A few years ago, I decided that I was going to take control of my life and get healthy. My eating disorder was toxic and sucked the life out of me. I finally hit rock bottom and the only way out was up.
I knew I had to make a big change in my life, but fear made me resist this change for a very long time.
I started to take baby steps in the right direction, even though I often felt like I was taking one step forward and two steps back. It didn’t matter though because with a determined spirit anything is possible, I just didn’t know it at the time.
One day, as I was chatting with my friend Leah, she said something that struck a cord with me.
She said, ‘Ange, I can tell that you are being good to yourself because you have a real glow now that you didn’t have before.’
She knew that I was trying to beat my ED and her words of encouragement made all the difference. The word glow stuck with me so much that I decided to make it my theme.
From then on, my goal was to do things that made me glow and avoid things that did not.
It was simple and it worked.
Over time, I realized that inner happiness and confidence is more attractive than any number on the scale. I wanted to be a Size Healthy, not a size ‘x’.
Despite my good intentions, I don’t always feel the ‘glow’ in my life…especially during the gloomy Winter! It is easy to fall into a slump and just get discouraged about things in general. Instead of letting negative thoughts get the best of me, I now know that the beauty of life is not in being perfect or happy 100% of the time, but it is overcoming the challenges that we all face.
The good news is we can always take action if we are not content with something in our life. I used to see myself as a product of my environment, but I learned that I am in control of my happiness and no one else.
I don’t just want to be inspired, I want to harness inspiration in my life. I want to grab a big lasso, throw it in the air, and pull inspiration toward my life. Some days, inspiration hits me when I least expect it- a positive thought, idea, or plan of action- and I get all excited about it, only forgetting about it later on as I go about my day. If only I had written it down, I often say.
I have a blog, so why not write it down?
I have always felt like there is a wonderful energy on this blog…all of you. We can channel this energy and use it in a positive way to build each other up and inspire each other to do simple, but great things. My writings and conversations on this blog gave me the courage to leave my unfulfilling career. This is when I really started to realize that great things can happen when you put a group of people together…even virtually!
The Daily Glow feature will be a place to write down inspirations, thoughts, questions, themes of the day, quotes, and the like, as they come. They will be short reflections and inspiring thoughts to hopefully add some joy, reflection, and inspiration into our lives. Daily Glow will not be on a ‘daily’ basis literally (unless I am really feeling inspired that week!), but I hope to include this feature on a regular basis. Most importantly, I will need your help, your ideas, your contributions. I think that we can do some amazing things if we put our heads (and hearts) together.
I will kick it off with a quote that I love.
Life without a purpose is a languid, drifting thing; every day we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves, ‘This day let me make a sound beginning’.
-Thomas Kempis
I often find myself going through the motions of life, without taking time to reflect…to stop…to breathe. I catch myself holding my breath or taking very shallow breaths of air when I feel tense about something in my life. This quote reminds me to stop and reflect on my purpose, even if only my daily purpose. It is very easy to lose sight of what is meaningful among the clutter in our lives and in our minds. My goal for today is to reflect on the actions that I take, the thoughts that I make, and to be mindful of my breathing.
What does this quote say to you? What can you do today to live with purpose?
You, Angela, are simply amazing!! :)
what a wonderful, awesome post, angela. i love when you share recipes, but when you share inspiring thoughts and your own personal experience, it just is so meaningful – thanks so much!!!
to me, this quote says that making long-range plans is great…but don’t forget that each day is a special entity to itself – you can make a difference JUST TODAY in either your own life, or in someone else’s – just one small step at a time.
looking forward to more DAILY GLOW reflections! :)
thankyou so much for such an inspiring post!
really, it means alot.
x
Beautiful! What a motivating quote! Last night I attended the most amazing yoga class where our instructor told us that in order to show kindness to others we must first show kindness to ourselves which is some really great advice!
Inspirational, Angela!
This quote reminds me of one of my favorite Buddhist quotes: “The journey is the destination.” If your sole focus is where you want to be, you’re missing the most important part — the process of getting there. Each day why not rethink the seemingly mundane and consider how the mundane might be important in the big picture?
