Sharing the voices of many…I have said it before and I will say it again: It makes me happy. I swoon with respect and admiration for the entire Just.Be.Enough. community when we share unique perspectives as we take this journey to being enough together. Today’s guest is someone I have so much professional and personal respect for. Danielle Liss is the Chief Marketing Officer of FitFluential. She’s been writing Kitten a Go-Go since 2004. Danielle is the founder of Blog Law Basics. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and two hairless cats.
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For many years, my definition of myself was based on external labels. I was a lawyer. I was a recovering shopping addict. I was a yuppie. I was overweight. I had chronic illnesses. In everything I did, I had a label. All of my personality fit into little compartments.
With time, I learned that the labels didn’t feel like me. I didn’t want to be the girl with fibromyalgia. I didn’t want to be the sum of my material possessions. I didn’t want to be the girl who couldn’t control her spending. I wanted to be healthy, whole and happy.
After years of just getting by, life changed. I left the world of litigation. I started working out more. I strengthened my personal relationships.
I made a conscious decision to become happier. While I didn’t realize it at the time, the labels and the way I viewed myself had to be changed.
I still have fibromyalgia, but I feel better than I have in years. I’m still a recovering compulsive shopping addict, but after years of growth, it’s taught me to better handle stress. I’m still practicing law, but now it is on my terms. I am still overweight, but I am getting stronger every day and I am no longer plagued by constant thoughts of self doubt. I’m definitely still a yuppie, but I am much more grateful for what I have and I do my best to avoid the very annoying act of yuppie whining.
Shedding the labels has taken time. The trickiest aspect is that I am still all of the things that I was previously labeled. But those things no longer define who I am. I’ve learned that to be happy I must be more than the sum of my parts.
I walked away from my pre-conceived notions of myself, but did that mean that I walked away from me? No. For the first time, I feel like I’m truly getting to know myself. The littlest changes have made me feel like I am a whole person. Complete.
Ditching the labels has helped me see that I am so much more than I thought. I’m strong. Driven. Passionate. Inspired. Blessed. And most importantly, happy. I’ve learned to just be me and to love me unconditionally.
My favorite part of this post is where you talk about getting to know yourself; it’s such an important part of our life’s journey. I’m doing that myself a little, and it’s making a difference in how I approach a lot of things.
angela recently posted..On Turning 35
Way to go ELena to get Danielle to guest post. As for Danielle,I hope you never get too much of the happy label!
KymberlyFunFit recently posted..5 Phrases to Think and Train Like an Olympian
Amen. I love when you said that you made the decision to become happier. I think that once we make a conscious decision to be happy, to follow our bliss, etc, etc, everything else falls into place. Are you comfortable with the label “Awesome gal” because that’s what I am labeling you.
Jenn @therebelchick recently posted..Tips on How to See a Broadway Show on a Budget!
It might seem silly, but this seems profound to me – the idea of shedding your labels, or accepting them and not letting them control who you are. I need to work on that…
Robin recently posted..Four going on 16
Labels can mean limits.
idiosyncratic eye recently posted..How My Garden Grows
This is amazing, and so poignant for me. Lately I’ve been the “sick girl” and I’ve almost always been the “fat girl” and I don’t want to be those people anymore. There are so many other things to be, other ways to feel. The difficult part is breaking away from that – and I’m so glad you are.
Mrs. Jen B recently posted..Hi, Hospital! I’m Back!
Way to go, Danielle!
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