Celebrate Your Best and Admit Your Mess

There is a movement that seems to be growing online which glorifies "the mess" in our lives. I understand acknowledging “the mess”, helping others and ourselves through it, and overcoming it, but cannot understand happily sitting in the slop and glorifying it. There can, of course, be beauty in a mess that is propelling you to grow towards fulfilling who you are meant to be, but is it ok to be happy to remain there?  I am a huge advocate for growth and change that will improve my life and the lives of those around me.

Those writers, who are part of this movement, seem to say that anyone who would try to educate others or share their thoughts and passion about healthy living are trying to shame others into feeling bad about their own choices. I see people post about how all that matters is that they love their family, but not how they care for their health. I agree that, yes, loving your kids, family, and life is more important than the food you eat, or the companies you support, or the products you use, but that doesn’t make these things unimportant or negate them!

If a friend posted an article about a sunscreen that you are using and she/he said that it could be damaging to a person’s health, would you be mad or offended? What if she/he wrote about a food you eat and said that it was unhealthy? Would that offend you? The feeling of offense usually comes from pride. If you disagree, then shake it off because, in your opinion, the person is wrong, so who cares? If it's too overwhelming, then be confident enough to know that you are doing the best you can. Maybe next year will be a better time to improve that part of your life or to learn and understand more. It doesn't need to be stressful! I believe that always being willing to learn and grow and change for the better is important, but everyone’s process will look differently. I always want to learn more. I want to know better, and then do better.

Let me tell you a story. Seven years ago, a wonderful and "all natural" friend came to visit me. She was very passionate about knowing and understanding personal care products and their ingredients. She was telling me all about her findings and pointed out all of the toxic products I had in my home (literally everything, lol). I was NOT offended. I love to learn. I did some of my own research and changed out a few things, but overall, at that point in my life, I had just revamped all of my eating habits and was working on learning a ton about nutrition. I could not add another thing to my plate. I didn't have the time or energy to really go all out. I knew that it might be important and that I would get to it, but this was not the right time for me. It took me about five years before I could say that I had officially revamped all of my household products. Cleaners, shampoo, you name it! It feels great, and I have gained so much knowledge along the way. I want to tell others about the endocrine and hormone disrupters in common household products, I want to share about how bad aluminum in deodorant is, and I want to shout from the rooftops that natural remedies are such an amazing and positive way to be healthy without harming your system! Why do I want to share? Not because I want anyone to feel bad. It's because I care! I care about your well-being. I would NEVER look down on someone who is willing to listen, but not ready to change.

Be open, be peaceful, be forever willing to change. Don't stress. Learn. Grow.

Celebrate your best and admit your mess, not the other way around.