We're All a Little Messy

Welcome to the new home of my blog!

Over the years I have had many blogs on a variety of different sites - some blogs I wrote for companies or organizations and a couple were on my own sites that I maintained for my gym and personal training/fitness coaching. But now, I’ve decided to marry them all up in one home. I’ll be sharing things I love to blog about - Jesus, encouragement, devotionals, health, fitness and lifestyle.

I started “this” blog (which was originally titled “IrieFitGirl”) in the summer of 2008 as I embarked on my first contest prep experience to the Washington Ironman stage in October of 2008. It began as a place I could share my experience with friends locally and friends all over the country. It was quite a big deal for a stay-at-home-mom of 4 little ones to be doing something like this. I enjoyed the writing outlet (as I have always loved to write) and my friends enjoyed reading about my journey.

Not long after that first contest, I jumped right back into preparing for another contest, the “big one”, the Emerald Cup and just a few weeks after that I filed for divorce and began navigating a new life as a single mother and dealing with the challenges that come with ending a marriage. Blogging helped me process and helped me heal. I really thought of it as a place where my friends could go to see how I was holding up but as time went on, I quickly learned that my friends weren’t the only ones reading my blog. I started hearing from people around the country I didn’t even know.

And the words I heard the most sounded like…

ME TOO!!

People found my writing relatable - either they were thinking about making the decision I had made or they, too, I had made this big decision and were doing everything they could just to hold it together - mostly for the kids.

I kept writing over the years. I wrote about my life, my children, my dreams, my heartbreaks. I started writing about fitness - from workouts to nutrition to motivation to make a lifestyle change to get healthy and lose weight. Over the last 8 or 9 years I have published almost 2,000 blog posts! That’s a book or two right there!

Blogging is how I share my story with the world. What started as a way for me to process and heal has now become a way for me to give hope and encouragement to others who are going through really challenging times. We live in a culture where real is hard to find and that is really discouraging when you’re hurting - and even when you’re not. We look on social media and everybody looks happy and successful and their hair and makeup is perfect…even their food is pretty (that reminds me, I have no idea what I’m making for dinner tonight!) Meanwhile, we sit behind our screen feeling like a hot mess, barely holding it all together.

The truth is, we’re all a mess. Life is messy and no one gets a free pass from that. No one. Not even the fit chick you follow on Instagram who looks perfect in every post at 5am with her shredded abs and long eyelashes and pouty lips - definitely messy just like you and me.

The truth is, you are not alone. What you are going through, the life that you are living, is unique and no one else shares your exact story. But everyone shares your hurt, your fear, your heartache and mostly, your longing to feel less alone. We all just want to feel less alone. And that’s what blogging has been for me - a way to connect first with friends and then I realized how many strangers were feeling less alone simply because I shared my truth. Just the rawness of my life. It seemed to give others permission to be messy too.

When we are real and authentic, we give others permission to be real and authentic too. In our vulnerability to share truthfully and authentically is where we find the connection and the healing. It is through connection - with Jesus - and with others, that we find healing and hope and encouragement to keep doing this life thing everyday.

I encourage you to be authentic in sharing your journey. Allow people to see the mess. In doing so we not only free ourselves of the need to portray this perfect, fairy tale life, but we free others of doing so too. And this is what brings authentic relationships into our lives.