Saving Yourself From Anxiety & Depression

This past weekend I heard a story that brought me to tears. It brought me to tears because so often I forget where I was and how I felt before I changed my life through health, fitness, and personal development. I realize if I forget, then I also don't share it enough and sharing that story is what could inspire others to make a change as well. So today I am sharing a little story with you all. 

Ever since I was a child I felt different. I was reserved, had low self-esteem, and was sad more often than not. Looking back I can say that since I was about 7 years old I struggled with anxiety and depression that really affected the quality of my life. After kindergarten, my school closed and I was forced to go to a new school with a bunch of people I didn't know. For any child that would be a nightmare, but for a child with anxiety, it seemed like the end of the world. I think that is when things really started to escalate. When kids would play at school, I would stand to the side. I constantly had a pit in my stomach and just wanted to melt into the wall. When I try to remember happy times from my childhood, the sad truth is, I can't...I never smiled and I coped with food...

I had great parents and a great family, but I was just a sad and lonely kid. That carried with me through high school and then into college. I can remember coming home to visit during college and just crying to my father. When he would ask me what was wrong, I couldn't tell him because I had no idea. By the time I was 28 years old I had just accepted that the sadness and anxiety were, "just who I was", I didn't think that there was any way that I would be able to change it. After a night of heavy drinking, I woke up feeling pretty low. I'm not sure why this morning was different from any of the other mornings this had happened, but I woke up knowing that it was time to make a change. After speaking with a friend she suggested that I start to get healthy by going to the gym. After a few gym sessions with her it was apparent I was going to need more direction from an outside source, and she suggested that I join a fitness challenge group that her friend was running. I had nothing to lose, so I joined. Joining that fitness challenge group changed the course of my life. For 90 days I dedicated myself to workouts and nutrition. I quit drinking during that time as well as smoking. At the end of that 90 days I was thinner, but more importantly, I had started to feel true happiness. I was smiling because I was actually happy, not because "I was supposed to". If you want to read more about my transformation, you can do so here.

At the beginning of this blog post  I mentioned I heard a story this past week that brought me to tears, and today I wanted to share that with you. This past week all of the Beachbody coaches headed down to New Orleans for our annual coach summit. This was my fourth time attending as well as my fathers fourth time. Ever since I changed my life through health and fitness, my dad has been right there by my side. 

While attending this summit I heard a story from a friend about my dad. Not too long ago at an event, my father had a conversation with my upline coach, Melanie Mitro. He expressed to her how grateful and happy he was that I found this because he knew how sad I was and there was nothing he could do to help me. It brought tears to my eyes because I knew how sad I was, I just didn't realize that they knew. I felt powerless back then. When you look up to your father the way that I do, you think that he can always save you no matter what. That was not the case with my anxiety and depression. There was nothing that my father could do to save me, to make me feel better...I had to do that for myself. The problem was, I had no idea how. I didn't know when I joined Beachbody that it would save me...I thought it would change my body...not my mind, but it did. I can sit here right now and say with 100% confidence that Beachbody saved my life. Even if I hadn't physically died, I most definitely would not have been "living". At the end of our New Orleans trip, I took a moment to go live on my facebook page and share the story. I have that here for all of you today as well. 

 My purpose here on this Earth is to help people realize that they can change so that they can feel happiness in their lives as well. I always knew since I was a child that I was here to make an impact, I just didn't know how to do that until I found Beachbody. 

Are you ready to make a change or help others make a change? I want to hear from you!! Send me an email at Messina1892@gmail.com.