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Thinking about getting laser hair removal? Read this.

Find out about why I chose to get laser hair removal, my experience with it, and where to go to get the best laser hair removal in Austin!

Why I chose to get laser hair removal

It saves time.  

Let’s say, on average, you spend only 2 minutes a week shaving your underarms and bikini area.  Multiply that out and you end up spending 1 hour and 44 minutes a year shaving these areas, which is 17 hours and 20 minutes a decade.  If you shave these areas for 50 years of your life, you’re spending an incredible 3 days, 14 hours, and 40 minutes shaving – and that’s if it only takes you TWO MINUTES A WEEK. So, you could go into the med spa 3 times for a grand total of 45 minutes, and save 3 days, 13 hours, and 55 minutes of your time on this planet, that otherwise would have been wasted doing an activity you don’t even enjoy.

It is convenient.

If you’re like me, you always realize you need to shave your underarms at an incredibly inconvenient time, say, when you’re about to leave for the gym, or right before a meeting.  So you’re left hoping no one notices, or trying not to put your arm up too high when you point in a presentation, or scrambling at the last minute to find that one shirt that covers it, or putting on a jacket (even though it’s the middle of summer in Austin and it’s 105 degrees) because that aforementioned shirt has a stain and you needed to leave 5 minutes ago.  Sound familiar?

Say goodbye to razor burn!

It’s summer, you just got a new super-stylish swimsuit, and you can’t wait to wear it on vacation. You love the way it looks on you, and you’re really hoping to get a good picture of you in it.  Then, you shave your bikini area and end up with an ever-dreaded razor burn (cue menacing music). So, you work your angles, and hope no one is rude enough to mention it. But… get laser hair removal and Violà no more worries about that happening again. (Honestly, I think it’s worth it for this one alone.)

It Saves You Money In the Long Run. 

Okay, bear with me here, because this is the one I think people have the hardest time believing, which is why I’m going to do some math for you again.  Let’s say that it takes you 10 minutes to shave your legs, and 2 minutes to shave your bikini line and underarms. That means that ~16.67% of the time you’re shaving, you’re working on those two areas.  If a razor is always good for the same amount of time shaving, then you should need buy 16.67% less razors in your lifetime. So even if you don’t buy razors frequently, and you buy 1 pack of 4 razors every 3 months at approximately $10 a pack, you’d be spending $40 a year and $2,000 in 50 years.  Now if you’re saving 16.67% of that by getting laser hair removal, that means you’re saving about $333.33.

But razors aren’t the only thing you use when you shave. Say that when you buy shaving cream, you only use 5% of the entire bottle on your underarms and bikini area (which is likely a gross underestimation).  Say you have a brand you like and you pay about $3 per bottle. Let’s say you go through 2 cans a month. You’re paying $0.30 per month on those areas, which is $3.60 a year, which is $180 over 50 years.  

So, even in these low-end cases (numbers would likely be higher) you save about $513.00.  So, this could mean you’re saving more than you’re paying. CRAZY RIGHT?!

Your Laser Hair Removal Questions Answered!

I asked you guys on Instagram (@seewattsididthere) what questions you had about laser hair removal, and have answered them here in order of most asked to least!

Q. What part of your body did you get laser hair removal done?

A. I got my underarms and bikini line done! 

Q. Is it actually keeping the hair away?

A. YES! Whoohooo no more razor bumps.  I was skeptical, but it worked way better than I thought it would, I started seeing massive results after the first appointment.

Q. How is a laser able to permanently remove your hair?

A. This site answers that question more accurately than I can.

Q. Can you shave during the laser hair removal process?

A.  Yes, but be mindful of when you do.  I shaved a couple days before my first appointment.  After that, I waited a couple of days before I shaved again. But, yes you can! The laser works best if you have good contrast with the color of your hair and the skin around it, so I wouldn’t shave right before, because you want the laser to “see” the hair.  I also wouldn’t grow it out too long because that’s something that can make it a bit painful. (Shoutout to my esthetician, Tina, who’s knowledge I’m sharing with you!)

Q. How many sessions did laser hair removal take for you/ how long were the laser hair removal sessions?

A. Only 3, they were 6 weeks apart and took about 10-15 minutes each.

Q. How do I know if laser hair removal will work on me?

You want to go somewhere where you can work with a laser specialist who will give you a consultation first.  I have red hair, and most of my body hair was light blonde, so I would only qualify in the areas that are darker (had more contrast with my skin color).  My girl really knew her stuff and made sure I pre-qualified before I did the treatment!

My experience, and recommendations!

Where I went: Luxe Laser and Wellness Spa located in Cedar Park, it was a bit of a drive for me, but I’d rather go to a great medical spa that’s a bit of a drive, than one that’s just okay and close. 

Who did I work with: I worked with Tina who is Luxe Laser and Wellness Spa’s Lead Laser and Injector Specialist, and I seriously couldn’t recommend her enough!  She answered all of my questions easily and clearly, and made sure I was very comfortable the whole time.

Sincerely,

Taylor

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5 Books to Read that Will Help You Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

If you just read the title and are thinking, umm isn’t it a bit late to still be talking about my resolutions? This post is for you.  

What does the timing of this post have to do with anything?  The timing of this post was motivated by some jarring statistics, such as “80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February” - U.S. News, and Only 9.2% of people succeed in their resolutions.  Fact is, we’re nearing the end of January, and the novelty of making our resolutions is probably starting to wear off for many people.  

I’m not blaming you if that’s you.  I’ve been the person in those statistics and remember going from a state of sheer optimism January 1st, only to find myself indifferent towards my resolutions by January 31st.  

Why does this change happen to us? Once, Zig Ziglar (motivational speaking legend) was asked the question ‘Is motivation permanent?’  His response, while funny, also speaks a much deeper truth. His response was, “No, motivation is not permanent–but, neither is bathing.”  

You can’t stay clean if you don’t bathe regularly, and your mind can’t stay focused if you don’t constantly put in inputs to keep it motivated.  

If you like reading, this list is for you.  If you like listening, this list is also for you (audiobooks are everywhere now, no excuses).  I recommend reading/listening to a few pages, every morning, right when you get up. Why so early?  Think of it as breakfast for your mind, you’re creating the mindset in the morning that you carry with you the rest of the day.  Even if you are a slow reader, even if you have dyslexia (like me), even if you’re a very busy person, you can find time to read a couple pages each day.  Try it, and the return on your investment will be huge.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way…

The 5 Books to build your mindset:

1. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

If you’re one of my friends or family members, you probably already know how much I love this book, have been highly encouraged to read it, have received it as a gift, or, likely, all of the above.  

