Life is full of ups and downs and if you haven’t experienced that reality then I hope you are the one person on earth who gets a smooth ride. The unknown has a sneaky way of causing anxiety and stealing joy. Our responses to these changes have a lot to do with how much stress we ultimately experience. A wise friend once told me that we have two choices when faced with sudden changes, we can react or we can respond. Reaction is sudden and relies mostly on initial feelings and emotions often leading us down a path we don’t want to go and will have a hard time recovering from. A response is thought out and determined only after weighing the pros and cons, it is deliberate and offers the best chance possible for the happiest ending.

Life recently decided to throw me a curve. One of the parts of my life that I highly value was attacked. My health. I have a family history of autoimmune disease so I was not surprised when my rather impatient ears finally heard Hashimoto Thyroiditis from the nurse on the other end of the phone. I found myself relieved that it was something that I understood and could be treated even though it meant I would be dealing with it for the rest of my life. Now more than ever my nutrition and fitness level will have an impact on my quality of life.

We never know what challenges or bumps our future holds in store for us or when and where they might rear their ugly heads. It is easy to allow fear to immobilize us and keep us from chasing our dreams and goals. It is also easy to react to our challenges with anger, pity, denial or defeat. I struggled while I waited for the Dr. to determine what I was facing. All kinds of thoughts war for control of your mind and try to overcome you with fear. In the end you have to master them and choose to respond instead of react. It was not pretty, I was stressed and my body was not happy but I have decided that my best response is to use this challenge as an opportunity to further strengthen my resolve to push myself to my nutritional and physical best and in the journey to share my lessons learned with those of you who might want to utilize them in your own paths. My love of the outdoors and hunting will only be strengthened when my body is at its best. I look forward to the lessons I will learn and the ability to hunt harder, faster and stronger.