Classic. I realized I was actually doing this. Like an automaton or something.
It was 1998.
I was going through the motions every day; driving to work early and finishing late, averaging 100 work hours per week.
Even when I started experiencing chest pain and angina, with radiations down my arm, I kept pushing through.
It took a spectacular wakeup call to get my attention.
It wasn’t until 5 years later, in 2002, when my husband and I were walking across a pedestrian crossing on a green-man-light, when we were hit by a car. We both sustained considerable injuries, to the point that I needed to learn to walk again after having my knee reconstructed. Chris lost his short term memory for 6 weeks and experienced severe headaches for many months.
Neither of us were able to work, and so we finally relented and sold the practice (my Integrated Health Centre ‘baby’ that I’d founded and run since 1993), whilst we recovered.
It took that block-buster experience for me to stop in my tracks and reevaluate how I was living my life. To prompt me to re-identify my values and decide to observe them in my life, rather than sleep walking. 1
And since then, the steps I’ve taken – from small ones (like simply deep breathing every day and pacing myself), to big ones (like letting go of a family home and traveling the world with Chris, whilst embracing our passion for helping others), have changed my life.
As I was writing this original blog, I was training for a 50km charity walk. I’m bursting with gratitude to say my health is re-newed, and I don’t take or need daily medicine for my heart or cholesterol. In fact I’ve never taken those meds.
I’m thriving, rather than surviving.
And that’s what I wish for you.
So, are you sleep walking, or are you choosing to wake up to your life’s potential?
If you’d like to connect about what that might look like for you, as you know I’d love to hear from you.
See you on this week’s #AliveWithFi 
1Reflecting on the sensation of sleep walking through life, Scott Anderson, contributor the Huffington Post, acknowledges, “We’ve all heard older folks tell how important it is to experience life every day, that if they had a chance to do it over again, they would have taken more risks. However, if you are like me, it seems that all I am doing is chasing my tail in a merry-go-round of never-ending daily tasks. The years have gone by in one big blur.” The value of this realization, though, is that we can decide to wake up and not take the time we have for granted. “Are You Sleep Walking Through Life?” S. Anderson, (n.d.).
Fi Jamieson-Folland D.O, is The LifeStyle Aligner, with over 27 years experience in Europe, Asia and New Zealand as a qualified osteopath, educator, writer, certified raw vegan gluten-free chef, speaker, health mentor and Health Brand Ambassador. She loves to globe-trot with her husband Chris (NZ, Australia, USA, UK + Europe and Indonesia are current favourites) relishing an outdoor lifestyle and time with family and friends.