Why is it great?  This book makes self-help palpable for millenials; it’s witty, the chapters are short, easy to read, and packed with a fury of F**k yeah, you got this!  It got me through a spontaneous lung collapse, so it can get you through your New Year’s Resolution, no matter what it is.

Available on Amazon.

2. Crush It!: Why NOW is the time to Cash In on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk

This one is more business-oriented, however, I wouldn’t discount it just because your goals aren’t business focussed.  Vaynerchuk has so much passion, that I often find myself in awe, getting riled up with enthusiasm just by watching his videos or reading his words.  The energy he exudes is contagious, and his no excuses attitude is formidable enough to keep anyone on track with their goals.

Available on Amazon

3. The Big Life: Embrace the Mess, Work Your Side Hustle, Find a Monumental Relationship, and Become the Badass Babe You Were Meant to Be by Ann Shoket

Ladies, this one's for you.  When Shoket wrote this book, she was thinking about you, and me, and her, and all of us.  From chapters about finding love, to curating your social life, to earning respect in your industry, she helps you make sense of and navigate numerous areas of life in just 210 easy-to-read pages.  Be prepared to say, “hmm I never thought about it that way,” about a thousand times.

Available on Amazon

4. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k by Mark Manson

This book is more than just a punchy title with an even punchier bright orange cover.  Manson dives deep into how we need to change our thought process to find happiness, providing clever stories to illustrate his ideas, and makes the whole realm of self help less stuffy with his biting words and wit.

Available on Amazon

5. You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

The Godmother of Self-Help and brilliant Psychologist Louise Hay, wrote a book that will make you face the uncomfortable truths of your life (and where you are preventing your own growth) in the most loving and nurturing way possible.  If your resolutions are health, self image, or mental health related, get this and read it.

Available on Amazon

I believe in you, you got this.  Now let’s get reading! Please feel free to add any book recommendations you have in addition to this list by adding the titles in the comments!

Sincerely,

Taylor

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5 Necessary Lessons My First Year as an Entrepreneur Taught Me. Things every new business owner should do and learn from.

The part where I give you a brief backstory so that the rest of the article makes sense

April 24th, 2017, I officially launched a company: ROX Jewelry. I had money saved up, a dream, and a burning desire to make a difference. I had all the drive, passion, and hope in the world. Today, I sit here knowing that I had imagined a thousand different ways my first year would have gone, and none of them came remotely close to the reality which unfolded.

My goal in writing this is to share some key knowledge that I've gained, which has been immensely important in my success over the past year. The hope is that by writing this, you won’t have to learn the lessons the same way I had to. This article originally started with 25 topics, however, for the sake of brevity, I have selected the 5 ideas which I believe are the most useful, and universally applicable across industries.  These 5 ideas could easily compose of 5 separate blog posts, but again, for the sake of brevity, I have parsed them down to their most relevant and useful components.

1. What’s in a name? Quite a bit, actually.

You’re picking your name. You have one that comes into your head. Now what?

Put the name (if not a common word, etc.) into google translate, make sure it’s not offensive to any group of people (aka limiting your market) Side note: I’d additionally advise that you urban dictionary it.

Actually say the name out loud to a friend. Make sure that it doesn’t sound like another brand or word(s)

See if the domain name is available (without some crazy stipulation that you have to give them a percentage of profit– yes, people do that).

If there is another company that has the domain name you want, I’d urge not to choose that name. For example, I chose www.roxjewelryshop.com, I wanted roxjewelry.com, I couldn’t get it since it was another store’s name. I didn’t start getting to the top of landing pages on search engines for 8 months, and had to work my butt off to build brand recognition.

See if the name is available on ALL of the social media platforms that you want to be on (instagram, pinterest, tumblr, twitter, facebook, etc.)

Check trademarks for that name

Check to see if the name of that company is available (LLC, inc, etc.)

If you’ve done all that, then you’re good to go.

2. Today, One Month, Three Months, Six Months, One Year

To do lists will likely end up becoming your new best friend… And you probably have a lot of great ideas. I felt that way too, but, it took me six months to realize I should have probably been thinking six months in advance to execute some of them. Hindsight is 20/20.

I’ll concede; organizing to-do lists may sound redundant, but stick with me here. You’re going to have great ideas that come up and you may want to act on them asap. I strongly suggest that before taking decisive action, you take a second to pause and see what the effect of shifting gears may have on your current goals. Next, assess the time this new idea will need. If the idea will be in line with your current goals, and you decide is a good use of your time, then act.

We’ve recognized the importance of setting goals, but how does one organize the tasks you need to do to achieve them?

After much trial and error, I suggest organizing your action items into lists based on Daily tasks, One Month Goals, Three Month Goals, Six Month Goals, and Yearly Goals. Keep them readily available on a google drive (or something equally as accessible) as separate documents so that when you have a new idea or inspiration on how to achieve a goal, you have an easy-to-find place where you can immediately write it down.

Setting up your daily to-do list

My daily to do list is split up in personal to-do’s (laundry, pay bills, etc) and business to-do’s. For the business ones, I look first at monthly goals, and add action items that will get me closer to them, then I do the same for the bigger lists. Keeping your daily tasks working towards big goals is immeasurably important.

NOTE: Try to keep you personal to-do list to have 20–40% of the items on your daily to-do list. It sounds like a lot, but this is how you get to have a life too (which is important for your health, living conditions, and sanity.) For example, every day on my personal to-do list I put read one chapter of a self-help book. Which leads us to our next point…

3. Mindset over Matter.

I had a professor in college that would yell at the top of his lungs “WAKE UP, THIS IS IMPORTANT!” right before he was about to cover something that would be a test question. In your first year of business, you will run into any number of ways that life will try to test you. Trust me–life can get reeeeal creative with this.

In the spirit of that professor, I’m going to tell you:

WAKE UP, THIS IS IMPORTANT!

Your mindset is arguably the most important thing to overcoming these obstacles and being successful. You will need to be resilient. Determined. Unwavering in your commitment to make this dream a reality.

I love these words by Winston Churchill: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”

If you’re new to the world of self help and business literature, wondering how the heck you’re supposed to build up a mindset of steel, then you’ve stumbled upon the right place. The secret to doing this is actually super simple: Put the good stuff in. Every. Single. Day.

What’s the good stuff? That’s different for everyone, but it boils down to doing (at absoluteminimum) one thing each day that gets you really excited about your business and the life you’re creating.

Don’t know where to start?Download the free printable for this article on my blog. I’ve listed examples of possible things you can do. Scan the list, write down/circle/highlight the ones that speak to you, and do them. ACTUALLY DO THEM. You can thank me later.

Remember that to do list? Add it there. No excuses.

Think you don’t have enough time? Then keep reading.

Continue reading for a free printable of ways to get yourself excited about the business and life you're creating every day!

