Happy, Hip, Fit and Sunkissed

On my vacation to Greece I took some time to reflect on life and my commitment to the fitness lifestyle. I asked myself some tough questions about where I was going, what happiness really was and what I had to do to live the lifestyle I educated my clients on everyday.

Happiness in life comes from balance and fullfillment, from connection and harmony between mind and body. So what does that mean in a nutshell? It means having a satisfying career, time for oneself, ones body, ones spirtuality, ones social and emotional relationships. It means having time to celebrate life's sucesses and embrace its hardships. But more than anything it means finding a sense a self, an identity and being strong in this identity, sharing it with others who foster its development and stearing clear of those that want to take it away!

Having been through an abusive relationship which completley stole my self identity, I know that this can happen a lot easier than we may like to admit. And I think it is an especially prominate concern for young women, specifically young women who are trying to balance a sense of self with new demands of relationships, family and children. So the challenge is to be proud of who were and confident enough to protect it! When your beeming about your life, and your identity, and you know without question that you are a happy, strong and great person it is a lot easier to be strong in who you are....so the challenge is how to get there!!

This challenge may be slightly different for everyone but it comes from loving yourself, finding a path or goal in life that you can persue and mentoring a mind body relationship, a healthy lifestyle that balances physical, emotional, spiritual and social health.

For me my challenge comes from being eager to please and willing to do just about anything to assist others. Reflection told me that while helping others is indeed part of what allows me to find fullfillment in my life, it can not come at the expense of my own self; because when it does I become stressed, unhappy, physically exhausted and much less able to provide the appropriate help and support needed by family and freinds. This is INDEED one of the biggest challenges women face, being able to say "Yes, I need to put ME as a priority in my life!" But find true happiness you do need to spend a certain amount of time focusing on yourself, and no it is not being selfish!!

For me happiness comes from being enthusiastic and engeric, having a constant physical challenge or running goal to work towards...it comes from feeling happy, hip fit and sunkissed!! Everyone's formula is different for this....you can't take my formula and apply it to, I can't your formula and apply it to me, but in order to get you thinking I am going to share what makes me feel confident, happy and alive!

1. Physical Fitness
I am very in tune with my body, when I am forced to skip workouts for employment or school related commitments I feel "gross". I feel sluggish, sad, and like I'm just not me! So having the time to do my workouts 6 days a week is a priority that just has to be fullfilled. I can't wait to return to the UofA Track and Field Program :)

2. Nutrition
My body is particularly sensitive to the foods I consume. This is likely a result of the physical demands I put on my body through fitness and the high energy lifestyle I lead! You are what you eat, so it is important to find creative nutrition solutions for every lifestyle, whether you use food, food prep or a combination of food and supplements nutrition is essential to happiness. Looking for specific ideas? I'm always here to help!

3. Long term educational and career goals
Admitting to myself that I am the kind of person that needs a constantly challenging and refreshing work environment has allowed me to find a certain satisfaction in my career. I also find satisfaction in seeing my career and goals move forward. For me this means finding employment opportunities that foster my dream of completing my phyiscal education degree which will allow me to move forward should I be called to stay in the fitness industry. It also involves finding a workplace open to my goal of applying to the police force. While there is no guarantees of success in this process I need to surround myself with people both inside and outside of the workplace who are willing to embrace and support my dreams and aspirations!

4. Social, Emotional and Spiritual fullfillment.
This is a very personal area, we all find the balance to these things differently. For me this includes having a chance to see my family once a week, interact with my circle of close freinds and attend church on a regular basis. It also included finding a volunteer opportunity that allows me to give back to the community...I'm currently looking for something that is law enforcement based if anyone has leads....

5. Work Life Balance
In order to be able to pursue fitness, educational and nutritional goals while finding social, emotional and spirtual fullfillment there was one ingredient missing in my life! Work Life Balance!! So what does this mean? Well it means that I am a better personal trainer, coach and role model when I have some time for me! That is okay not to want to answer work related calls at 7am on Sunday morning, and that I can still take awesome care of my fantastic clients while finding this balance! And I believe I have found a fantastic place to make this happen :)

6. Unhealthy relationships
So I'm just gonna address this breifly and within a professional scope, some of you may be aware that unhealthy relationships have been a part of my past....and I know some of you were concerned over the fact that one of my freinds who was to travel with Greece to me decided not to come with me last minute, and indeed he took an unnecessary tack of laying blame for this decision on me. It was somehow my fault (largely because I was going to make a potential career choice he didn't like), and he felt it was necessary to threaten me rather than just politely ask me to respect his wishes.
So what did I do? I made other arrangements to have a fantastic vacation and knew that if this was the kind of person I was missing out of in my life then it was okay! Because I need to surround myself with people who support me and my goals, and who treat me with respect...so that I can indeed be Happy, Hip, Fit and Sunkissed!!