaking to hear. That is why I am writing this today. She reminded me of the speech I gave 25 years ago. Then I thought, wow, I was ahead of my time. I don’t know if anything I said helped anyone that day, I sure do hope so. I do know that I want to help now. Let’s join together in solidarity and #throwawaymyscale.