4. Time, and having enough of it.

As an entrepreneur, you’ll find that the easiest excuse is usually something about not having enough time in the day to do everything. It comes out as “I’m only one person how am I supposed to run a business, work out, and make time for self help…” yada yada yada…

For those of you who love to blame time, I have a story for you.

I fell trap to blaming time my first year. Then my lung collapsed. When that happened, I was the sole person operating my business. Pretty big blow, right? But, the business still ran. How? Well, that (finally) made me realize that it was not absolutely necessary that I was the only one doing everything. In fact, in many cases there was literally “an app for that,” (which I was conveniently ‘too busy’ to ever look for until then). I literally couldn’t do everything, and that’s when alternative ways of doing what I was doing became clear as day.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to wait for s*** to hit the fan.

Here’s an exercise that you can use to “make” a ton of time.

Look at your to do lists.

Figure out what takes you a lot of time to do.

Figure out if that’s a valuable use of time.

Cut the unnecessary items.

Cut the things that don’t align with your goals (personal and business).

Find people who would love to do the things you don’t.

Stay open to, and keep looking for, new ideas to increase effectiveness.

If you need to hire someone, hire someone.

If you need to replace video games with reading before bed, sell the console.

If you need to wake up earlier and avoid traffic, stop hitting the snooze button.

Figure out how to make it work. Cut out the crap. Give up the excuses. Set the intention. Follow through.

I’m going to have the audacity to put into words something you won’t want to accept:If you “don’t have enough time” for something, then at least a small part of you (perhaps even a large part) doesn’t want to do it.

5. Say goodbye to your comfort zone.

It no longer exists. It cannot coexist with growth. Remove the idea from your internal filing cabinet. Risk is one of the many costs of doing business. It’s not always easy, it’s not comfortable, but once you make pushing out of your comfort zone a habit, the rewards are enormous.

Get ready for your to do list to be changed, get ready become a master at ‘crisis’ management, get ready for life to throw you a curveball. Get ready to kick some serious ass.

We are the only people capable of preventing our own growth.

Sincerely,  Taylor

[seewattsididthere]

The write way.

They give us these rules Call them useful tools In our tool box In our schools.

The hand writes Well If the mind Stays within the right Spelling and Syntax As it dwells On which words Will work when writing.

And as I’m righting myself In my chair I swear This thing gets off balance Without a care. Like the words in my mind

And I’m writing myself Into a dare To prove a point Which I feel The need To share.

To be Or not to be The verb’s out of the question! But if I might I will make a single Suggestion.

We are ruled widely In youth And in college. And no This isn’t to speak Against the beauty of Knowledge.

But we’ve been Ruled by the rules Repeated around us

Revering, and reigning in The creativity That surrounds us

And for writing Lacking Voice As my words Have been deemed I have a choice So it seems

I could Accept rules as facts And seal my fate.

Or

Challenge them steadily And put my faith In myself knowing This is the write way.

Sincerely, Taylor

[seewattsididthere]

Collapsed. ​​​​Surviving without air.

Not too long ago, I lived a Fantasy; A life of health and revelry.

I used to laugh. I used to run. I used to Feel, Some days I’d won.

But, now I live Right down the street From the pharmacy And the Five doctors I see a week.

And From the place Where I Felt the pain. And From the place– I’d lost everything.

And every now and then I’m sad. And every now and then I’m mad! And every now and then I’m glad…

But am I really? I don’t know.

At night the pain Comes back to me. They say it’s in my head Or in my dreams.

But who are they To know such things?

Is it hard to breathe– Or just anxiety? Did I take the medicine They gave to me?

So, I take out the bottles And count down the pills, And try to back-calculate From when they were Filled.

Most nights I take Five, And on good days there’s Four, And on the bad ones I take even more.

And I remember me At twenty-three. Good health, and revelry.

But now I’m twenty-Four How is this Fair? and, which symptom’s that For?

I lay in the bed While you sit in a chair. You say it’s not comfortable. But, how could you dare To complain about comfort? Sweetie, life isn’t Fair.

And every now and then I’m sad. And every now and then I’m mad.. And every now and then I’m glad…

But am I really? I don’t know.

Sincerely, Taylor

[seewattsididthere]

How to tell if your eggs are actually expired and make them last even longer with this easy recipe

Expiration Dates

Little known fact about expiration dates: they aren’t an exact science.  The easiest way to find out if your eggs have ACTUALLY gone bad is to get a large bowl and fill it ¾ of the way with water.  Carefully place the eggs in the water. If they sink, then they are good to go. If they float, toss them out. This simple life-hack can save you so much money and time at the grocery store in the long run!

 If they are still good, then here’s how to make your eggs last longer.

I’m all for simple, cheap, really-hard-to-eff-up recipes.  This one is one of my all time favorites, because you really don’t have to spend much time on it.

I bring you: The Easiest Hard Boiled Egg to Make and Peel

You’ll need:

Eggs

A muffin tin

A bowl

Ice water

Salad tongs or two spoons

Preheat the oven (yes you heard that right) to 325 degrees Fahrenheit

If you just put the eggs in water to check if they’re good, then use a clean dish towel or paper towel to dry them off.  If you have a microwave with a fan, you can also put the tin below it and run the fan on high.

3. Put eggs in muffin tin 

4. After oven has preheated, put them in for 25-30 minutes

5. Prepare large bowl of ice water

6. After eggs are cooked for 25-30 minutes, remove from oven, use salad tongs (or two spoons) to pick eggs up and put them in large bowl of ice water.

7. Take out of ice water after 5 minutes

8. They are now ready to eat! (store in refrigerator)

Sincerely, Taylor

[seewattsididthere]

I broke my leg; it didn’t break me. Part Two: Making a miracle.

Let’s recap.  

As a refresher for those who read the first article I wrote, I’m going to provide an enormously abridged version of it in this section.  The original article can be found here.

I highly recommend you read that article first, so that you can get the most of this one.  And no, I’m not just saying that. You wouldn’t read chapter 4 of a book before chapter 1, would you?  Okay, glad we’re on the same page, moving on…

Enormously Abridged Summary:

September 2017, my lung collapsed, I had surgery in October 2017, which resulted in “permanent nerve damage” which was being treated up until March 26th, 2018, which, coincidentally, was the day that I broke my leg and tore my meniscus in a freak rock-climbing accident.  I had a lot of reasons to be sad/mad/xyz you-name-it-negative-emotion. But I decided not to feel that way, and used different methods and strategies to make this experience as painless as possible.

So Why do a Part 2?

In I broke my leg; it didn’t break me.  Your personal guide to taking an injury and making the most of it, I left you guys with the idea that no matter what happens, it’s completely up to you how you react.  Remember that? Still true. But, Part 1 was all about the initial stages, meant to prepare you for the ups and downs that inevitably come from an injury, by building your mental and emotional fortitude.  Now that we built that up, the real healing can happen.

