On May 22nd,Schick Hydro Silk’s Facebook page will be hosting an online gallery called, “Taking Strides, Sharing Stories”.
It’s a cool new campaign taking place to encourage women to share stories about woman in their life who makes the world a better place by doing something above and beyond what is expected. This woman can be yourself, a colleague or neighbour, but the actions are meant to inspire us to take our own strides.
What makes it even better is for every story or photo shared on the online gallery, Schick will donate $1 towards a Women’s Mental Health program. We want you to be one of the first stories featured on the online gallery! So in the comments below, please share your stories! Share about yourself or the women in your life that are inspiring, celebrating, or encouraging others and your story will be one of the first on the online gallery.
…so here’s my story, and it has a lot to do with mental health.
When I think of mental health, I think about working out. For me, the mind and body are connected, and when you take care of your body, you’re taking care of your mind. There are a number of reasons why it’s true for me. Firstly, working out is my “me” time. It’s where I can de-stress from the day or even escape from the day. I just turn my music up loud, and allow myself to get swept away in a story as I run on the treadmill or lift weights. Time flies by, and after years of doing this, I literally have to tear myself away from the gym because I don’t want my “me” time to end.
I think that we can all agree that it’s really important to have some time for yourself, and to have an activity that you do just for you. This is mine, and I think I realized its true importance after I had a kid. After that, you realize that almost everything you do is for them – your work, cooking, shopping, cleaning… it’s to keep them safe and sound, and healthy.
But working out is just for me. It’s for me to take care of me, and to really focus on my own body and mind. I also go all or nothing – so if I’m working out, I also try to eat healthy, meaning I focus on clean eating and try not to eat anything processed. I stay away from pop (not difficult because I was never a Coke drinker anyway), and I try to stay away from sweets (my Kryptonite). I focus on making my own meals, pepping things up with salad dressings I make myself, and really introducing new vegetables into my diet whenever I can.
Even after doing this for years, I have to say that it’s not easy. It doesn’t get easier the more you do it. But every day is a new day and a chance to be better. There are days when I feel like I have no energy, or am so exhausted that I feel like I’ve earned a treat or to relax. But then I drag myself to the elliptical for “just 10 minutes” of cardio, which actually turns into more time and lots of sweating. When I don’t feel like doing weights, I just do stretches, and then once I’m on the ground, I figure I may as well do some ab exercises and then before you know it, I’m up and have 15 lbs in each hand. And nothing beats the sense of accomplishment I feel after – I know that I did it. I didn’t want to do it… but I did!
I hope that you find this story inspiring and encouraging in some way – you too can make each day better than the last!
Share and win with Schick Hydro Silk!
On May 22nd, visit Schick Hydro Silk’s Facebook page and post your story in the online gallery to be entered into a contest to win an unforgettable getaway to Costa Rica.
Also follow @HydroSilkCA and participate in their upcoming Twitter party on May 29th and participate in their month long Twitter contest starting June 2nd for a chance to win amazing prizes!
