The best thing since sliced bread, in my opinion, is recovery. There are many types of recovery that could be gone into detail about, from light topics to heavier truths. Some of the wide range I have seen include recoveries from breakups, nights out with too much to drink, and even recoveries from grueling finals.  In my opinion, the best part of recovery is when you get just past the stage where the experience was at its worst. The sense of relief that washes over you is unlike any other, yet your guard is still not completely down. At this point, you are now at the stage where you have one foot in the present and one foot in the past, similar to a mental crossroads. This moment is extraordinary because you are able to look down both paths, good and bad, with mental clarity. You are healed, but still raw from the last experience. This raw newness enables a person to look forward and make decisions that will affect how they will react in their journey of recovery, while still remembering what had previously occurred. I watched one of my good friends slowly recover from a painful breakup and when she came to this middle point she decided she didn’t want to fall in love again because that meant being vulnerable, something she blamed for her immense pain. On another end of the recovery spectrum, I had a friend who vowed at her crossroads to never take certain classes ever again because of the brutal finals she had to finish. The journey towards recovery can be extremely difficult for some people and easier for others, it is wide spectrum with many variables. One of my own personal experiences with recovery has included my recovery from an eating disorder. Eating disorders are particularly difficult in recovery because the caustic variable, food, will always be a part of the person’s life. Food is not something I can avoid, as that would lead back to problem habits. No, food will always have to be included in my life. To me, food will always be an enemy and a savior. It is said by many therapists that a person who has had an eating disorder is always in recovery, not necessarily recovered. When I was in the midst of my eating disorder, I was miserable and yet happy in a twisted way. I was supremely tired and irritable, but as the number on the scale shrunk, I seemed to be happier. However, the feelings of low self esteem and depression did not go away, they only grow bigger, threatening to spill over my tortured frame. When I finally was getting help and on my way to recovery I came to the crossroads. At this point, I was able to look back at my sickly past and really see how disordered my thinking and eating was. I was able to fully understand the place I had come from and decide how I wanted to proceed. My decision was to put an end to my disordered habits and try my best to get as healthy as I could, so I could live my life the way it was meant to be lived. I probably have lost a few years of my young life to my depression and eating disorder but I am able to take that experience and apply it to my future. Recovery is hard, but well worth it in the end, making it, in my opinion, the best thing sliced bread. In the latest update of my life, I am proud to say that I have been committed to working everyday on my mental and physical health ever since I made my decision at that particular crossroads and I am getting healthier, more accepting of myself, and stronger with each coming day.

Self love activity of the day:

I have recently decided to get back into some old hobbies, which includes jewelry making. It was good for me to be focused on making jewelry instead of thinking negative thoughts. It has been fun getting creative again and it is probably better than tuning out with TV shows (but I do love my shows!).