The Gift of Gallstones

I’ve been sitting down to write this blogpost for a few days now and each time, have either just felt uninspired or actually ran out of time. There’s so much going on in my life, tons of lessons and insights I want to share :). Tons of growth opportunities and ways to make powerful choices in the moment.

But so my message doesn’t get too long and you can get on with your day without feeling stressed over reading for ten minutes, let me tell you about one of the most impactful things.

Just about a little over a week ago, I found myself in the emergency room in NWA in immense pain afraid that something was really wrong. Let me backtrack to a few weeks ago, about a month and a half to be exact. That’s when I first started to feel nauseous all the time. I was feeling nauseated every day almost without fail. At first of course, I wondered if I was pregnant, then my cycle came and I just thought it might be a factor of getting older and my PMS symptoms changing. Then I realized that it just wasn’t going away and that’s when I went to the doctor. He couldn’t figure out any causes so he prescribed acid reflux medicine and told me to basically wait it out. I had one bad night of vomiting but I just chalked it up to too much pizza and wine.

At the emergency room is where I found out that I have gallstones. Insert a sad face and a surprised face. Are you thinking what I’m thinking - that is, if you even know what gallstones are?

That’s right, how do *I* have gallstones?

I’m not overweight. I eat healthier than most. I’m active. I’m constantly working on my emotional blocks (because all physical ailments are rooted in emotional space).

It just honestly doesn’t make much sense.

Yet we know that there are tons of things in our lives that make little sense. The joy of life comes in accepting what is with gratitude and moving forward expecting that things are already getting better.  

So after an initial few shaky days after my diagnosis feeling afraid to eat and like it was unfair that the universe would give me this to deal with too, I’ve been able to get my bearings and my perspective back. I’ve been able to easily choose to see the gift in this diagnosis instead of the burden.

Remember a few weeks ago when I said I was committing to getting my health back on track the way I feel best? Well now I have major motivation! The age old saying is that pain is the most effective motivator. The pain of a gallstone attack is something that I pray to the Universe that I never experience ever again.

It’s been SUPER easy to say no to cookies, fast food, ice cream, treats, processed foods, etc. All of the things that everyone should be eating in moderation at the most, I can’t eat at all now (save for maybe once a year and that’s only if i take the right precautions before and after).

I admit that It’s been a challenge figuring out what I can eat and I’ve had some real shaky moments at checkout counters where I was close to tears trying to order what I thought would be ok.

But I feel like I’m getting my balance back. I can say that this week, I’ve mostly felt pretty good. The all-the-time nausea has mostly subsided and although some foods bring on that uncomfortable feeling, I’ve been able to manage it and make note. The best thing is that I have NOT had another attack. And another little happy - I’ve lost about 7 pds already. Who knew that my occasional cookie or Chick-Fila meal was having such an effect!

So I am determined to manage this with being even more mindful about my diet and keeping up with my commitment to exercise. I do have an appointment with a surgeon that removes gallbladders on Tuesday because conventional  medicine says once you have gallstone problems, you always will and you must get it out. I’m going to do my best to hold on to mine though unless the doctor tells me it truly is damaged. I feel encouraged however by how much better I’ve been feeling already.

I’m willing to continue walking my path with this new addition without letting it change my stride :-). And at the least, it will definitely give me more interesting things to share with you down the road.

---

Have you gotten your copy of 3 Beauty Rituals for Phenomenal Self Care? If not, click here to request it!

What I learned from Maxwell

Maxwell is hands down one of my favorite artists. Easily. I’ve been listening to this man for over 20 years and this past Thursday, I made that realization as I sat at his concert here in Little Rock. Just watching this amazingly charismatic man so comfortable in his own skin rock it out on stage was magickal.

It  made me think about all the reasons that I appreciate Maxwell so much - especially since I’ve been fortunate to see him in concert now twice :-D. My favorite crooner has some awesome life lessons for you if you pay attention ;-).

In reflecting, I believe the number one lesson he offers by example is this: Be comfortable in your own skin at all costs.

Happy Me at the concert!

Each time I’ve seen Maxwell, he has been his quirky, slightly goofy, dancing crazily but with abandonment self on stage. It’s like he is having the time of his life engaging with us and we just happen to be watching. Pay attention to that statement. He is FULLY engaged with the crowd - totally into them - but not at all concerned whether they are digging him or thinking he is a nutter butter. It’s like he is in his own little world that we are in too. It’s really an amazing thing to behold and be a part of.

I wonder if he learned this early on in his career after his first round of black college tours opening for the Fugees - or if he always had it. Taking you back a bit in my own history, I remember when he came through town during Howard’s Homecoming. People booed him right off the stage. I mean vehemently booed him. I think someone might have even thrown something. It was horrible (and embarrassing to me as a Howardite that we’d act that way!).

I wonder if experiencing something like that multiple times (sadly ours was not the only campus that booed him) created within him a resolve to enjoy who *he* was no matter what and at all costs.

I ask this because Maxwell has not changed. The same bubbly, quirky dude that was on stage back when I was 20 something is the same one that was on stage this past week - just happy to be himself, happy to be doing something he loved, happy to be in that moment with us. Yes, his look has changed (as mine has from the hippy, witchy granola, engineering/viola-playing, hip-hop flowerchild that I was in my early 20s) as he’s grown up and evolved, but his essential essence is very much the same. And that my friends, I can only imagine is no small feat in his industry.

So that, in addition to the pure awesomeness of Maxwell in concert, is what I took away from my experience last Thursday.

The gist is this: You are going to have haters and naysayers. You might have some people that try to push you right out the door with shame and ridicule for what you are trying to do and who you even are at your very core.

The bottom line is that you can’t let it stop you dear. Yes, you can rest. You can recoup. You can even lament (I remember that there was a time when everything was angsty with Maxwell). But past that, you must keep it moving. Your world depends on it and what’s even more magickal is that *THE* world depends on it.

Just like Maxwell inviting us into his world but not being too concerned about whether we liked it or not created this wonderful over 20-year career of his, welcoming others into your world by being unapologetically yourself BUT not really giving too many cares about what someone thinks about it - that’s the difference maker between 20 years of continued, growing awesomeness...and 20 years of misery- pointe blanke. And 20 years of you living in your awesomeness instead of your misery - imagine what kind of ripple effect that would have on the world?

Which one are you going to choose?

Maxwell Concert, Little Rock, Ar