 Healing

 9 days after breaking my leg, something big happened.

I thumped my way in to physical therapy at 8:30 am on my crutches.  I was tired, my arms ached, and I had just driven from my surgeon’s office–in Austin rush hour traffic, mind you–to pick up an order for a temporary handicapped sticker that I would have to get at the DMV (my own personal hell) that day.  But, I told myself that today was going to be a great day, so I signed in to my appointment with a smile on my face and tried to muster up enough enthusiasm for my exercises as possible. I thumped behind the PT assistant as he walked me to my first task.  I took off my brace, put down the crutches, took a deep breath, and got on what I considered to be the most painful machine in that entire building. I closed my eyes and braced myself...

I started pedaling on the exercise bike, and there was no pain.  I was shocked, this was the same bike with the same pedals that I couldn’t even make do one rotation just a week earlier.  This was huge. Then I moved on to my next exercise, and there was no pain. And the next one, no pain. My physical therapist came over and told me how it looked like my swelling was gone. I realize I haven’t seen my leg without the brace in a while.  I look down.  Both legs look about the same. I guess she’s right. She leaves me to my exercises and calls my surgeon. I do one exercise after another, and there’s still no pain. Please don’t let this be a dream.  She comes back and says it’s incredible, but I can go down to one crutch.  If it doesn’t hurt by when I come in Friday, we’ll talk about next steps. At this point, I’m simultaneously confused and about to burst with excitement.  Did my new approach actually work?

I leave the office with one crutch, huge grin, and unparalleled gratitude for this sudden change in events.  I go through that day and the next in a state of sheer awe. I have one free hand!  Look at me, carrying my own coffee mug to my desk!  It only takes me a minute to get to my car! Heck yeah, life is wonderful!  I’m so lucky to be alive! Friday can’t come fast enough!

On Friday, 11 days after breaking my leg, I am walking without crutches or pain.

My new approach worked.  Don’t believe it? Ask my surgeon, doctor, or physical therapist–all of whom initially told me I would have at least 6-8 weeks of staying off that leg, using crutches, and may even want to look into getting a wheelchair.

No, I’m not a doctor.

Not even close.  I don’t have a medical degree, the closest I ever came to performing a medical procedure was picking cactus needles out of my skin one time in the desert.  What could I possibly know about healing, right?

But, I’ve been a patient.  I’ve been a patient many times.  I’ve been a good patient, I’ve been a bad patient, I’ve been and impatient patient.  If you’re thinking that I must be some sort of genetic mutant with traits that allow me to heal fast, unfortunately I’m going to have to burst your bubble.  I’ve healed painfully slower than average, I’ve healed normally, I’ve healed quickly, and now I’ve healed miraculously.   To put this in perspective, the last time I hurt this leg, I tore my ACL and had to have surgery.  It took almost 4 months for me to completely recover, compared to the 6-8 weeks that my doctor had estimated.

 So what was the difference, what did I do?

 Well, I started with the steps in the previous article.  Haven’t read it yet?  Seriously, read it!

Then, I put my new-found time lying in bed to good use.

It started simple, the idea was that there had to be a reason why sometimes I healed faster than other times. Then, I went searching for a correlation, figuring that the best place to start was with my past injuries and hospitalizations, given the large data set I had to work with.  This started by making a list of the past injuries I’ve had, then writing every detail I could remember about them. I’m talking everything; how long it took to recover, what the doctor said the recovery time would be, if I believed that I would recover in that time, what medicines they had me take, if there was surgery or not, if there were complications, my mood when I woke up, who was around me, how they were behaving, how well I listened to the doctor’s instructions, if I saw friends– you name it I wrote it down, for all of them.

If you’re thinking, “That sounds overwhelming, I mean who has time in the day to do that?  I am so busy, I can’t even make food for myself at night, and now I’m injured and you want me to spend time dwelling on the past?! Are you nuts?”  Honestly, I probably would have thought that too at one point.  

But here’s something to think about: If I hadn’t spent the time doing this, I wouldn’t have been able to start seeing what was going wrong.  If I didn’t know why it was happening, then I wouldn’t have been able to address it. If I hadn’t addressed it, then I would still be on crutches, taking much longer to get to places and do everyday things.  So, the time that I spent doing, and learning from, this exercise ended up ultimately alleviating me from weeks of pain, giving me back days of productivity, and saving me money on all of the extra medical expenses I would have incurred.  Given my results, I would confidently say this exercise was a good investment of my time, and I’d bet that it would be a good one for you too.

  Plus! I’m going to make it easier for you, download a free printable to guide this exercise at the end of this article. So no excuses!

 Maybe you’ve only been hurt once, or maybe you always heal fast but never as fast as I did, or maybe you are reading this and not actually injured, etc. For those of you that are thinking, “What could I learn from you?  Our experiences are different.”   I’ll be the first to concede that it’s extremely unlikely that we’ve been through the same thing, and my results are just that, mine.  But, I’m asking you to stay with me here. There’s a lesson that I believe can be learned, even if you’re not injured at all.

Initial Findings

I usually didn’t trust the doctor’s estimate of time.

I mostly followed the doctor’s orders, unless it was too uncomfortable, or expensive, or inconvenient with my schedule.  

Sometimes, I was with family, who loved me, but also worried about me, were cautious around me, and warned me not to do things that they perceived to be potentially dangerous.  

I ate what I thought was healthy, as opposed to what my body was craving.

My mood was variable, and though having a good mood didn’t necessarily correlate to healing faster, having a bad mood definitely correlated to healing slower.

Digging deeper: learning about yourself, and confronting your beliefs.

Usually, at this point you’re probably thinking okay, so just do things different? That’s it?  Well yes, and no.

It’s not enough to just go through the actions.  Think of this like trying to get rid of weeds in your backyard.  You can cut them down, but if you don’t get rid of the roots, then they keep growing back.  Your patterns or “bad luck” are like the weeds, and your beliefs, thoughts, or reasons for approaching an injury the way you do are the roots.  It’s time to pull them out, dig deep if we have to, and fix what’s holding you back.

I approached this by listing my findings from the previous exercise.  Then for each of the things found:

Ask why (or what belief could have caused this)

Ask where did this belief come from?

Consciously changing the belief by writing down a new belief to replace it.

To see all of my findings and beliefs broken down, as well as a blank template for your own use, download the free printable at the end of this article!

 The making of a miracle.

There’s a chance that many of you won’t be open to accepting the answers I have to give, that you’ll find it hard to believe what I’m saying, or tell me I’m not god and I can’t possibly make a miracle happen.  That’s a chance I’m willing to take. I’m aware that my ideas won’t resonate with everyone (I mean, what a tall order, what idea ever has?), but that’s okay. In this section, I’m writing to the people who need to hear this.  One person finding relief is worth more to me than 100 people disagreeing with me is.

