Dear ME Letter: by Eboni Rivera

Dear Me,

We’ve been on this journey together for 33 years now.

As 30 approached, we decided to get out of our comfort zone and began a quest to find ourselves.

We set out to attain more peace, serenity and genuine joy.

We made a plan.

And put it into motion.

First by making a promise to love ourselves just a bit more than we loved others.

Then removing toxic people, situations and environments from our lives.

We committed to living a healthier lifestyle - eating foods that were nourishing, sleeping well and taking time for self.

Next came running - something we never would’ve imagined doing in our lifetime. But hey we were good at it after all!

Then we make the BOLD move of shaving off all of our hair (which was representative of starting anew and rebirth)

Blessings, joy, meaningful connections, marital bliss and success with our photography business followed shortly thereafter.

Many milestones were reached and there were many accomplishments to celebrate.

But then something happened and it all came to a screeching halt.

A health scare…

Something wasn’t right.

“Am I going to die?”

Sleepless nights, followed by sleepless days began to plague us.

We kept the worry and anxiety as a secret between just us two because we didn’t want to burden anyone else with it. But eventually it became difficult to conceal and so

A trip to the emergency room,

followed by weeks of testing and waiting

until finally a diagnosis from the cardiologist

It seemed like things would get better and we’d finally be okay.

But they weren’t.

We weren’t.

We slipped into an abyss

Closed ourselves off and retreated

We suffered in silence while putting on a brave face.

Somewhere along our journey we took a wrong turn and lost our way...

ENOUGH!

Though we may have been shaken, we are not broken.

We are strong and resilient.

We have perseverance.

It’s time to brush ourselves off and look for the light

even when all that surrounds us maybe darkness.

Keep your ears to the ground —

and listen to your heart,

both metaphorically and literally.

I’ve already decided that 2016 is going to be amazing. Have you?

With Love,

{a New Me}