This year has been a challenge and I’m putting it lightly. For several years, my energy had been slipping away slowly and daily life felt impossible to function. I would wake up exhausted and I would get worse throughout the day. I knew something was wrong, just not ”what IT was….” From an outside perspective I lead an exemplary life of health. I ate organic and healthy food, exercised, did acupuncture, light yoga, etc. For once, I felt like I was doing the “right thing”. After finally getting a proper diagnosis and building my health team, I felt that I had a grasp of the root of the problem. This health crisis made me re-evaluate how I run my business and also changed my lifestyle dramatically. I was no longer able to work with 7 amazing clients each week in a sheath dress dressed to the 9’s. Not feeling well and having to slow down in life made me crave cozy and live in basically loungewear (See? Even I crave it!). Often I would wear gym clothing to make me feel that I was going to work out; I’m told that if you visualize doing activities you can trick your body…but I don’t have proof for that one :) Now all of this would be fine for a ‘normal person’ but as a personal fashion stylist, I felt a lot of shame around dressing down. I had hit my style rock bottom. I’ve always felt that part of my job was to lead others through setting a good example; practice what I preach, and dress well. And here I was, with permanent bed head and wearing my favorite schlumpy cotton at home and all the time ”loungewear”. When I would go out to check my mail, I would try to look a little cuter in case I ran into neighbors. Murphy’s law dictates that… ”you will run into others when I let my guard down”. God forbid someone would see me with socks that don’t match or in anything considered ugly; oh, the horror! So yes, if this helps enlighten the masses… ”I am human”. And, then I realized I had to break out of my style slump and work through my health challenge. I made a list. 1. Focus on my health (because without it, we are nothing). 2. Prioritize my life and since my energy was limited, I began to take things ‘one day at a time’ 3. Let myself and my house get messy and be ok with it. 4. Surround myself with my closest friends; my inner innercircle loves me for me, for me and not for what I wear or what I can do for them. 5. Let myself fall+feel; process what was happening and finally, slow down. 6. Indulge in my coziest, snuggliest sweats that felt the homiest to me. I even pulled out my childhood blanket while home for the holidays. 7. Dress up my cotton outfits with some simple jewelry additions. 8. Allow myself to take baby steps like upgrading to hue, pull on boot but jeggings which, by the way, are almost as comfortable as sweats! 9. Refrain from shopping because I knew it wouldn’t be making strategic purchases. I didn’t want to have to suffer from any of that future ”shopping guilt” on top of bad choices. (You can avoid a fashion hangover by downloading my free podcast here>>http://bit.ly/Jix51U) Allowing myself to baby step my way through the process made me feel better and helped me move into ”recovery”. I hope these tips will help you give yourself the gift of loving compassion. A special shoutout to those struggling physically, or emotionally, please remember to keep a list of what you ”can” do rather than what you ”can’t do”. Do you have your own style rock bottom story to share? I’m sure your story will help another so please share in the comments down below.