Controversy and affirmations.

Now, I’ve been dabbling in the self-help world for a while.  I regularly go to therapy, listen to motivational speakers, read self-help books, and write down my goals.  But, the idea of affirmations had always been one I didn’t quite buy, even though everything I took in talked about them and how great they were.  But every time I saw someone mention them, I found myself thinking something along the lines of this:

Seriously?  I’m more rational than that, I’m a scientist for heaven’s sake.  You’re really going to tell me that by repeating phrases to myself–out loud–that I’m going to magically bring the things I want to me?  What if my roommate is at home, I mean she’s caught me talking to my cat more than once, and probably already thinks I’m crazy, if I did that too, she’d really think I’ve gone insane. Let’s skip past this part and get to something more practical.

Sound familiar?  Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.  Point is, that I’ll be the first to admit it sounds totally unbelievable that affirmations could work.

A turning point for me came recently.  Right after I got injured, a book I ordered a while back was delivered. The book was called “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay.  She literally cured herself of cancer.  CANCER.

As I read, she too talked about the power of affirmations, and all these things that I had been so eager to throw in the pile of wacky-doesn’t-make-sense-crap before.  It took until reading about affirmations in that book, for me to finally ask myself the question: could this really work? I searched the web for scientific papers that discussed this.  I actually found quite a bit more than I intended, and mostly, the verdict was yes. Okay... so the scientist inside me could wrap my head around it… I busted out laughing, (really glad my roommate wasn’t around for that, she would have totally thought I was crazy), threw up my hands, and told god, or the universe however you want to explain it, “Okay, you’ve won, I’ll play.”

After doing the exercise of writing down and changing my beliefs, I turned my new-found beliefs into daily affirmations.  In eleven days, I was back on my feet.  

Isn’t it funny how sometimes you’re surrounded by the answer, but you’re fighting it?

When we are kids, we believe in miracles.  At some point, most of us grow up and lose our connection to that belief.  Don’t be like me and wait until you’ve literally had to break your leg to start believing that miracles can happen.  I’ve found the easiest logic to explain them, is that we as humans do not currently know all there is to know. Think about it: even top scientists at NASA get stumped with things in the universe that they can’t explain.  There were so many things once considered impossible, until someone did it: building a machine that allowed humans to be in the sky, going deep in the ocean, eating 73.5 hot dogs AND buns in 10 minutes are all examples of this.

So, if you want something miraculous to happen, I’m going to strongly suggest you do these:

Read the previous article and actually do the things it asks you to.  We need to build our mindset.

Spend time examining your past injuries or situations.

Figure out what beliefs caused you to act, or behave the way you did in that situation.

Substitute your old beliefs with new beliefs, and write the new ones down.

Use these new beliefs to guide how you approach your situations from now on.

Say them out loud as affirmations.  Put saying them on your to-do list each day.  Do it in the car. Just do it.

Get a copy of Louise Hay’s Book, and read it.

Keep your faith in miracles strong.

I’m going to leave you guys with one of my favorite quotes:

“Trade in your drama about how you can’t have what you want for the grateful expectation that miracles will walk into your life, and the more commonplace those miracles will become.”

–Jen Sincero, You are a Badass (another book that I strongly recommend reading)

 Sincerely,

Taylor

[seewattsididthere]

Your mood can weather the storm. The easiest way to make more good days for yourself.

How many times have you said “the weather is miserable” or “this rain is so depressing” or “I’d be a lot happier if it was warmer” or anything else to that effect?  Can you count on one hand the number of times you’ve ever said something like this? I know I can’t, and I’d bet money on that you can’t either.

Where did the idea that bad weather creates a bad mood come from?

My guess would have to be that way, way, way back in the day, when the majority of the human population was hunting and gathering, a stormy, or cold, or dreary day meant a higher chance of getting sick. This probably limited our ability to hunt, or leave the cave (or hut, or wherever we lived), which likely wouldn’t have catered well to a population that was made to move.  

Imagine that this creates the belief that rain, clouds, or generally not bright, sunny days are “bad” weather days.   Let us imagine that this belief is passed down a long line of generations.  Imagine that eventually, a majority of the population is now involved in and dependent on agriculture, which requires rain, (but not too much), and doesn’t respond well to too many freezes.  Thus, this population becomes dependent on the “right” weather for food. Now let’s imagine that this confirms the belief that there are “good” and “bad” weather days, and maybe even “miserable” days.  

 Enter Stage Left - Science

Imagine this belief is passed down to today, where many people work indoors, away from the weather, but a specifically bad rain or dreary day affects their moods.  There studies that identify the presence of something called seasonal depression, and there are light therapy treatments to help alleviate this depression.  So, people assume that it’s normal to allow weather to impact their moods, because studies have been done.

I consider myself a scientist.  The point of this is not to discredit the people that do those studies, nor is it to discredit the studies themselves.  But, as a scientist, I understand the limits of data, and you should too. The way we reach conclusions is to change a variable and see what happens.  Now if you survey people about their mood on a sunny, breezy, warm (but not hot) day, I don’t doubt that you’re going to get more people in a happy mood.  I also believe that if you surveyed the same people on a drizzling, almost freezing day, with overcast skies, you would interview most of the people in a worse mood.

 But then – from out of nowhere – comes the outlier.  

 I also bet, that depending on your sample size, you are going to find one, two, or a handful of people that don’t correlate with this pattern.  In my time as a geologist, I have interacted with many other scientists and engineers, and I found that most of the time you can split them into two categories:

Those who will find an outlier, and find any reason possible to disqualify it from their data set.

Those who will find an outlier, and try to find the actual cause of it being an outlier, to see if they can learn something new from it.

Much more often than not, you will find people that fall into the first category. Why?  Because much more often than not, the nature of our work requires us to provide an answer in a meeting, or get a paper published in the timeline our grant money requires.  In our society, often a quick answer is preferred to providing the response “More questions came up, and I’m trying to figure them out.” While the latter response isn’t wrong, it may not be what your manager, professor, or team wants to hear.

 How is this all relevant?  

 Because I think we can learn a whole lot from studying what may cause the outlier in my theoretical experiment of interviewing the same people about their mood on days with different weather.  

Let’s start by listing the top reasons that come to your head for why someone may be in a bad mood on a sunny day:

Maybe they’re upset because they’re sick

Or they could have been fired from their job

Or they could be going through a break up

    Etc. etc.

Now let’s think why someone could be in a good mood on a cold, overcast, drizzling day:

They just landed their dream job

Or they could have finally been able to bench more weight at the gym

Or they could have just aced a test

    Etc. etc.

