This is so true! It’s never too late to change and be who you want to be.
This photograph was taken on a walk with my husband and my two girls, on Sunday 9th October 2016. I know the date because I posted it on my Facebook page. We all have days we will never forget for good reasons and bad, and this is a day I will never forget! The Day before we had all been to a local beer festival with friends and family, then back to ours for drinks and pizza. All day I had told myself to take it easy on the drinking because we had planned this walk on the Sunday. But the drinks were flowing and Sunday’s plans went out of the window, we’ve all been there haven’t we?
So when Sunday came around I was feeling pretty crap, I was feeling exactly how I didn’t want to feel. I think the older I got the worse I felt even just after a few drinks! In a way I’m glad because if I felt fine I would never have stopped!!
So we set off, trying to motivate myself, I felt sick, spaced out and faint but I didn’t want to admit it. I was totally caught up in feeling crap but smiling on the outside! On the walk we stopped to have food ( I was planning on a carb feast to perk me up!) At this point a fell runner came past, she had a “tough mudder finisher” tshirt on, she had glowing red cheeks, was slim but not skinny and just looked so amazing healthy and strong. It was a light bulb moment for me, I just thought what am I doing???? I’m sat her feeling crap after another boozy Saturday, it’s not who I want to be, I wanted to be like she was! Healthy, glowing, strong, happy! Yes I was happy to be doing this walk with my girls but I want to be running along with them, full of energy and being 100% present, giving them the best version of me, their mum!
I thought about this for the rest of the day and how I could change, I knew I had to stop drinking, but could I do it?
We stopped for tea on the way home and I remember persuading my husband to drive because I wanted a couple of glasses of wine! How crazy is that!!! In my head I was thinking “I will start Monday”. Unfortunately it took me another month to decide to stop for good, but I will never forget seeing that fell runner in her tshirt. I’ve now booked my second Tough Mudder and can’t wait to do it again in July!
Changing how I felt physically by stopping drinking was something I really wanted to do, and for a long time I tried and failed. One day it does just click, it maybe something you see or read or just a feeling, but don’t ignore it, it’s never too late to make that change and become who you want to be. The other option is living a life always wondering “what if?” Or “I can’t do that” but you can. Whether it’s losing weight, stopping drinking, getting healthy, completing a challenge, anything that you seriously, really want to do, believe me you can do it! You just need to decide to make the change! It doesn’t matter how many starts you have, just keep on trying, if you want it badly enough you will get there, just don’t give up!
PS- my comment on this photo when I posted it on Facebook was “blowing the cobwebs away!” Now that’s something I don’t need to do anymore!
I hope the sun is shining where you are today because it feels like Spring has finally sprung here!
Angie x
Find Your Sober Glow! 