When Selena from MyLoopyLife found herself facing the realities of lupus, she didn't just learn to live with it—she learned to thrive. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of her journey from the shock of diagnosis to a life of empowerment and purpose, offering a personal glimpse into the power of transformation that awaits anyone experiencing chronic illness. Selena and I peel back the layers of emotional resilience and discuss how reclaiming control of one's life is not just possible; it's a path to discovering extraordinary inner strength.
Connect with Selena:
Selena • Lupus Warrior, Advocate + Coach (@myloopylife) • Instagram photos and videos
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO JOIN the JOURNEY TO LIMITLESS COMMUNITY:
Community — Journey to Limitless (jtl-lifecoaching.com)
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Connect with your host, Court:
Court | Podcast Host (@journeytolimitless_) • Instagram photos and videos
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When Selena from MyLoopyLife found herself facing the realities of lupus, she didn't just learn to live with it—she learned to thrive. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of her journey from the shock of diagnosis to a life of empowerment and purpose, offering a personal glimpse into the power of transformation that awaits anyone experiencing chronic illness. Selena and I peel back the layers of emotional resilience and discuss how reclaiming control of one's life is not just possible; it's a path to discovering extraordinary inner strength.
Connect with Selena:
Selena • Lupus Warrior, Advocate + Coach (@myloopylife) • Instagram photos and videos
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO JOIN the JOURNEY TO LIMITLESS COMMUNITY:
Community — Journey to Limitless (jtl-lifecoaching.com)
Community member perks:
Connect with your host, Court:
Court | Podcast Host (@journeytolimitless_) • Instagram photos and videos
Love the Journey to Limitless Podcast?
Leave us a 5-star rating and review on your favorite listening app! Take a screenshot of the Journey to Limitless podcast on your phone and share it to your Instagram stories! Make sure you tag @journeytolimitless_ so that I can personally say “Hey thanks!”
Showing your support for the podcast is SO appreciated and I definitely don’t want it to go unnoticed!
You really have the ability to create the life that you envision for yourself. You have the ability to take control of your life, no matter what that looks like for you and that can be something that sounds very sticky, depending on where you are on your chronic illness journey. But chronic illness doesn't have to take away your life from you. It can feel like it, but it doesn't have to, and I think that we lose a lot of control when we're first diagnosed, but we can gain a lot of control back.
Speaker 2:Hey, girlfriend, welcome to Journey to Limitless podcast. Together on this show, we're on a mission to build belief in ourselves and live a life of freedom, despite what tries to hold us back. I'm your host, court, an empowerment coach, travel enthusiast and a chronic illness warrior who, over the last seven years, has built a life that I'm so obsessed with and proud of. But it definitely has not come easy. So on the show, we're going to keep it real as we talk about adapting positive mindsets through hardship, taking action towards our dreams and finding peace and freedom from hustle, culture and chronic stress. Are you with me? Let's get going on your own journey to Limitless.
Speaker 2:I am so excited that you're here today for another episode of Journey to Limitless podcast. Today we have Selena from my Loopy Life joining us and I am just so stoked that you're here for this conversation. Selena is a lupus warrior and she went from surviving in 2019 to now thriving and her journey. She really felt empowered to now help other women on their lupus journey through her community, my Loopy Life, and also her coaching programs. So today's episode, selena and I talked about the whole experience of being diagnosed with a chronic illness the grieving process, how it is when you're first getting diagnosed, and also we talked about the things that have been really impactful for her on her journey, because we know, no journey is ever the same and this is why I love bringing people on to talk about their experiences of turning their pain into their power, and I do have a lot of people on to talk about chronic illness because, yes, no journey is the same and there's going to be little tidbits of empowerment and inspiration that you will get from this episode, so I think that you're going to love this episode. I absolutely loved having Selena on and I actually connected with Selena because a listener of Journey to Limitless reached out to me and requested to have Selena on the podcast. So, if you're listening, thank you so much for reaching out because, truly, this conversation, I loved connecting with Selena and I think that you're really going to love this episode as well. So I hope that you do if you requested this episode.
Speaker 2:But, either way, if you also are listening to this and you have someone that you would love to hear a podcast episode from, you can always reach out to me. That's your, that's your invitation. If you have someone in mind that you think could be a good fit for the podcast. We can have a conversation about it. You can always DM me on Instagram.
Speaker 2:I'm at journey to limitless underscore and while I'm there, while you're there, you can also go ahead and connect with Selena. So, like I said, her Instagram is at my loopy life. That's M Y L O O P Y L I F? E and you can connect with both of us. And if you love this episode, you can always take a screenshot of your listening right now and tag us in your Instagram stories to spread the message. So let's go ahead and get started. Selena, I'm so excited that you're here today to share your journey with Lupus and how you have really empowered yourself and turned your pain into your power. So, before we get started, can you just kind of just share a little bit about yourself and what your journey with Lupus has really looked like from you for you from the start?
