Quick Fixes That Make Me a Better Human ;)

Heya friend! I hope this finds you well and doing something that gives you joy today. I wanted to just give a quick check-in on life through this here computer screen, and chat as though we are the best of friends. 😉 I hope you get encouraged and make some small changes that make a big difference for you after reading this.

Summer is always a time for us to slow down. Personally, for Paul and me, it’s a break between the biggest seasons at church – Easter and Back to School/Fall ramp-up time. But can I be honest with you? The last, well, few months if I am honest, I have been short, not relaxed, and not really myself. There have been nights I was in such a “funk” that Paul had to turn on Steve Harvey videos from YouTube or Funniest Home Videos to get me to lighten up. This summer so far, I have been kind of a pain to be around. Yikes. My time with the Lord has been quick, if at all, and even my prayer life was nearly non-existent. I realized a couple of weeks ago that I needed to change something and FAST. My body was even starting to have the same signs and symptoms of a few years back when I basically shut down. If you were around, you remember I had Adrenal Fatigue, yeast overgrowth in my body, and we learned I was allergic to yeast in addition to the gluten allergy I was diagnosed with a couple years before. I was exhausted all the time, short-tempered, in pain, and just really not “me.” Luckily, having been through that once before, I was more aware that it seemed as though the same thing was happening, and I wouldn’t live with it for 3 years before doing something about it this time… ha. I know, crazy right? I lived like that for years, because I didn’t want to go to another doctor just for them to tell me “All your tests are normal, you’re fine” like I had been my entire life when in reality I was being overlooked and falsely diagnosed.

Anyways, I wanted to share with you some simple changes I have made, because I know I am not alone in this. I made just a couple of slight fixes to my routine two weeks ago, and almost immediately I felt like a better human. For real, a more patient and loving mom, a better wife, a better friend. And all because of just a couple changes to the way I start my days.

1. I was in the habit of sleeping until Knox woke me up. I was so exhausted that this made sense to me. But, I was waking up in an immediate state of frustration. With a grunt and throwing off of my covers, I was walking to the nursery to get my son angry, still half asleep, and not at all in a good mood. This followed me all day long- short-tempered, quick to get angry at Knox, not present, and just going through the motions with my son. Then, by the time my husband got home, I all but tossed the baby to him and would go be alone- missing out on time with Paul and with the three of us together. Fix: I started waking up with Paul at 6 AM again to do my devotional time, pray, and even read for fun. By the time Knox starts waking up, I have already had time to myself for about an hour and a hot cup of coffee in my system. I am not kidding y’all, starting DAY 1 of this, I was more patient with my son. Such a small shift with massive changes.
2. I decided to do, I suppose, a cleanse? I cut out sugar and my glass of red wine for two weeks and it helped my nerves and patience. Sugar absolutely can play a role in your irritability, and I would really encourage you to cut it out if you’ve noticed that in you lately. In addition, as mentioned, my body was starting to show signs of being sick again, likely from getting glutened or eating yeast, and sugar 1000% plays a role in making that worse!
3. I got way out of my routine and stopped going to the gym 3-5 days a week. I was MAYBE going once a week, but even went two whole weeks without. YIKES. Going to the gym makes me a better person. For real… it does. It’s some “me time” that makes me feel better, balances hormones, and get’s my creative juices flowing. Cutting that out because “I don’t have time” is NO GOOD for myself (or anybody I do life with… haha). I have been forcing myself to go again 3 times a week at minimum, and have been trying new workouts to mix it up for me and excite me about going. It’s been so helpful!

I feel like myself again, and it’s only been two weeks. Try this out if you are feeling “not quite like myself”, and I promise you’ll be amazed at what these little fixes and tweaks do for you.

xoxo,

Han