Practice What You Teach

     I have been completely overwhelmed by the response to my last post, I cannot even begin to thank all of you for you love, support, and kind words. It meant more to me than you could possibly know and has inspired me to start sharing my writing more!      Today's post is dedicated to my amazing mom, in honor of her birthday tomorrow. In our family, we have a tradition where on our birthdays, our parents and siblings decorate the house with posters about things we love about that member of the family. One year, when Amy wasn't home for her birthday, I decorated her apartment door with posters to keep up the tradition. On one of the posters, I made a list of things I loved about her that corresponded to how old she was turning. My mom loved my brilliant idea and ever since she has made each of us a similar list for our birthdays. So, I enlisted the help of my sisters to do the same for her! What We LOVE About our Mom: 1. She taught us to always think of others first.

      Earlier this week, a post came up on my Facebook memories where I had written and shared a post on this blog about my weight loss story several years ago. As I sat there re-reading the post and reading all of the comments, I thought to myself, "I really wish I could be that brave and vulnerable again." I've been feeling a nudge to write this post for weeks now, but I kept shoving the thought away, honestly because I was scared to share it. But a conversation I had with a friend the other day gave me the little push I needed and helped me realize that sharing my experience could help others who might be going through the same things.       I struggle with anxiety. I think to a degree I always have, but a few months ago, it started to get bad enough that I couldn't pretend it didn't exist anymore. I didn't tell a soul for awhile, because I was SO convinced that if I just ignored it and refused to verbally acknowledge it, it would magically disappear. Na