Success Story-You’re Worth It

Here’s a story from G. Allison from UM.  We wanted to share this story because it contains so many values we advocate here at MUS Wellness, particularly striving for a high quality of life at any age.  Thanks for allowing us to share this, and keep up the great work!  You are worth it!

About 2 years ago I had simply run out of steam trying to keep up with my 4 grandchildren, my work, my life.  On a trip home from one of my grandchild visits, I sat on the plane taking stock of myself and what I wanted my life to be, not what it was.  I realized, if I were to be truthful with myself, I could continue on the slippery slope I was hurtling down of weight gain, difficulty with joint pain, loss of breath, loss of life.  I could, at the ripe old age of 63, choose to continue to shorten my life with my current lifestyle choices, or make changes.  I chose to reverse course and crawl, push, wrestle, skip and finally run back up the slope to a healthier me.  Over the course of a year, I lost 78 pounds, becoming fully aware of, and taking responsibility for what I was doing for myself.  In other words, caring about myself enough to make some really hard decisions and to act on those decisions.  Now, a year into my maintenance, I am active again, feel like I’m 40, not 65, with more than a hope of living into my nineties!

Maintenance of my new found life (or recaptured one) is not easy.  Some days it takes all I have to keep pace with my goals.  But, the reward is looking at myself in the mirror each day and being proud of what I see, as well as being able to keep up and even out-pace my grandchildren on some levels.  Using the Wellness Program has been an integral part of this life-style, healthy-life change for me.  The program’s challenges have helped me to maintain, but also to really enjoy being active once again, even adding in long-lost activities such as swimming and downhill skiing.

There’s no magic to my recipe for making this decision – we all know what it takes to turn the tide – lots of strong will, strong support from friends and family, and self-care when we falter.  For me especially, the realization that I AM WORTH IT has been huge!!!  I am trying to take care of myself (no matter what stands in my way), and the gift I am giving myself and all those I come in contact with (family, friends, and others), is that of the great smile I radiate outwardly because I feel good about myself, and, the surprise that this same smile is mirrored back from everyone I see.  It simply fills me up!