For my fiftieth birthday I gave myself the gift of health.
At age fifty, I was a wreck. My husband was gravely ill and I gained over 85 pounds trying to comfort myself with food through his illness. I am a counselor and I knew better, but was caught in a vicious cycle of eating, shame and eating.One day I had enough. I told myself that for my fiftieth birthday I was going to give myself a gift, my health. After one year of changing my lifestyle, I lost 85 pounds. I felt so good that I decided to finish the Master's degree that I had started years before. Combining my love of art and animals, I am studying to be an equine specialist and art therapist. I bought and trained three horses for my program, and the horses are MY therapy!
I am not done with reinventing myself by any stretch of the imagination. Last summer I learned to ride a motorcycle and bought a Harley!
I have learned that through my husbands illness, that there is love for a person that is beyond description. I learned that one must experience great sorrow in order to appreciate great joy. My husbands illness does not define him, and it doesn't have to define me. My happy spirit helps him now. He can rely on me and that is a good feeling. For the first years of our marriage I relied on him. Now it is my turn. But in order to do so, I must always remember to acknowledge the spirit that is in me.