“What would you attempt…”

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I heard this quote before and although I don’t know who to attribute it to I absolutely love thinking about it. What amazing feats would you try if you knew you were guaranteed success? Of course, I can think of many scenarios for myself but then I remember nothing is guaranteed (except death & taxes…is that the joke?  There have definitely been times I’ve held back out of fear of failure, fear of looking foolish, lack of confidence in my abilities but then I wonder what opportunities have I lost out on? I like to believe that for the majority of my life I’ve been willing and able to put myself out there and at least try new things. I know that this is true at this point in my life because here I am writing a blog about living with a chronic illness and the various experiences that have come from that life changing situation.

I had lunch today with my youngest niece (9) and nephew (5) and they were asking me about my new kidney (that their father, my new hero, donated to me 6 months ago) and how I’m “back to being me again.” In talking with them I realized I have an amazing opportunity to move forward with a new lease on life. I am opening up a private practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor and getting a certificate as a Health Coach. My ultimate goal is to work with people who have chronic illness, autoimmune diseases and/or kidney issues. I want to be able to counsel those who need therapy and also be able to work with those who need help mastering habit change in order to be their best selves while living with health concerns. That is not to say that this is not scary….because let me tell you that a swarm of butterflies have taken up residence in my stomach. I worry about so many facets of these new endeavors and yet I know that if I don’t give it a chance I will forever regret that decision. I have been thinking about going out on my own in business for many years but it never seemed like the right time or there was something (usually my health) that was holding me back. Now, I feel as if I have no more excuses and if I’m to take my own advice to “live, love and evolve daily” then I need to put my money where my mouth is and go for it!

I keep in mind that I need to take care of myself whether that be taking my medicine consistently, eating healthier, increasing daily movement in any form to exercise my body and mind, practice good sleep hygiene and practice positive self-talk as I’m a big believer in what we tell ourselves, positive or negative, will become a self-fulfilling prophecy when said often enough. Please don’t think that I’m saying I am perfect…far from it…. because I am really struggling with appropriate sleep and even though I’ve joined a PIYO class I know 1x/wk is not enough movement, and between you and me my self talk sometimes needs a kick in the pants. But hey, I have been eating healthier…:-) My point is that I know these things are important and while I may not have perfected them I am working on them consistently with the mantra that “every day is a new beginning.” That does not mean that I toss out any or all of my goals on any given day and just say “oh, I can start over tomorrow” rather that if I fall down in some aspect one day it is not the end of the world. At lunch with the kids today I was explaining that because I was given this amazing gift of a new kidney I want to do all I can to stay as healthy as I can for as long as possible. One thing I have learned over the last 24 years is to take nothing for granted and because of that I know that if I want something I need to work towards that goal with everything I have. If life has other plans I’ll find out soon enough but we’ve gone a few rounds over the years and I think I’ve won my fair share.

I am excited and nervous about what the future will hold but I’m ready to explore all the possibilities. I know it can be scary but I hope that all of you out there are able to take a chance on your dreams. Remember that if you want to share your thoughts and feelings about this post or whatever is going on with you even if you disagree with everything I’ve said I’d love to hear from you.

“Courage is the Price that Life exacts for granting Peace” ~ Amelia Earhart