Anila has anxiety, depression, previous bouts of alcoholism, body focused repetitive behaviors, and breast cancer. Says there's still a lot to learn about living a life of love. She says she was on her own for five days without him with her two boys.
Anila has anxiety, depression, previous bouts of alcoholism, body focused repetitive behaviors, and breast cancer. Says there's still a lot to learn about living a life of love. It's taken 42 years to get here, folks, so let's celebrate that.
Jocelyn: My husband was out of town last week for a boys trip. She says she was on her own for five days without him with her two boys. This week, she says she put boundaries up on herself and led with love. She hopes that that encourages you to slow down and let yourself breathe.
Jocelyn: I'm still learning to lead with love. Her husband has been home with COVID. She says the idea of leading with love allowed her to slow down and set up boundaries. Will see you next Wednesday at the same time on mental health wellness Wednesday.
Hello, cadres. Fear Anila from habit aware. Coming to you live from an awesome food hall in Minneapolis called Malcolm Yards and excited to share with you my journey of learning to lead with love in life. Coming to you with my lived experience as someone with anxiety, depression, previous bouts of alcoholism, body focused repetitive behaviors, namely compulsive hair pulling, which is called trichotillomania, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and breast cancer. So an Alphabet soup of challenges in my life, mental health mostly, some health that have all brought me to this space of love and understanding.
And it's taken 42 years to get here, folks, so let's celebrate that. That at least I am arriving. Saying that arriving, not yet arrived, but arriving because there's still a lot to learn about living a life of love. Today I wanted to share a story about how I did it this week. My husband. My husband was out of town last week for a boys trip, and I'm so glad he got to go because those guys don't get to see each other that often. But he came back with COVID and, oh, Mandy. I was on my own for five days without him with my two boys, and I was looking forward to coming back because it's just easier with two parents, you know, like, to be able to share that journey together and help each other out.
But nope, no such luck. For the last couple of days, he's had to quarantine in our basement. Still kind of been solo parenting. And, you know, the anila of probably three years ago would have said, I can't let that stop me. I still have to do everything on my plate. I still have to get to work. I still have to do everything at work. I still have to do making good meals for my kids. I still have to keep the house clean. I still have to do this, I still have to do that. Da da da da da da da da da.
And this week, I said no to that. And I put boundaries up on myself and led with love by putting myself first and not making myself stressed out about all the things I needed to do. And instead, I let the dishes stack up. And instead, I made sure that Monday night, instead of, you know, trying to hustle to get the kids to sleep, we stayed up playing a game upstairs in their bedroom, a board game where the three of us just hung out and played together. I wanted to give them more of me because they couldn't get their dad after a few days of, you know, him not being there and, like, they're excited about, oh, we want to tell Papa.
All the things that we've done this weekend. And I was like, no, stay away from him. I don't want to get anyone else sick. And even with work, I decided, okay, usually I try to jam every moment of the work day with something that needs to get done. And this week, I've just said, nope. What are my top three things? Those are the things that I'm gonna get done. The rest, I'm going to just take it easy and allow myself to breathe. And in that way, I was leading with love. So I hope that that encourages you to look at your busy life, look at all the things that you might be doing to make.
The things that you're trying to fix or the things that you're trying to make happen, and just slow down and let yourself. Hi, Jocelyn. Welcome to leading with love. I am here talking to you today about this past week of how I learned. I'm still learning to lead with love, and I would love to know how you define leading with love in the chat. But basically what happened to me is my husband was out of town for five days last week on a boys trip, and then he came home with COVID and so he's been home isolating, quarantining in our basement for the last three or four days.
And so I've been solo parenting, and it's been going fine because my boys are awesome, and. But really, really, it's given me this moment to reconnect with self and revisit how go, go, go. I am. And to pull back a little bit and slow down and lead with love by putting myself first so that I could be more present for my boys. Um, still very stressed out about a couple of things on my plate for work that I'm like, ah, they were due this week, and now it's gonna be pushed a little bit. But on the whole, this idea of leading with love allowed me to slow down, set up boundaries for myself, to say, okay, I'm only gonna do these three things, and everything else can kind of just wait as I take care of him, as I take care of me, as I take care of my kids and my dog, that that is where the love goes instead of into.
Instead of being anxious about all the stuff that's not happening, focusing on what I can achieve, being compassionate, and allowing grace to others as my God gives to me. Oh, I love that, Jocelyn. That's so, so true. Having that power of faith does help pull you through those moments, too, of just God. Give me the strength to get through these next few days while my husband rests and heals. Give him the strength to heal. So that we can get back to life and normality, whatever that means for people.
And lead with love. So thank you for taking time with me today. I am wishing you love, strength and awareness. And I'll see you next Wednesday at the same time on mental health wellness Wednesdays. To chat more about leading with love. And Jocelyn, it was wonderful to meet you and I hope to catch you soon. Bye.
