Heidi Rae & Co - Live In Your Worth

Babes!!

This post is something that I desperately needed when I was just a girl. I didn't learn this invaluable reality until I was in my early 40's.
I was taught from a VERY young age that emotions were either good or they were bad. In fact, I was taught that emotions either come from God or from Satan. For instance, "God does not give us anger or fear or frustration. Those come from the adversary." We should never have those emotions, I was taught. In my little-girl mind, I needed to avoid those emotions at ALL cost. Thus, my symbolic closet was formed and I began shoving all of my "bad" emotions into them immediately. Because I had these emotions, I went a step further - I (ME) I was bad. 😟

This cannot be further from the truth, Friends. Emotions are NOT good or bad; true or false; facts or myths... they are just emotions. All emotions have a purpose. "Negative" emotions can HELP us by acting as warning signals, alerting us to threats or issues that need attention, motivate us to take action and provide us with valuable information about our environment or relationships. They allow us to address problems and protect ourselves. Examples:
* Fear can signal danger
* Anger can indicate boundary violation
* Sadness can signal a need for social support
* Anxiety can trigger a fight or flight, helping us avoid immediate danger
* Frustration or disappointment can highlight areas where we need to make changes

Recognizing "negative" emotions helps us understand our own needs and our own boundaries (or our need for them)!!

Now, let's not get out of hand here!! While negative emotions are normal, healthy, and can be useful - it's important to manage them in a healthy manner and to not allow them to overwhelm us.🖤

If "negative" emotions are becoming overwhelming, seek therapy! There are lots of ways to help manage these and not allow them to dictate our lives! Friends, "positive" and "negative" emotions are both essential for us! They both have their purpose. You are NOT bad for having "negative" emotions. You are human!🤗
XOXOXO

Babes!
I played one of those silly social media games recently. I did it. I admit it. I was pulled in, line and sinker.
It was a square made up of, what I would assume were, hundreds of words. The "instructions" for this particular game tell you that the first four words you see are going to be your road map, so to speak, for 2025.
Fine! I totally played along.
Word one: PURPOSE
Word two: CREATION
Word three: LOVE
Word four: SELF-CARE

Well, okay. I'm all-in. Immediately, as I wrote down the words I saw, I began to tear up. Could there be four better words for ME than those four?! I dare say, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
I made this simple vision board with MY words on it.
These are the words that I pray on:
* What is my purpose? What would you have me create? Who needs my love and how do I love them better? I can't do any of it without self-care *

I invite you to steal these words and make them your own!😍 As I've thought about them daily, prayed about them daily, and really tried to absorb their meanings over the last few days... I've come to realize that these four words can create such a simple road map. And, I'm all-in!

XOXOXO

Babes!!

As I was doing some reading last night, I saw this quote👇, and it stopped me in my reading tracks! 🎉You don't have to be perfect in order to be successful.🎉 How great is that?! Read it five times, then ready it five times more.

Regardless of what new things we are doing, or old things that we are trying to do again, we tend to want to do it all-in and perfectly. At least I do. We feel that we need to focus on being perfect, but that actually prevents us from taking action or making progress.

So throw that perfection right into the garbage at the curb where it belongs!🛢 You're going to say the wrong thing! You're going to gain the weight! You're going to be late or miss it altogether!

Instead of being anxious about not meeting every perfect score: LEARN - Learning is the first step to making changes & doing better. Use the, "Next time, I will..." approach.
TAKE ACTION - Taking action will help you build new habits! Prioritize the habits you want to work on and progress with. Set short-term, achievable goals. Show yourself grace. Stay in the game!

My dad always told his ball players that Practice Make Permanent, Not Perfect. I have always loved that! Perfect is not the goal. It can be discouraging. Shoot for progress each day, and know that I'm rooting for you!

XOXOXO

T1225
It's where I slept, and insisted on making my own bed... from my wheelchair and with my right hand.
It's where I colored in my rest time to get my brain to reconnect to my body.
It's where I showered, in my chair, each morning and learned to do things with just my right hand.
It's where I would watch snowflakes fall to help my left eye get muscle movement again - to work in coordination with my right eye.
It's where I laid in silence every night, wondering how this happened - wanting so badly to get home to my boys, to be able to be independent again. Crying. And crying.
It's where we kept a board with new words of the day to keep me inspired and motivated.
It's where T decorated for Christmas... right before she got kicked out but wouldn't leave.
It's where I'd hear TBI patients yelling for their family members in agony... not knowing who they were or where they were.
That raised mat.
That is where I learned how to roll over.
It is where I learned to transfer from table to wheelchair and back withOUT a plank.
That mat is where I learned to stand up & sit back down.
I cried so many tears on that mat.
SOBBED. SCREAMED.
Then I got back to work.
Just a mere feet from there is where I took my very first steps.
The entire room cheered - the loudest were those who knew they'd never walk again. It was sacred.
On the other side of the room is where I learned to bake & cook again. I learned to read the ingredients, how to turn the oven on (and back off!!), what hot pads were for, and that it was exhausting to stand long enough to make brownies from a box.
The dining room was a gathering spot. I would get wheeled there, or wheel myself with Trusty Righty, for every meal. I needed to be with others who understood. I needed to be able to comfort anyone I could. I once organized a Christmas sing-a-long with a patient because all he remembered after his TBI was how to play music on his guitar. He played and we sang and it was magical.
Michael's room was next to the dining area. Michael: the 18 year-old - who went on a blind date during his first week away at college and broke his neck on a trampoline. Michael will never walk again. Ever. Yet, he was my biggest cheerleader and I was his biggest fan.
The hallway - where I left a picture I had colored as I walked WALKED out after being discharged to Bob Marley's "One Love." The staff cheered and I smiled, overwhelmed by it all.

These pictures are proof - proof that places like this exist, proof that we are who we are because of the challenges we face, proof that sometimes it's the small things that are absolutely life-changing (like singing Christmas songs with a man who no longer knows his own name because his smile is bigger than the moon). They are proof that angels are closer than we realize and that sometimes, we get to be one.

This room. This mat. 🖤