Workout – ✔
7 hours of sleep – ✔
Eating healthy – ✔
Being healthy – ❌
If you’re anything like I was, you may believe that living a healthy life can be accomplished by consistently ticking off boxes for diet, exercise and sleep. You may have found ways to build healthy habits into your busy day. And you may still find yourself feeling fatigued and unwell.
When I started teaching, I was so overwhelmed by the new job that I let most of my healthy habits go. After a month I felt terrible! From then on I made sure to check off all those boxes, even when I was working well over 60 hours a week as a school principal.
Then in 2020 I had a major surgery that left me in the hospital for a week, off from work for two months, and down 2.5 organs. The culprit – a large pancreatic cyst. Specialists at Johns Hopkins had been monitoring it for 8 years hoping it would go away. Instead, it continued to grow and showed signs of being pre-cancerous.
I went into that surgery with the same power-through mentality that I used to approach everything – I prepared by changing my diet, getting into great physical shape, planning my recovery, and telling myself I was going to kick this surgery’s ass. Instead, it kicked mine.
Exhausted, reliant on pain killers and struggling to eat enough to regain my strength, there wasn’t much I could do but sit alone with my thoughts. And it was dark in there. I was faced with the fact that my mental, emotional, and spiritual health were lacking, despite how strong I may have been physically. I had gone for years pushing those parts of myself to the side and now my body was forcing me to take a good hard look at myself. I had to take ownership of my own well-being or risk falling into a much darker place.
Maybe you know what it’s like to center your life around taking care of others. You could be a parent or taking care of your own aging parents. You could work in a profession like mine, where all you want to do is help people, often putting your own needs to the side. Maybe you’re part of the 52% of educators who are suffering from burnout.
Caring for the needs of others is noble work. It can also be dangerous when we do the work at the expense of our own well-being. You may tell yourself that taking care of others first is out of love, but how can you love fully if you’re languishing?
Recovering from surgery was the start of my journey in getting truly healthy. Not just an exercise 5 days a week, sleep 7 hours and eat “right” kind of healthy, but an empowered, inspired and refreshing kind of healthy…a shift that has brought me a whole new love for life. This journey has been so empowering, that I’ve found a new sense of purpose – helping others in education lead healthier, balanced, and more fulfilling lives.
Teachers, principals, social workers, administrative assistants…the list goes on because it truly takes a village to raise a child. These are amazing, passionate and kind people who pour their energy into others. Call me a dreamer, but I believe if enough people poured some of that energy back into themselves the world would change in beautiful and unimaginable ways.
Are you ready to live a more empowered and healthy life? I’m here for you. Reach out and let me know – What leap are you ready to make?
Chris is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation. She is also a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and a trained facilitator in Everything DiSC, which gives her the expertise to use research-based assessments to help her clients gain clarity around their natural behaviors, gifts, and abilities. Chris is also close to earning her certification in health and wellness coaching through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
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