I remember the day clearly because it’s a day I’ll never forget. My mom called me from the other side of the country to tell me my dad was going to be having open heart surgery in three days.

Three days! My dad was relatively healthy, or so I thought. He wasn’t overweight, he quit smoking twenty years before, and he wasn’t a big eater or drinker. We knew he was having some tests done for his heart and that something might have to be done, but to hear that this something had to be done in three days was cause for panic. It was that moment when I knew whatever my stresses were that day that they were nothing compared to the worry I now had for whatever lie ahead for my dad.

This was my reality just 2 years ago.

So what did I do?

What I had to … I bought three plane tickets (for me, my husband, a toddler, and 7 month old) that left the next day and spent the next 12 days in a hotel. It didn’t even cross my mind at the time that our youngest daughter would be spending her first Christmas in a hotel….

I spent many long days in the hospital waiting, watching, and wondering.

I knew my dad was in great hands. But I think that having worked in healthcare didn’t help my stress levels. I knew the type of surgery it was, I knew all the little details about how the surgery was performed, and I also knew the implications and possible outcomes. To add to that stress, the OR nurse even called me two hours into the five hour surgery. Answering that call almost stopped my heart … But it was only to say that things were going well.

Thankfully, my dad made it out of the surgery with no complications and went on to a full recovery.

But it got me thinking… if this could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.

I knew I had to give up on the little things that bothered me, to let them go, and be in a better mindset so I wouldn’t be as stressed or overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done on a daily basis at home.

From that moment on, all I could think about is that I didn’t want my daughters to experience this same story with me in the future. I knew I had to change something to live a little healthier. I’ve been fortunate to this point in my life with great health and an active lifestyle. But as I get older, I don’t want to take my health for granted.

I have to cut the excuses that “I don’t have time to exercise” and “I don’t have time for me”. And I have to start making new daily habits and routines that will allow me to put me and my health back on my daily and weekly priority list.  

I created new habits and new daily routines. I set goals and followed my simple 4-step process that broke down my big goals into smaller more manageable pieces. As each smaller goal was achieved, I gained the confidence I needed to pursue my next goal.

If you feel you need a little help to break your goals down into smaller more manageable pieces, check out my “4-Step Process to Achieve your Health Goals“!

I recently wrote and published a book on Amazon Kindle detailing the common excuses we all tell ourselves.

No matter your reason for not sticking to a consistent physical activity routine, I wrote this book to help busy moms find a way to eliminate excuses from their vocabulary and to help keep them motivated and on track in maintaining an active lifestyle. By eliminating excuses, you’re opening up the multitude of opportunities to live your best life.

To be truly healthy and happy in life, you have to take chances. You have to take that leap of faith guided by a gut feeling and know everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.