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Happy February! I hope all of you are settling into 2022. In the evolution of 5ive, so too has been the evolution of the fabulous five, aka my five beautiful children. In the last editorial, I was brutally honest and shared (courtesy of one of my favorite authors, Jen Hatmaker) that “my script has been flipped” and all that comes along with our scripts being flipped. Many thanks to all of you who have been incredibly supportive and compassionate during this challenging season. Over the past months, I do not know how I got from point A to point B on many days—how I got out of bed, went to work, and did all the things needed to get done. I have tried so hard to see my family through this season. I think the phrase fake it ‘til you make it was tattooed on my eyelids. I was exhausted; I looked back and saw that sweet woman who was just broken. I am proud of this version of myself because I’ve been genuine. I had no idea what it would look like or feel like to suffer and be in so much pain publicly and privately. I am profoundly grateful for the tribe of people who have helped me on my worst days.
I have been through many firsts in the past 10 months, and we have made it through. I have learned much. My nature is to clean it up, fix it all, and soften any potential blow for the fab five. The realization for me and my tribe is that I cannot repair or smooth things out. It is excruciatingly hard because I desperately want to erase all my sweet babies’ grief away. As I reread Untamed by Glennon Doyle, one analogy spoke directly to my heart: When you are on an airplane and hit turbulence, it is terrifying and it may seem as though the plane is going to crash. The first thing passengers do during turbulence is to look to the flight attendants for their reaction and answers. If the flight attendants are panicking, passengers will panic. If, however, the flight attendants are calm and reassuring and continue to hand out peanuts, passengers will feel a little bit safer even in a terrifying, turbulent time. Rarely ever does the plane crash. This analogy has become my mantra. I continue to assure and hand peanuts to my tribe.
I am so proud of the family we have created. I am beyond impressed with the people I call my kids. I am a lucky gal indeed.
This edition is about new beginnings. It is chock full of new ideas and amazing stories of incredible new starts. I am excited to share with all of you. I am hopeful for 2022 and all that is to come. Stay tuned. The journey continues in faith, family, friends, fitness and finance.
