Share-My-Story Series: Laura
This week Laura shares her story of overcoming an eating disorder and using her knowledge to help thousands of other women do the same. Laura is a gem. She is one of those people you could talk to forever because you instantly feel connected to her. I’m honored to know her and have personally benefitted from her gratitude journals. I use mine every single morning. Go check them out on her website Remarkable Now.
Laura’s Story:
I am so excited to share my story here on Brittany’s blog! When I found out about Brittany’s mission to connect and empower women through getting out in nature and finding common ground with each other, I immediately felt connected to her. Connection and nature are two of the most healing tools we have on this earth and have played a major role in my life.
About seven years ago, I recovered from a 16 yr long battle with an eating disorder. Through six of my seven children, I struggled with this disorder that left me feeling alone, broken, and un-fixable. I never wanted to talk about it with other people, because I felt like I was the only woman in the world who struggled like I did. I just knew there was something wrong with me, and worried that despite all my best efforts, I would never find true peace with my body.
After the birth of my sixth child, I ended up with a severe thyroid condition that forced me to finally give up control, since I literally had no control. It was the hardest and BEST thing that ever happened to me…as most challenges in life are. In an attempt to figure out who I really was (seperate from my disorder) I focused on one thing and one thing only. Gratitude. Every morning and every evening I would write five things I was grateful for. That was it. Day in and day out, that was the ONLY thing I did. Seems so simple, and it is…but it changed my life. Gratitude changed my life. Over the course of the next year, gratitude for everything else around me turned into gratitude for myself and gratitude for the gifts God blessed me with and my eyes opened to who I was and what I was meant to do.
During my recovery, nature became a sanctuary for me, a sacred place to go to connect with my spirit and to God. There was one hike I would go on 2-3x/week, and I would grab a rock at the bottom of the hike and make that rock the concern or burden I was carrying that day, and then take that rock to the very top and then unload it. I would leave that burden at the top of the highest mountain, and every single time, I felt peace. There is something about nature that speaks to our souls, to our very spirits, and that kind of connection was exactly what I needed. I needed to connect my spirit and my body and find alignment again. I found that on my mountain.
When I finally got the courage to speak about my struggle…literally tearing up and shaking as I wrote my very first post to tell my story, the most beautiful thing happened. Connection. Turns out, every single one of us is broken in some beautiful way. Turns out, I wasn’t different from everyone else, but actually just like everyone else. The truth that we all hurt, we all struggle, we are all human and broken is what saved me and continues to save me.
What I LOVE about what Britanny is doing with Get Out There Girl is that she is combining two powerful forces of change. Connection and Nature. The combination can be life-changing. Putting yourself in an environment where you can feel your spirit speak to you, and then having the opportunity to connect with other remarkable woman who also struggle and also hurt, but also give and also love is truly a gift. When we connect with other women, we connect with our power. The power to change the world in our homes and in our communities, the power to truly see our gifts and our strengths, and ultimately the power to heal.