Now in all of these cases, can you find something in common?  Something that they had a part in happened, and they reacted to how that event made them feel.  In other words, they didn’t look up at the sky and decide that they were going to let it tell them what they felt like on that day, and instead allowed their present experiences to dictate that emotion.  

 We’re talking about perspective here.

 Shocker that I’m talking about perspective again, right?  Well that’s only because it is one of the single best tools in your toolbox for fixing most situations, so I’m going to keep saying it until it’s as ingrained in you as the alphabet.  As the phrase goes… Sorry, not sorry.

I used to be one of those people that let something as out of control as the weather change my mood.  Admittedly, making the conscious effort to stop doing that, didn’t happen easily at first.

 Then I had a flight.

No, the humor is not lost on me that I was in the sky when I had the revelation about how I shouldn’t let weather dictate my mood.  I was on a flight from London to Chicago. The sky in London was the way I pictured it being in late September, overcast and drizzling.  But, I was about to return from my first ever trip to Europe, and I was so happy to have had the opportunity to be there.

As the plane rose higher and higher, into, and then above the clouds, the realization finally hit me: It’s always sunny, if you’re up high enough.  

It was so simple, and in-your-face obvious that I was dumbstruck by it.  

Do this exercise on just about any plane (that goes a far enough distance to warrant it getting high enough to breach the clouds), and tell me if I’m wrong.  When boarding and taxiing on the plane, look at people’s countenance; observe it especially on days where it’s not sunny. Pay special attention to those who chose to sit at a window seat.  Now, after the plane has gotten up above the clouds, try to identify the same people and see if they look happier. Do they? My guess, is most of them do. You may even see a person or two staring out the window in awe.  

Now the weather didn’t actually change, but their perspective and the way they saw it did.

 The secret to having more good days.

By this point, you probably get that the whole idea of this post is to not judge the day by the weather.  Just in case, I’m going to say it again:

DON’T JUDGE THE DAY BY THE WEATHER.

You may be thinking, “Okay, I get it!  But how?! Sometimes it rains and my backyard floods.  Or it makes me late to work, or this, or that.” Don’t worry, I’m going to give you some strategies to use if you’re finding it exceptionally difficult to stay in a good mood.

 1.  Change your responses to questions.

 When someone asks you how your day is going, make a conscious effort to not mention the weather in your response.  This sounds really easy, but in practice it’s a lot more difficult.  Whether or not you realize it, the way you respond to questions is usually your brain working on autopilot.  Your most likely response, is one you probably have been saying, or have heard other people say in their responses your entire life.  

It’s like learning to tie your shoes differently when you’re an adult.  You’ve been doing this the same way your entire life. Then, someone points out that by tying them differently, they’re way less likely to come undone.  It may be hard to remind yourself every time you tie them to do it the new way, but, if you keep working at it, eventually you may not have to be worried about tripping on them again.    

2. Visualize a different perspective.

As humans, we think in images.  If you look outside and have a real hard time seeing anything good about today, then this is an exercise for you:

Close your eyes and imagine that you are in an airplane going over the exact same place you are standing right now.  Imagine that the airplane is above the clouds. What do you see? What do you think about? Keep your eyes closed and ask yourself where the plane is going. Imagine yourself sitting next to your best friend, laughing at a great joke they just made.  How do you feel? Open your eyes once the answer is “good”.

It’s funny sometimes how when you literally look past an obstacle, you see that your mood isn’t the obstacle’s fault.  You have no control over the obstacle. So why let it dictate something you do have control over, like your mood? That’s like saying, “I have a kingdom, but if it rains I lose my land.”  It makes no sense.

So if you’re always late to work when it rains, then make a conscious effort to leave earlier, or find a different route that doesn’t flood, or find a way to work from home that day.  Get creative. If your backyard floods, then think about how you can fix that problem. Is it possible that you need to find a better drainage solution? Did you choose to live somewhere in a floodplain?  Did you think about this when purchasing your house? Again, it’s not your fault that there’s a storm outside, but it is your choice if you let it create one within.

 3. Ask people about the best day of their lives.

 I’m serious.  Go call your mother, sister, friend, father, brother, grandma, or anyone else and ask him/her what the best day of their life was.  Listen to their response. I bet that on the best day of their life, they weren’t the least bit concerned by what the weather was doing.  Go ahead and ask them what the weather was like that day, do they remember? They may, or they may not. But, I bet that wasn’t the most pivotal factor in their happiness.

When I worked as an assistant to a wedding coordinator, I worked in what may have been the rainiest spring in Austin’s history.  It seemed that every Friday and Saturday that season, the sky would open and there would be flooding. I’ll never forget one bride.  We had to tell her that it looked like there would be a lot of rain during her ceremony, which was supposed to be outside, and that we needed to move the ceremony inside.  She said, “It’s a beautiful day, because I’m getting married. I don’t care if I’m getting married 50 feet away from where I wanted. I’m getting married and that’s what matters.”

 You can’t control the weather, but you can always weather the storm.

It’s as if the weather wanted me to truly illustrate this point.  As I’m writing this, it’s 40 degrees, drizzling, and gray outside.  It’s April in Austin, Texas. Which generally means that it’s 85 degrees with a nice breeze and partly cloudy skies.  Would I prefer that it was otherwise? No, because I woke up inspired to write this post for you.

 Sincerely,

 Taylor

[seewattsididthere]

How getting out of my comfort zone every day for a month totally transformed my life, and can transform yours too.

February of 2018 marks one of the most eye-opening months I’ve ever had. Each day, for 28 days, I did just one thing to put myself out of my comfort zone. Why was this so life changing? Because I realized that I was wrong.

 Let’s back up: Where did this idea come from?

In January, I decided to do a sober month and focus on my health. As a result, I had so much energy and momentum on February 1st that I decided I wanted to do something else to help myself grow in a positive way during the new month.

I started by looking back at the past year and trying to figure out where I could focus on improving. On March 24th, 2017, I took one of the biggest risks of my life. I left my well-paying, completely stable job to pursue other passions. I traveled more than I had ever traveled in my life, I saw the Eiffel Tower, hiked around the country, reconnected with old friends, and even started my own business. I lived more freely, and was thriving.

However, on September 29th, 2017, life decided to throw me a curveball that hit square in my chest. That day, I had a spontaneous pneumothorax (doctor-speak for my lung collapsed without any warning, or trauma to cause it). Multiple chest tubes, a major surgery, and many medical bills later, I found myself resorting to playing it safe, avoiding getting out of my comfort zone and taking risks. To sum it up, I was living the same way I had before I left my job.

How many times do we get on the right path, truly connect with ourselves, then encounter an obstacle, and subsequently fall back into old patterns, losing all of the progress we’ve made?

