Hatching Hatch

Greetings, friends!

Quick housekeeping note - by popular demand, you can now receive blog updates via email! Simply enter your email in the white box on the right side of the screen that says "Follow By Email" and voila, the blog posts will magically appear in your inbox.

It's magic, really! Right up there with unicorns and wizards.

Anyway, onto more important things - hatching.

Two Mays ago I ran my first half-marathon. My body was literally falling apart, but I didn't know or understand it yet. Somehow, by the power of my pride on the line and the knowledge that my mother was holding her breath for the entire 13.1 miles, I crossed the finish line.

Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to have finished and my medal is still proudly hanging in my home. However, I really beat myself up mentally about how I did. At the time I had absolutely no concept of the chaos within and couldn't understand why it had been such a struggle (now I look back and haven't the foggiest clue how I finished at all). I immediately started plotting for my next race and thought about what I could change to perform better (read: make it look a little bit less like I was dying whilst running). I started looking at races right about the time that my body really and truly broke down and I was swept off into a whirlwind of hospitals, tests, traveling, learning and growing that has yet to stop.

Exactly a year later, I received an official letter congratulating me for qualifying for long-term disability. It rocked me to the core and took me several days and a lot of self reflection to accept the fact that a body could go from running 13.1 miles to being declared as legally disabled in a matter of 365 days. As a way of coping, I shared that I was going to set a new milestone in May of 2013. I didn't know what I would do - I thought I would walk a 5K or start painting again or write a big, special blog post.

Instead, I started a business.

Friends, I'd like to formally introduce you to the new love of my life: Hatch Health and Happiness!

My business is up and running - I already work with clients all over the United States and have a real-deal fancy business card to prove it!

The name Hatch was originally an acronym - Help Adapting To Changing Health- but it has morphed into the concept that we are never really starting from scratch. When you are diagnosed with an allergy or disease, discover a food sensitivity, become frustrated with your endless weight loss battle or throw your hands up and surrender to stress, it can feel like you have to completely start again to feel better. Change is scary, and even more so when you do it alone. I help my clients learn to hatch from within and make lifestyle and dietary changes to reclaim their health and happiness.

I've been in that dark and terrifying bottom of the barrel. It wasn't fun. Couldn't find a darn unicorn anywhere.

So I made a choice to make a change.

I chose to re-focus my life's purpose.
I chose to pay my journey forward.
I chose to go back to school and become a health coach.

And now, with first-day-of-school-jitters, I'm ready to share it all with you.

So, friends.

Deep breath

Without further ado, allow me to formally introduce you to my business:

www.hatchhealthhappiness.com