When you are in the health and wellness space and choose to make your journey public, you can expect to get some comments. Most of which are questioning why you are doing what you are doing and adding their own 2 cents.
- I could/would never do that
- Better you than me.
- You can have just one, it won't kill you
- Why on earth would you eat/drink that?
- You don't need to lose weight, you look fine
- Why are you taking so many supplements, are you dying?
- Coffee enema?!?! Are you kidding me?
- You go to bed way to early, my Grandma doesn't even go to bed that early
These are all comments that I have heard in the past regarding my health and wellness journey and I imagine some of you have heard them too. We are all unique. What works for you will likely not 100% work for me. I love science. I love to "experiment" on myself and have gained quite a bit of awareness around what feels good to me and what really doesn't align with me. Most recently I purchased a glucose monitoring kit and did some daily glucose readings just to see how my body is responding at different times of day and see if any of my symptoms correlate with those blood sugar readings. This is what I do, I love data and feedback. However when I asked my husband if he wanted me to do his glucose reading just out of curiosity, he replied with and emphatic "NO way, it's going to hurt". I didn't belittle his response or tell him he was crazy or force him into it. So why do others feel like it's OK to belittle you or try to persuade you to abandon or stray from your path?
Back in my late 20's when I was training for and running a lot of races, my friends would all go out on Friday nights and if I was training the next day or running a race I would either not go at all or go home early. I caught some major grief from them, but knowing that my run would flat out suck if I only got 3-4 hours of sleep, I chose to stick to my plan. When doing an elimination diet or Whole 30 I would have people tell me that one bite, portion, sip wouldn't kill me. They are in fact correct, it wouldn't kill me but it was also not in alignment with my values and goals. There is the key word VALUES. If you are staying true to your core values, you have nothing to apologize for, make excuses for or abandon your path to make someone else less uncomfortable.
1. Some people are GENUINELY concerned about you. They are worried about your safety, your state of mind or even the efficacy of what you are doing
2. Other people are manipulative or feel threatened by your possible success. They want you to stay right where you are so they don't feel like they have failed.
3. There are some people that are just uninformed or misinformed and might just need a bit more knowledge to understand why you do what you do.
4. Then there are the haters. People so insecure about their own path that they choose to cut down anyone that appears to be doing anything to better themselves.
Whatever category they fall into(surely there are more than I mentioned above), I find that responding with gratitude is the best approach- it's a win/win. Some of my responses are:
- Thank you for your concern
- I appreciate you taking an interest in my health
- I would love to tell you more if you are interested in learning about it
- I will take your comments into consideration
Then I will continue on my way doing what I know is in alignment with how I choose to lead my life. You do you. I will worry about me.
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