Speaker 1:Of course. Well, first of all, courtney, thank you so much for having me here. I'm really excited to share my story and, for those of you that are listening, hi, I'm Selena. I'm a Lupus warrior, advocate and coach for women who are living with Lupus, as well as the voice and vision behind my loopy life. My loopy life is a platform that has always just been created to be a space where my experiences on my Lupus journey can help serve others, and I'm super grateful for being able to have this platform and for the community that we've built together. It's been two years since I launched my loopy life and we just continue to build this space as a community, so it's definitely been a wild ride from the shock of the diagnosis to just changing my life to really be one where I can talk the talk and walk the walk of, you know, living with empowerment and purpose. And if there's anything that my Lupus journey has really taught me, it's that every challenge really brings a chance to learn and grow and really just get to know yourself better. So, just to shed some light on my diagnosis and really where I started I was diagnosed with Lupus in 2019. So it's been four years on the journey, which it's been a roller coaster, and you know time flies when you're living with a chronic illness.
Speaker 1:For sure it's been a roller coaster, but when I was first diagnosed with Lupus, I was experiencing symptoms for what I recognized at that point. For six months I was in and out of doctors offices really just trying to get to the bottom of what was happening, because Lupus is a very interesting disease that mimics a lot of other diseases, so they needed to rule out things such as Lyme disease and blood cancers and just anything else really that could have been going on. What led me to go really get checked out? I was experiencing a significant amount of water retention, so I gained about 20 pounds of water weight over the course of a weekend, which was very interesting. Like I'm a lean person, so looking at me as a stranger, you may not have realized that that was happening, but it certainly was, and that really made it really difficult for me seeing being in and out of the doctors offices because they were like, oh, you look fine, right, and that's like this famous line of living with an invisible illness you're fine, you look great, you know.
Speaker 1:So that was really difficult for me and I was experiencing symptoms like, sporadically, some swollen lymph nodes, a rash that was misdiagnosed as rosacea. I was the infamous lupus butterfly rash that goes across the face, and I had just gotten back from a trip to Mexico. So I thought that it was a sunburn and it lasted a lot longer than a sunburn typically would have. But Once I started recognizing the swelling, I brought myself to the emergency room, because rightfully so at this point. But I was a little bit of a hyper-contra-lock, I think. So I really was like, okay, I think this is a bug bite, but I'm going to the emergency room.
Speaker 1:Like I was so hyper-fixated on my body which thank God I was and they told me that it was an allergic reaction to take some Benadryl, and that was when, after the weekends, it really just traveled up my entire body. So after all of that testing, I went through a hematologist or rheumatologist, ran the initial autoimmune antibody labs, and once that came positive which was no surprise really, I have autoimmune disease runs heavily in my family they sent me over to a rheumatologist to do the appropriate testing for lupus and I also was showing symptoms of kidney involvement. So I was referred to an neurologist as well and after a kidney biopsy and all that was finalized. That's when I was diagnosed with lupus.
Speaker 2:Wow, I mean, it's just, there's so much that can go into when you first start having symptoms to getting a diagnosis where sometimes you know there's a lot of anticipation, there's a lot of worry. I mean, what was going on in your mind when you were kind of told all of these different diagnoses and then it ends up not being it and things weren't getting better. Like what was your, you know your mindset, like as like leading up to the diagnosis?
Speaker 1:Leading up to the diagnosis, I was very scared because I really did not know what was happening with my body and I was getting half answers. It could be this, it could be that let's go to this doctor, let's go to that doctor. I was really physically unwell and exhausted and I really just wanted to get to the bottom of everything, but it was very scary. You know they're throwing out terms that at that point I have no idea of what that means for me. And you know, when you're on the diagnosis journey, all of these things run through your mind of like before you have an answer. Well, what is is my life over? What's my life going to look like now? And it's coming from all angles too. Right, I mean, I have a phenomenal support system. Thankfully that was alongside me through my diagnosis journey, but they were very scared too. So being worried and being kind of surrounded by worry sucks, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, especially because, I mean, you were young, I think, because I was also diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2019. And I think that we're the same age I'm pretty sure, 29 now.
Speaker 2:So being diagnosed at 24, yeah 24, yeah, so being diagnosed at 24, and really any age. But I think, especially in like your early twenties or in your twenties in general, like sometimes it can be like why is this happening? Like there's all of my friends are able to go about life normally, like what is going on with my body? I just want to get to the bottom of it. And yeah, you have that mentality of like my life is over, like in my life I'm ever going to be able to go back to normal.
Speaker 2:And so when you finally got the diagnosis, what like how did you feel when you actually got the exact diagnosis that you needed?
Speaker 1:Well, I definitely had a slight sense of relief, right, because you're on this journey of trying to figure out what is wrong, yeah, but it was also very scary for me. You know, I was at the time I was a elementary school teacher in New York City, so I was in my second New York teaching. I was in my first year of grad school. My social life looked a lot different than it did post diagnosis, and it was just this constant wave of all of these thoughts of like my life is over, I'm not going to be able to finish grad school, or what's my career going to look like. Like you have all of these plans for yourself and then a chronic illness comes along suddenly and you're like, okay, well, what now? You know? And then there was that mix of relief, because there was obviously there clearly something wrong, but also it was like I don't really know what this could look like for myself in the future.