That’s when it hit me: what if I fought the old patterns and made a conscious effort to get out of my comfort zone every day, for 28 days? What would happen?

 If you want to change your life, start now. “Tomorrow” doesn’t count.

How did I execute this? By acting on the idea immediately. It’s all too easy to sit back and say you’ll do something later, only to find yourself tacking it on to that insanely long to-do list of less important tasks that you’ve been piling up for the past year.

So, I sat down and started planning what I would do each day to get out of my comfort zone and into my awesome-zone. The result was a table that said what I would do each day, what I expected would happen, and what actually happened.

Click here to continue reading on my website for a free printable version of the table you can use for yourself!

Look at what you wrote. Use it to learn about yourself.

This whole idea was a type of experiment, whether or not I realized it at the time. But, what’s even crazier is that just by writing my expectations (aka hypotheses) down, I learned a TON about myself, such as:

I was afraid of doing things where I left myself open to judgement.

I was afraid of disappointing or being rejected by people.

I was afraid of doing things alone.

I was afraid of getting hurt.

…just to name a few.

To put it plainly, I wasn’t exactly the confident, risk-taker I thought I was before this exercise, nor was I as much of one as I knew I could be. If you want to talk about lighting the fire of motivation, that’s what this did for me. You wouldn’t stay a self-conscious fear-based thinker when you know you are capable of so much more– would you?

I knew I could do better, and came up with the following mottos (which were especially useful when I was being a wimp about doing something on my list):

“I am confident enough to do this.”

“What they think of me is none of my damn business.”

“I’m doing this for me.”  

What actually happened?

Right before bed each night, I would fill this section in. I would be honest and to the point about what happened. After the first week, I was beginning to get a picture of how this would unfold. But, I kept with it, and each week after that, I continued to be amazed at what was happening, and more importantly, at what I was capable of doing.

Day after day, I would prove myself wrong. Starting my blog was not a bad idea. Asking for what I wanted, having tough conversations, and eating alone at a restaurant didn’t alienate me from anyone. In fact, the more I did alone, I grew to be more and more comfortable with myself.

The unknown had become my new comfort zone. By the last week of this crazy experiment, the fears I had about the things I had left to do to get out of my comfort zone were gone. I was no longer afraid of doing things like reaching out to someone I haven’t talked to in years, or singing on stage, or asking a big company to give my small company a chance.

In short, I had changed.

If you’re still not convinced this is for you, here is a list of real things that happened to me as a result of trying to get out of my comfort zone every day:

I reconnected with old friends, and even made new ones.

My brand was featured in a national magazine’s online article.

I applied for a part-time dream job, while owning my own business. Got it, realized that I did have a way to make time for it, and now get to hang out on the weekends with people I respect and enjoy being around, while still maintaining a flexible schedule.

I booked a ticket to travel to Mexico with one of my best friends (which turned out to be one of my favorite trips of all time).

Built a blog and subscriber list that was significantly larger than I expected. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO HAVE YOUR SUPPORT.

Collaborated with companies that I respect.

Got in the best shape of my life, despite having an ‘incurable’ injury.

But most importantly, I learned to love myself all over again.  

Conclusions and the Bigger Picture

To be completely honest, when I started this at the beginning of February, I thought I would be writing something more generic. In my mind, I’d be writing an okay article about how some things I was right about, and some things I wasn’t, and how I am still me but getting back to how I was before, and how some risks are worth taking …yada yada yada… yawn. Basically, I was ready to qualify the argument.

Flash forward to now: I’m practically standing on a soap box with a megaphone in hand, preaching and screaming “IF YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE, DO THIS!” to anyone who crosses my path.

What would you do if you woke up one day and realized that yourself and society had been filling you up with false truths? If you realized that most people are so caught up in their own insecurities that they don’t have time to put a magnifying glass up to yours? How would you live, and what would you do, if you no longer cared about what your co-workers, your relatives, and your friends would think of your every move?

That’s what I suggest you go and do. Life is too short and has too much to offer for us to stay in fear of living it.  

Sincerely, Taylor

[seewattsididthere]

I broke my leg; it didn’t break me. Your personal guide to taking an injury and making the best of it.

My Story:

Let’s set the scene.

I’m coming back from a major nerve damage injury, caused by a major lung surgery, which happened because one day my lung spontaneously decided it was done with staying inflated. I just got a brand new part-time job, my business’ website is getting more hits than ever, I just got to go on an amazing cruise with one of my besties, I just celebrated one year of living on my own terms, and even just launched my first blog post. Life is good. Scratch that — life is great.

I have been getting better and better at climbing. I’m in the best shape of my life. In fact, today’s the day I’m about to graduate from physical therapy. It’s a Monday morning, so I go to the gym. I climb better than I’ve ever climbed in my life. I even conquered my fear of standing up and just grabbing the wall. I feel invincible.

There’s one route that I haven’t been able to get up the past few times I’ve tried. I know it will be gone soon; they rotate the routes every couple of weeks. This could be my last chance to give it a try. I’m tired, my forearms feel like they’re going to burst out of my skin, but, I get some chalk on my hands and decide this will be my last one.

I start out and one of my favorite songs comes on, I push past the part I usually can’t get. I’m feeling great. I can do this. I’m 10 ft up now. Now I’m 15 ft up. I’m going fast. I’m almost through with it. I’m 20 ft up now. All I have to do is stand up and grab the top.

 Then it happened.

As I stand up and reach, my foot slips. I’m falling forward, my face is about to hit the wall. I start trying to rotate to my back. I remember what that one guy said about how I’m going to break my arms if I keep bracing them back to catch myself, I decide I’m not going to put my arms back. I’m still not on my back yet, but the ground is coming up so fast. I land on both feet, and hear nothing but a crack. Or was it a pop? I grab my leg and roll on my back.

After a visit with my primary doctor, my physical therapist, and getting an MRI, I find out that my tibia is broken, and my meniscus is torn.

 Sound familiar? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.

 Everyone’s story is different.

The likelihood of you and I having the same injury story is incredibly small. But, stick with me — we probably went through many similar emotional states, and medical appointments. Or maybe you’re not injured at all, but are reading this because you’re one of my friends, or family members, or subscribers. Or maybe you’re reading this because you want to prepare yourself to be able to handle a situation like this should one ever rear its head in the future.

Truth is: it doesn’t matter why you’re reading this, my goal is to help you put life in perspective, and learn to appreciate even the smallest things that you wouldn’t otherwise notice.

 So this thing happened, and it hurts, what now?

 It’s okay to freak out if…

It’s okay to freak out if you don’t put yourself at risk of further injury OR ruin anyone else’s day. Injuries (both emotional and physical) can be some of the most frustrating events to ever happen to us. It’s normal, and even natural to be frustrated. What’s not okay, is making your frustration ruin someone else’s day.

