Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Not Just Another Idea

In life, we go through so many stages trying to find ourselves. We enter school, for the first time and search for friends who are fun to play with, but as we get older we yearn for one who will not only understand us, but accept us even when they don't. Friendships have come and gone my whole existence. I seem to gravitate towards the weirdos or loners, if you will. The ones who seem to have lost their way. Some of those friendships are still hanging on by a very thin thread, while others got tossed by the wayside for one reason or another. Some have even blossomed into the best friendships I've ever had. And just like friends, ideas have come and gone. Exciting me at their presence, making me fall head over heals in love and then boring me when I, or they, have nothing left to offer. I think I've "found" myself several times over, yet nothing ever seemed to stick, until now.

If you know me, you know I've been on the path to getting healthy for a number of years. Even in this moment, I'm finding new ways to incorporate new health practices into my lifestyle. Which brings me to the main point of this blog. Sure, I'm studying to become a health coach and I'm virtually surrounded by health nuts galore, however I'm still not quite as healthy as most of them, which is fine. I don't need to be a Raw Vegan to be thin or to have ultimate health. I haven't even given up on meat. What I need is to remain who I am while finding out what works for my body and that's exactly what I intend to help my future clients figure out for themselves.

I live in a town where we have the limited options of Meijer, Walmart, Kroger, or Chief to shop for groceries. Meijer has the best options as far as organic produce goes. We don't have the luxury of a Whole Foods or Trader Joes. We have our dinky, little Farmer's Market during the end of Spring and throughout Summer and that's about as local as it gets around here. The people I want to work with are struggling to find healthy because it's hard to find it in our smallish town. It's been difficult for me and my family and we're as healthy as can be right now. Sure, we can be healthier, who couldn't be? Precisely my point. This is my target market. Real people who have families and jobs. Mothers who need balance between kids and husbands. Women who want a permanent fix in the weight loss category. Individuals who are unaware of how to eat healthy or what to cook for dinner. Real people just like myself. I may eat healthy, but I'm still learning how to add in more whole foods and crowd out sugar and processed foods. I have no clue how to prepare tofu or tempeh. Shoot, I recently just learned how to make quinoa. So yeah, I'm learning and experiencing it for myself so that I can share that knowledge with others to help them live better lives.

Health coaching, from my perspective, isn't simply me handing over the secrets of living healthy. It's me, lending an ear and possibly a shoulder for people who have real problems they want solved. It's not just showing others how to eat better or to motivate them to fit more physical activity into their lives. Being a health coach means being there and helping others find balance in their chaos. It's me, slowly changing the world, one person at a time. This is my passion. This is my life and I intend to do the very best job that I possibly can so that this idea isn't just an idea years down the road.