I want to let you in on a few little secrets….

Sometimes I….

….eat cereal out of a box

….devour way too much chocolate

….wake up with a hangover

….sleep in and skip the morning run I was planning

….buy chickpeas that aren’t in a BPA free can

….eat non-organic kale, berries, and other items on the dirty dozen

….I use a lotion or skin care product that’s not paraben-free

….and so many more things that might be deemed ‘unhealthy’ by someone else.

Here’s the thing, I’m totally okay with all it, and I hope you are too.

Don’t get me wrong, these things don’t happen all that often (okay, okay, aside from the chocolate!) but they do happen.  Because life happens, and for me, personally, maintaining a life filled with only things that reflect 100% holistic health and wellness isn’t realistic.  And I send major kudos to the people who can make that their life all the time.

As I scroll through Instagram, I realize how carefully curated our lives are or the way we want people to think our lives are.  With social media, what you see is not what you get.

If you follow me on social media, it might seem as though I eat well all the time, am constantly working out, and making my way to amazing spots around NYC, and for the most part I am doing all of those things (all of which I am so grateful for).  I try to live my life on purpose by exposing my mind and body to things that lift me up, energize me, make me feel creative, and most importantly make me happy.  A lot of that revolves around things that would be considered healthy and holistic, but that’s just me.  That’s who I am.

However, there’s a whole other side of me who feels negativity even when I’m expressing positivity, grocery shops at the bodega instead of going to whole foods, buys farm raised salmon because it’s on sale, eats refined sugar, and uses Colgate toothpaste instead of Tom’s or another all natural brand.  

So why don’t I post these things on my social media and depict that side?

Great question!

Honestly, the answer is twofold…first, it doesn’t depict the lifestyle that I totally desire.  If i was up to me, I would have the time, energy, and finances to access the best of the best all the time.  Second, I’m passionate about sharing health, wellness, and positivity and how to enable yourself with the tools you need to get there, and these choices don’t reflect that either.

Essentially, I guess it’s not ‘on-brand’.

We all have an idea of how we want the world to perceive us; what they think when they see our social media profiles or meet us for the first time.  Social media allows us to create the content that showcases our very best self.

Here’s the thing…we’re all just doing the best freakin’ job we can.  We’re trying to be mothers, friends, daughter, co-workers, hostesses, cooks, therapists…we’re trying. We all have hardships and heartaches; triumphs and tribulations; and laughs and cries.  We all live, breathe, work, and walk on this same very same earth.  We’re in it together.

This content might seem a bit different than my norm, but I’m writing this post because, I’m tired. I’m really tired of hearing that people feel ashamed of their choices because of the way others are living their lives or depicting how they live their lives.  I’m tired of people being shamed or criticized because of the way they choose to live their life.

I want you to know that you’re not alone.  You, like me, are doing your best.  You can have, be, and do anything and everything you want, and should never feel ashamed of your choices or like you’re not enough.

If you’re living a life that’s authentic to you, treating others with respect, and taking action to do the things that make you happy and live your life on purpose you’re doing a great job.  There are always things we could do to improve how we live our lives, but life is meant to be lived, and instructions on how to do that can’t always be found in a book, on a blog, or on Instagram.  So what are you waiting for? Get out there and live it!