Elle Rey📚

          Upon my chasing happiness journey, I figured that being my best self will contribute to my happiness. So, besides my anxiety and grief, what’s been holding me back? What’s affecting me? When I get to the root, I know part of it is due to my weight gain over the last few years. About a month and a week ago I’ve been dieting and working out a few times a week. I’ve made a lot of progress, but I still have a long way to go before I’m back to where I used to be (pre-pandemic, and pre-grief). I’m slowly increasing the number of days I work out in a week. I try to push myself to do it as often as I can because I know that exercising releases endorphins and it really helps with depression. It gives you a happy feeling and adds a dose of positivity into your day. It’s definitely one of the main things that’s been helping me during this journey. Additionally, I’ve been putting extra time into self-care. I’m getting back into skincare by using face masks a few times a week and I do my nails every week. I wanted to stop neglecting myself and get back into my old routine. As the old saying goes, if you look good, you feel good.

          Aside from dieting and exercising and indulging in self-care I’ve been focusing on the skills that I’ve always wanted to accomplish. Things that I’ve given up on or just slowed down with trying to achieve. I have a lot of sad thoughts throughout the day, so I try to feel them with distractions. I don’t know if it’s because of being a student for many years, but I love learning. So, learning new skills has been a key distraction during dark times. I also do a lot of visualization and mentally putting myself in a happy place state. I’ve been doing that a lot this month, and even though it could be looked at in a negative way (like I’m trying to escape reality), I don’t care. It doesn’t hurt anyone and it’s helping me get through these tough times, so that’s all that matters.

          Moving forward, I want to keep doing what I’m doing and add other things into the mix like learning how to belly dance, or maybe even taking another free class. I’m not sure yet. The good thing about having a ton of interests and things that I wish to achieve, is that there’s always something to chase after. Now I welcome distractions! And what’s better than achieving things that you’ve always wanted to achieve and learning things that you’ve always wanted to learn. Improving myself is only going to add to my self-esteem so why not. Like I said before, I want to become my own version of extraordinary. The best part of it all is that there’s no pressure. Unlike my past, I’m not pressuring myself to learn this or that in a small amount of time. I’m just slowly adding it to my routine and if I skip a day or two, I don’t care. I learn when I feel like learning and do when I feel like doing. When you drop the expectations, it allows the fun to return and that’s when the progress begins. It always seems like when you exhale and let go, you go further. When you’re anxious and always on edge you constantly make mistakes and get in your own way. Where’s the fun in that? Who wants to be a stick in the mud? Make learning fun! If it’s not fun, then why bother stressing in your free time. Your free time should be a time of joy and peace. If you’re not relaxing then you should be having fun, and if you’re not having fun then you should be relaxing. 😉

Stay Tuned for Chasing Peace Pt 2 next Sunday evening!

Don’t Let Pain Define You!