Hello friends, we have been focusing a lot on mental wellbeing in our class lately. I am incredibly grateful to be exposed to information that reminds me that I am a human who needs breaks and time to decompress. Something I have come to learn is that I can not do it all, and that is ok! It took my health to see that. I put everything above myself and my health and it has taken longer to gain my health back then it did to almost ruin it.
You see, diabetes is the only inheritance that I will get from my family. When I entered community college, I was ambitious and hit the ground running. I wasn't used to the schedule and the workload and I truthfully wasn't balancing everything well. I had my two young kids and full time school and still having to run a home. And then I jumped into the amazing opportunity of research. From there everything kind of snow balled in good ways and bad ways.
I was a 4.0 student, winning awards, and scholarships. My kids were thriving, my home was a bit messy but could have been worse. You know what was worse? My health. In a year I had gained at least 50 lbs, I'm not even sure how much I actually gained because I truly didn't notice. I know that sounds crazy but I was so consumed by school and life that I forgot about myself out side of my mind and work. I finally took a step back and had to acknowledge that if I didn't make a change that I would have diabetes sooner than later and I couldn't do that to my kids if I could avoid it.
I had to say it out loud. "I can either be a 4.0 student, have a clean home, happy kids, or be healthy" something had to give, because I couldn't do it all. Well I relaxed on the cleaning and passed some chores onto my husband and the kids and I made time for me to move and workout instead of being in front of a computer and notebook all day. Now at ASU, I am no longer a 4.0 student and I truly don't mind. I am so much healthier and happier. I am still not where I was heath wise before I lost myself in school and life, but I am getting there. I often reflect that I took only one year to almost wreck my health and it has so far taken over three years to get it back. Please make time for yourself and your health! It is so easy to let your health go, but trust me, it will take a lot of time and hard work to get it back. Stay well my friends!
