Happy October bb’s! I can’t believe we are less than 3 months away from the end of the year! This year has FLOWN by! Ammmiiiiright?! You may or may not know this already, but October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and in honor of that I am partnering with Stage for their #ipinkican initiative as they turn October into Pink October in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and in honor of women everywhere… As a woman ( and hardcore lover of pink 😉 ) I couldn’t think of a more powerful and relevant-to-me cause to join in on, I am beyond honored and excited to be part of this!!

In honor of pink October Stage will be raising money for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) in-store and online all October (BTW they have super cute pink items up on the site like my pink jammies I’m pictured wearing! ). For every hash-tagged #ipinkican moment shared on Facebook or Instagram during October Stage will donate $1 to the BCRF! What’s an #ipinkican moment? Well, it can be anything from a moment where you feel like your best or strongest self, or what you do to help you celebrate yourself, to a challenge that you have overcome (big or small) and what inspired you to get through / how it made you feel afterwards. Or you can even share a personal story if you’ve been touched by breast cancer directly or through a loved one. For more information on how to get involved click here!

In the meantime I wanted to share my very own #ipinkican moment in honor of pink October 🙂

I think my biggest and most important #ipinkican moment is really less of a single moment, and more of a 2 year thing; looking back there was a singular moment where I made an incredibly powerful and life changing decision, but it was really a series of moments over the 2 years that followed that decision that really made me see just how strong, capable, independent and resilient I am.

That life altering choice I made has many facets (some of which I have touched on in a recent Youtube videos and on my Instagram) but overall, it was to always honor what makes me happy, to build a life that feels good, inspiring and exciting (to me), and to never allow myself to be treated less than I deserve.. ever ever again. All of that might seem simple but prior to that life altering choice my world was dark, uninspiring, sad and I felt like I was miles away from even the slightest possibility of a happy life. The more I thought of all of the “work” it would entail to create a new life (a new life that I still was’t even sure was possible), the more overwhelmed and indifferent I became to even changing things, even though I was so unbelievably unhappy. But as with anything, there is a rock bottom.. and I hit it, hard.

I remember the very moment I made the choice to shift my life, I was scared, I was sick, I was tired, I was overwhelmed, but I was also determined. I knew I was unhappy with nearly every aspect of my life; my relationship (it was so so toxic), my job (it was so so toxic), my lack of a self-care routine, my mental health, my physical health.. all of it had to change. I knew it would take everything I had, all of my focus, all of my faith, all of my energy.. and still I didn’t know if I was even capable of overcoming this challenge, but I thought I’d try anyway. Instead of looking at it as a whole (because that was honestly just straight up scary since every single part of my life needed an overhaul), I decided I would take it day by day, focused effort after focused effort, and I wouldn’t concern myself with where I was at in the process until things started to feel better, it didn’t matter, as long as I was moving forward that was good, one foot in front of the other.. just keep moving forward.

So that’s what I did, I focused on all of the things that brought me joy, stopped engaging with things that didn’t, and before I knew it I had created an entirely new life for myself in less than 2 years. I finally ended that 5 year toxic relationship. I created a new job for myself and quit the old one that was draining me off all of my light and energy, I said bye bye to “friends” who were guiding me down self-destructive roads and I shifted the focus in my life to wellness and health. Was it hard? OMG YES SO HARD! Was it uncomfortable? Yes, change is so uncomfortable and difficult. Was it worth it? 1000000%, I’d do it all over again 200 times over just to experience the joy I now experience on a day to day basis. My life now is not perfect by any means, and honestly I know I am not done with all of the work there is left to do, but the feeling I get when I take it all in, when I look back at the last 2 years and take in all of the changes I made and the challenges I faced and overcame I feel like I can overcome anything. Overcoming this challenge took me from feeling like a victim of my circumstances, to a powerful strong woman capable of overcoming any challenge and capable of creating the life of my dreams. Through this whole process I learned that where there is a will, there truly is a way, and more often than not we are much much stronger than we think. Nothing is impossible, but you have to try though or you’ll never know. #ipinkican

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my (very) personal #ipinkican moment, like I said above, For more information on how to get involved in Stages special pink October initiative click here!

Sending you all my love, light and deepest gratitude. Happy pink October bb’s! xo

This blog post is sponsored by my friends over at Stage ♥