So what are some things you can do to take the frustration out? My preferred method is slamming my fists against my bed and screaming into a pillow until I’m out of energy to panic, but if that’s not your thing, that’s okay too. Here are some ideas for how to freak out the right way:

Write down how you feel.

Take a shower and let yourself cry.

Schedule a therapy appointment (Note: I’m a huge proponent of the idea that everyone needs to go to therapy, even if they don’t think they have any issues)

Tear up sheets of old newspapers/ magazines/ etc that you were going to recycle anyways

Draw, paint, cook, or create something.

Go work out (if this is an emotional and not a physical injury)

Now that we got that out of the way, and you don’t have energy left to panic, we can shift our focus.

 No matter what happens to you, there’s more than just one way to see it.

This is all about perspective. I recognized that if I just stayed mad about it all, I wouldn’t get anything done, and then I’d be in a bad mood and injured. Something I did was create a table. In the first column, I wrote down every reason this sucked, wasn’t fair, etc. In the second column, I wrote down what could have happened that would have been worse. Lastly, in the final column, I addressed why I wouldn’t want this to happen again, but I appreciated how this could be an opportunity for me.

Click here for a free printable version of the table that gives you what I wrote and a blank copy for your personal use!

Another exercise that I have found incredibly helpful to get rid of that complaining voice in the back of my head, is to prove it wrong and question what it’s saying. For example:

Turn… “This never happens to anyone, and no one will understand. “ Into… Has this REALLY never happened in all of human existence to anyone ever? Are there truly no other people on this planet who could possibly identify with you?

Turn… “All anyone is ever going to see is my wheelchair/ crutches/ cast/ scars.” Into… Is that really all that’s going to go into their pupils? Are they never going to look you in the eyes? Or see your awesome hair? Or admire your smile? If that’s all they see, do you really want to be friends with them? Or care what they think?

Turn… “Everyone is going to look at me with pity or disapproval.” Into… Are you sure they’re not looking at you in admiration? You’re pushing through a big obstacle, do you think it’s possible that they admire your strength, or attitude, or persistance? Have you ever disapproved of someone you’ve never met because they were injured?

This list could go on forever.

The point is, most of the things we’re freaking out about aren’t even true. Remind yourself daily that you are pushing through something tough, and that you’re doing the best you can (Note: Make sure that you are ACTUALLY doing the best you know you are capable of). If the injury was your fault, forgive yourself. But don’t let you trick yourself into believing something that isn’t valid — that’s the surest way to stay where you are.

 Interacting with the people you love.

Telling the people you’re closest to about what happened is often one of the hardest parts, especially if you want to avoid stressing them out. These are the people that are going to want you to give them the most information, and they’ll definitely have the most questions.

My advice:

In a situation where you need to be hospitalized ASAP, tell them immediately, and sign the appropriate forms so that they can ask the hospital staff questions and get answers.

This makes it a professional’s job to accurately relay the information.

In situations like these, the less energy you put into being worried about other people, the more energy you can put into healing yourself, which will benefit the people you were worried about being worried more than your worry will. (tongue twister, right?)  

In a situation where you are going to go to doctor’s offices, getting scans, or waiting for test results, gather as much information as you can and make sure you’ve calmed down enough to tell them.

If you can say everything with a calm demeanor, state the facts, and point out the positive aspects, the people who care about you will usually follow your lead.

If you’ve decided on a course of action, tell them before they get a chance to talk you out of it. Say you have firmly made a decision, and ask that they respect it and support you. Period.  

It’s important to not have panicked people around you when you’re dealing with these types of things. If necessary, just say it plain and simple, “What I need right now is support, not stress.”

 You’d be amazed at the things you can ask of people, in which they will happily provide.

When it comes to people offering to help, or using the phrase “If you need anything, let me know,” most of the time we see this as accepting pity for ourselves, and never actually ask for anything out of pride.

I’m going to tell you right now: pride in who you are and who you’re becoming is great; pride that’s based in fear of how other people will see you is not. You have people who love and care for you, and are genuinely asking to make your life easier on your terms. Why in heaven’s name wouldn’t you let them help you?! Here’s a little known secret: when people offer to help you, they are the ones who truly benefit, because giving is contagious, and releases happy hormones. Allow them to help you, shower them in gratitude and appreciation, and you both win.

 Unforeseen circumstances can yield unforeseen creativity.

Throughout history, we can find so many examples of this. There’s a problem, a mountain range, a river, an ocean, a roadblock, etc. and somehow, someway, someone eventually finds a creative way to get where they want to get anyways.

How is this relevant to you? Well, it’s likely that with whatever limitations your injury brings, there’s a way to get around it, but only if you’re proactive and creative. Before you go to see a doctor and get a prognosis or diagnosis, think about the things in your life that are important for you to do. This could be taking your dog on walks, or being outside, or playing with your kid, etc. Really think about these. When you’re in a room with the doc, ask them specifically if you will be able to do these things, you’ll probably get a yes or no answer. If it’s no, then ask why, and get the specifics about it. The WHY is the problem here.

Then, get creative solving the why-problem. So if you can’t take your dog on a walk because you can’t put weight on your knee, the problem is “you can’t put weight on your knee.” Then get creative. Would it be possible for you to get a wheelchair temporarily? Are there programs that lend out wheelchairs? Could you get on that list? The point is, your doctor is going to tell you to do what they’ve been trained to tell you to do. But, if you talk to them about the why, and come up with a solution that addresses their concerns, then maybe instead of being bedridden for weeks, you can actually get to live your life too. I mean, it’s worth a shot, right? One of the best tricks to staying positive, and feeling good when it feels like everything is falling down around you, is winning these little battles over the things in life that are important to you.

 It’s ultimately your choice.

This is and has been the hardest thing for me to accept in my life, but after I did, the way I saw the world totally changed.

You get to choose how you feel, and what you do. Sure, it’s the pharmacy’s fault that they told you your prescription was ready when it wasn’t, but you’re reaction is your choice. Sure, you fell off a climbing wall just as everything was shaping up, but you get to choose how you react. Sure, that guy shouldn’t have cut you off and slammed on his breaks in rush hour traffic, but you get to choose how you react.

 So if you want to stay upset, injured, and be the victim of circumstance, then be my guest. Or you can choose to believe that everyone is doing the best they can do with the awareness that they have, and maybe you’ll realize that everyone isn’t out to get you. I’m going to encourage you to accept that this injury happened, and choose not to let it define you. You can choose to find the joy, or you can choose to focus on the pain. You can choose to do the exercises I’ve provided, or you can choose not to. You can deal with this gracefully, or you can be miserable. But, in the end, the choice is yours.

 Sincerely, Taylor