Posted on September 29th, 2015
In my absence from this site I've come along in this fitness and coaching journey, I think it's safe to say I've gone all in.
Does this mean I am any less of anything else (doctor, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend) because I've decided to take on this new business? No, actually quite the contrary. I now feel even more connected to all of those things since embarking on this path.
The one I want to touch on is the doctor piece... because, well, it's the one people keep asking the most about.
Are you still a doctor?
Did you really need to do something OTHER than being a doctor?
How do you have the time?
What are you getting out of this?
All reasonable questions - ones that I'd ask if in someone else's shoes. So allow me, for a moment, to take you through exactly why this business of mine is going to ensure that I am a doctor for much longer than I would have without it.
Before I started all of this, I wasn't taking care of myself. I sacrificed my health and parts of my sanity to make sure everyone and everything around me was taken care of. On the outside it would seem that I should be the happiest person in the world. I was entering the final years of training to be a doctor, something I've worked my ENTIRE LIFE for. I had an adoring husband and a strong healthy son - happiness should be a given, right?
How could I already feel like I was on the road to burn out?
Actually admitting this to myself made me feel like an ungrateful tool. How could I whine about not being totally happy when I had it all. I MADE the decision to become a doctor, it's what I always wanted..... But why was I starting to resent it?
Because my personal life balance was askew. Whether you are at the point that you believe this or not, your health is dependent on daily exercise, good nutrition and mental wellness. These things were not a part of my life - and it affected my happiness.
How do I know this? Because the single act of taking care of myself, making time for myself, prioritizing my health has translated into a life I wake up to each day with the passion I was longing for. The happiness I was missing is present, EVERYDAY. It doesn't mean that life is perfect, that their aren't setbacks, frustrations, stressors hard times - but I'm a person who is more equipped, physically and mentally, to grow from every experience - be it good or bad.
And do you know what feels even better than discovering this for myself? Helping others discover it for themselves. Helping others, just like me, see that it's possible. It's possible to have the passion you feel guilty to admit is not present.
I've found a new dimension to who I am. And I am forever grateful that I did. Because this new dimension has given me a new passion - coaching. I no longer worry about burnout - because I know who I am, more than I ever have.
My sincerest wish, for you, is to live each day with passion. There is never a guarantee for tomorrow. Maybe you need a new dimension too. Maybe, just maybe, it's the missing piece.
