A year ago to this day I went from having my whole life mapped out to being in intensive care. No, I wasn’t expecting it either.
But amazingly, it was that, my world crashing down, that actually ended up mapping out my life. And my goodness, how different my map looks now.
Out of balance
So, the juicy bits. Last August, my life was high-flying corporate law. The glamour of Dubai (fois gras, champagne and a convertible - literally). Idyllic beaches in the Caribbean. Instagram-worthy abs. Dreams of an amazing future with the love of my life. Or so I thought.
But under the surface that life was constant exhaustion. Never feeling good enough - for my job, for my relationships, for myself. Just when I thought I had it all - the job, the home, the family, the car, the money, the guy, the body, the lifestyle - my body told me very differently.
The wake up call
A week later. I was broken – physically, mentally and spirituality. I was in intensive care in the bleakest room I’ve ever had to experience. Unable to move, alone, I felt way further than 5,000 miles from home. To top it off, my naturally low heart rate set off a machine every time I got near sleep, forcing me to stay awake.
But it was then, when my life stood in the balance of two tiny blood clots in my left leg, that I made the decision that my life had to change. And it did. But not in an instant, in gradual ways. Some were forced, some less so, while I figured out my balance.
A new perspective
That was when I stripped away what society told me my life should look like. When I figured out what work-life balance meant to me. When I had to navigate a social life without alcohol. When I tried switching late nights in bars for early morning yoga.
I realised that before I was operating on auto-pilot when I could be flying to the moon.
Finding my balance
My life today is balanced in a whole different way.
I wake up naturally at 6am to go riding in the desert, or yoga on the beach. I eat the food I want to eat, when I want to eat it. I give myself time out. I appreciate my family to a whole new level. I do creative things. I save the alcohol for the special occasions. I do the exercise that makes me feel good. I sleep tens time better. I’ve started my own business.
And I haven’t sacrificed anything that I don’t want to. I still have my best friends - the ones who wheeled me round hospital in a wheelchair and flew thousands of miles to see me when I couldn’t travel. I still go out. I still own the convertible.
But do you know what the main difference is? My life today makes me happy every single day. My life is in balance. And that’s the life that I want to inspire you to have to (without all the horrible hospital and break-up part).