I’ve started to be more conscious of my breathing too. Many times I’ve found that I almost hold my breath and breath very shallow. As I’ve become more intentional about breathing deep I start to feel more relaxed and calm.
I always love it when you share straight from the heart. You to harness inspiration, you do glow, and you have passed that glow on to many many others (including myself).
Cheers to the DAILY GLOW!
LC
Lovely… Often our purposes can be hidden beneath depths of self hatred, guilt, and the nagging voice of negativity hiding in our heads (I’ve named my voice ED). Yet even when we feel frustrated and hopeless, we can rediscover hope and purpose in the words of another. Your blog and your words provide more wisdom and possibility for your readers. By sharing your struggle and journey to find your glow has inspired readers like me to hope and believe that we can break free of our demons and live purposely. I don’t know what your purpose is (or mine for that matter) but I personally believe it’s to provide hope and inspiration to those who need it. One day I’d like to have a similar purpose, to provide hope and glow to those individuals who need it the most. Thank you for all your beautiful posts :)
Well, first of all this quote gave me goosebumps! I think that having a purpose in life is essential – whether it is being a teacher, a mom, or completing 3 selfless acts a day – it all matters. What is life without a purpose? It’s not a good one – it’s going through the motions and not really LIVING.
Thanks for the reminder!
I love this post. I was at dinner with a few acquaintances in the fall and one of them told me that I looked good…that I used to look much more worn down. It really hit home with me, in much the same way your friend’s comment did. I’m excited to see where you go with this feature- I’ve always looked to your blog as a source of inspiration myself, both for food and for learning to enjoy it!
I really love this segment idea! The “glow” and positivity of the community was exactly what drew me into blogging a year ago and what’s kept me here all this time :) Yours was actually the first blog I read and I found it through “The F Word” when I was looking for sources of inspiration to help draw me out of the final phases of my eating disorder when the stresses of facing the real world were tempting to me relapse. At any rate, I’m so glad to have found blogs like yours that have helped me become the stronger, happier, healthier woman whose life is looking better and better each day :)
That quote immediately made me think of Jason and I working so hard to get our finances in order — paying off debt, saving, etc. We made it a point to focus every single day on getting that done. Every purchase had to reflect that goal: do we “need” this or do we just want it? If we need it, lets get it, if not, forget it.
Same with treating ourselves better and finding our purpose — why not spend our time finding our purpose and pursuing our dreams? This quote is all about getting your priorities in order!
I love this and love following your transformation and the tips and recipes and so happy you are blogging it and sharing it all to us.
I think this is a fantastic idea and will be an inspiration for so many readers.
I love this quote. It’s so important for working women to remember themselves and their piece of mind.
This post also touched me as I’m going through the motions of finally overcoming an ED that has taken over my life. Every day is a challenge but your inspiration helps me. It especially helps on a morning liike this (I’m in Boston…SNOW!) when the world seems to dreary that it inevitably makes me feel just as badly.
Your daily glows could not have come at a better time. Thank you!
I loved hearing where glow came from! And this idea is fantastic…as is that quote. I love the thought of recognzizing purpose in life and going after it.
Thanks so much for writing this blog, it give’s me courage and one day I hope to glow just like you
i just love that last part about making a sound beginning every day…that’s definitely something that i have not chosen to do and need to!
i think this is a beautiful idea, and i loved hearing your story about behind the glow :)
A very inspirational, learned person said the following, “The battle for life is the battle for sanity.” Hearing this gave me so much peace. I know more than ever that everyone is struggling with something. Knowing that I am not alone makes it easier to overcome whatever comes my way.
Oh wow Ange, I love this feature! I love that quote too and it really strikes a chord with me this morning for many reasons. I’ve been getting very ahead of myself lately and (pardon the cliche) not taking much time to stop and smell the roses. Slowing down is something I need to work on. I’m going to write down that quote on a post it right now! :)