Following My Bliss…will it lead me to Blissdom?

For years I thought I was following my bliss. I was married to a man I loved very much, had a good job that helped pay our bills and allowed me to work from home with our children, and lived in a nice, family oriented neighborhood in a warm house. The thing was I wasn’t very happy on the inside, but I would never admit that because what did I have to complain about.

Truth was, I was pretty stressed out most of the time and filled with anxiety. My children were sick – A LOT! I was sick – A LOT! We frequented the pediatrician’s office, the children’s hospital, we were all on daily medications, and we missed school because of illness or the fear of picking up illnesses, which put a lot of strain on my job. I lived in fear. I woke up all the time checking on my children because many of their illnesses involved difficulty breathing. I was extremely sleep deprived. I started developing allergies and breaking out in a rash, which made me afraid to eat. It was a lot worse than I let on to most people. My diet became very limited out of fear because I didn’t want to have a serious reaction to something while home alone with my children. I had friends, but I rarely shared my true fears and feelings with them. I didn’t want to be judged. I was extremely co-dependent on the people in my life, which wasn’t good for any of my relationships, especially my marriage. Long story short, after four years of slowly sliding down this slope of sickness, fear and anxiety, I started to have daily anxiety attacks. My doctor’s wanted to medicate me, but honestly, I was afraid to take the medicine. After having a major anxiety attack at a Girls Night Out party in front of friends and acquaintances, I told my husband, this is it! I can’t live like this! I won’t live like this! I have to figure something out.

I started to pray about what to do and how to get better because I honestly had no idea where to start. I began seeing a counselor, found a wonderful chiropractor and alternative medicine doctor who really took time to talk to me about my symptoms and emotions. I slowly began to learn about the things in my life that weren’t healthy. We started by changing our diet to include more whole foods and almost no processed foods and I was receiving regular adjustments from my doctor/chiropractor. After three weeks, my anxiety attacks stopped. This began my journey to my true bliss. Over the course of 2009 I continued to learn about myself and to change the choices I was making related to my mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. I started the Broccoli Cupcake blog, which was really and online journal of what I was learning. I stopped hiding and started sharing myself and all my flaws with my friends (and anyone who was reading my blog). I healed and started to feel real joy for the first time in a long time. I saw my health improve and the health of my children. This included our emotions. My son’s teachers began commenting on his personality and how it had changed. He didn’t cry when he was dropped off at school as much, he seemed more outgoing and more confident and began to enjoy school and participate in class. One of the most rewarding changes was the fact that people started to share their true-selves with me as well. I was frequently asked what had changed in our lives and referred several people to the many resources that had helped us heal. As a result, I started to think about how my experience might help other people. The Broccoli Cupcake blog evolved into a conference, The Women’s Wellness Weekend, a two-day event designed to help women find the place where happy meets healthy. I won’t go into all the details, but that’s how I found my bliss in 2009. I’m so happy with the path we are all on and the opportunity to help others find health and balance in their lives by sharing our story and resources. Broccoli Cupcake and The Women’s Wellness Weekend will continue to be a part of that journey. Following my bliss means being real, learning to live a healthier life and helping others to do the same.

I’m hoping to attend Blissdom in early February to network with other women who are sharing parts of their lives and their bliss online. I would love the opportunity to learn, grow and improve the Broccoli Cupcake blog through this event. I’m sure there are 100s of deserving candidates for the ticket @mominthecity is giving away. Enter your story here to win a ticket to Blissdom and pursue your bliss in 2010. http://mominthecity.com/wp/2009/12/22/a-great-day-blissdom-conference-pass-giveaway/ Good luck to all! Hope to see you at Blissdom!