Tips for Your Best Life

I'd like to share an unpopular opinion: I despise our culture's reliance on lifestyle blogs, pinterest and social media to shape opinions about oneself. I taped a podcast earlier this week and was asked what inspires my blog. While initially my blog was almost entirely running focused, I realized that I had to be real about running, not running, and all the factors that affect my life.

I realized pretty quickly that my most popular blogs are never about running or travel; they're about struggle. I've been very open about my struggle with Crohn's Disease and infertility, the loss of my dad and that elusive work/life balance. My life is blessed in many ways, but it's still not easy. I have to work hard to make it look easy, and I think that's important to note.

My least favorite blogs or websites are these where people share their recommendations on making life amazing (almost always written by people whose lives I do not find amazing). I do not do Pinterest. I think the Internet and social media and camera filters have clouded our views of how people look, live and function.

Because we're all struggling. If you are looking at social media and thinking you won't measure up to whomever is posting their amazing recipe, style suggestions or decorating tips remember that person is faking it too. We all are.

I've never been a Martha Stewart fan, but I think hands down the most interesting thing she did was get convicted of lying about a stock sale. Spare me your recipes and flower arrangement tips, Martha. Spending five months in a prison (and subsequently bringing back the poncho) made her authentic. 

Last week I went to West Virginia to help my mom with what should've been a routine medical procedure. She was going to spend the night in the hospital, and I wanted to be there just in case. Thankfully I was there because it went a bit sideways, and she ended up in the ICU for a few days. She got home and was weak and exhausted, and my few days at home ended up being nearly a week.

I had someone say to me that it must be nice that I could be in West Virginia like it was something easy to do. I had to rearrange my entire life including a serious career that never stops. I was on the phone the entire drive there, sneaking outside at the hospital to take calls and responding to emails beside my mom's ICU bed. There is nowhere else I would've been, but it wasn't easy. Maybe I made it look or seem easy, but easy it was not.

It was 80 degrees outside, and I was enjoying sunshine, work, and a break from the hospital.

During one part of my stay the medical team was having a hard time getting my mom stabilized. I was having flashbacks to 3½ years ago when I took my dad to the same hospital, and we never brought him home. I was watching her monitor like the kids these days watch Game of Thrones. I was freaking out, but I was calm and quiet outside. Because really...what other option is there? The next day one of the medical staff commented that I was so calm. He didn't know I walked out of the ICU and called my husband crying hysterically. He didn't know that I was so tense I woke up the next day feeling hungover. He didn't know that I was absolutely terrified to lose my mom like I lost my dad. 

Last week was a tough week, and I was (mostly) able to keep it together. I could write a blog about how I took care of myself by going through two runs or reading three novels over the course of the week. I did those things, but they were necessary for my survival, pure and simple. If you want to read a lifestyle blog, look elsewhere. But if you want to keep it real, I'm your girl. I have nothing figured out, and every day I cobble it together. It's mostly a mixture of running around like a crazy person at home, cute clothes, heels, lots of swearing, wine, and trying to prioritize all the crap I've got going on.  Want a lifestyle tip? Fake it real good. Also? Drink all the cocktails.