Speaker 2:Right, A lot of uncertainty and sometimes a lot of grief goes along with that too, because there is that, with the chronic illness diagnosis, with the uncertainty, you do question if your life will ever go back to the way that it was before. You're grieving the lifestyle that you had before, because you realize that, hey, things have to change in order to keep myself healthy, things have to shift. I'm going to have to take medications Like it's a whole process in order to. When you finally get a diagnosis, like, yes, we sometimes can feel relief because that at least gives us direction. But sometimes that direction especially if you you know, I know for me, when I was diagnosed with all sort of colitis, they told me that I was going to be on prednisone for the rest of my life and I was like, well, that's terrifying, like that's not what I want and which I'm not.
Speaker 2:I'm not on prednisone for the rest of my life. So, yeah, I think it's just from there you got to align yourself with a support system and a team that really aligns with you and also believes that you can get yourself to a place where you can still thrive. You know, it doesn't have to be this like very scary process, which it is in the beginning, but I think that's why it's important to like know that there's people out there that want to help you get back to a place of thriving with your chronic illness, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And the thing you know with grief, just like in any form, is that there's no timeline on it, right? So you're always going to be sitting there thinking about this past version of yourself, pre-diagnosis. But if there's anything that I've learned along the journey is that you really are able to shift to this place where, like I'm not just living with lupus anymore, I'm really able to thrive alongside that, and it's a process to get there, but that's really the energy that I just have been able to bring into everything that I do, especially with the my Lupi Life community, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So what did that process look like for you of like okay, so you were diagnosed and now you are at a place where you're thriving in your journey, Like can you kind of give us an overview of, like what happened after your diagnosis and how you have really led yourself to where you are today?
Speaker 1:Absolutely so there it's, you know. As anyone with a chronic illness knows, it is absolutely a roller coaster of their journey and initially for me it was denial 101.
Speaker 1:Like there was you know, I was in a place where I got my diagnosis and I was taking my medication and I actually hit remission after three months of taking my medications and I said, okay, cool, we're in the clear, stop taking my meds. When I did myself in the hospital plenty of times due to that and really to just be entirely honest with myself in the community, right like I didn't have that aha moment until the last time I was in the hospital, I really just continued to live in a way where I was not taking care of myself, I was not taking care of my body. I was just like, okay, well, like I had a lot of unhealthy coping mechanisms and I kind of just let lupus and my health in general be on the back burner. So, you know, this is because I kind of have that light bulb go off for myself the last time I was hospitalized, which was in August of 2021. That's why I'm so passionate about wanting to help women like not hit rock bottom before actually taking control of their journey and their health, because that's what I needed to do and I really, after I kind of went over that hump of not acknowledging lupus at all, I learned to navigate this new reality of mind by embracing community, embracing education, taking, you know, making sure that I'm taking the steps needed to learn more about my disease as much as I possibly can, because there's a lot of information that's still unknown about lupus because of the type of disease that it is.
Speaker 1:But between embracing education and holistic wellness, leaning on the lupus community that I joined right after that hospitalization and just my support system, which, again, there are chronic illness warriors that their only support system is the community online and it is so powerful, right Like it is such an incredible powerful community that I wish I had in the beginning of my journey because I would not, in any way, shape or form, have treated my disease the way that I did for the first year and a half.
Speaker 1:And, you know, in terms of the holistic wellness piece, I feel like I just want to clarify a little bit of what that looks like for me because I feel like, you know, in the chronic illness world it's a really large buzzword and kind of like could be looked at as like woo, boo and stuff. So, you know, for myself and the warriors that have trusted me to help, you know, guide them on their journey, adopting that holistic approach to get from point A to point B looks like managing your chronic illness outside of medications, outside of appointments, everything else surrounding that, but really integrating them all together, Because there's so much more to navigating the journey than I'm going to wake up. I'm going to go to my doctor's appointments, I'm going to take my meds and tomorrow will be a new day.
Speaker 2:There are so many different entry points to life in general, but life with a chronic illness yeah, I feel like our journey, selena, are so similar and wild to me because I also I'm saying, because I mean I don't know just everything like I also went through a journey of denial as well. Like I got into remission fairly quickly after starting a medication and you know, I was definitely into you know, health and wellness practice and everything like that. But there were so many other aspects, such as like healing my nervous system and slowing down and living a more slow paced lifestyle and just being really mindful in my life. That was not a piece of the puzzle that I think I truly believe impacted the flare that I had in 2022, which is where, nowadays, like my, my chronic illness, which is also to clitus is like integrated into my life. Like I. It's like it's not like I live every day worried about my chronic illness, but like I go through my life mindful of my chronic illness, versus just taking the medication before and putting it on the back burner and feeling like I can still live my life completely the same Right and now the lifestyle that I live is actually the lifestyle that I've always wanted to have for myself, but I really needed that push through chronic illness right to like.
Speaker 2:Okay, you actually have to live a more mindful life. You actually have to. And mindfulness, to me it look, it does look very similar, I feel like, to yours, where it is not just like taking the medication. I also see a doctor, for you know what's it called Like I don't know the functional medicine. I guess functional medicine doctor and I, you know, I, you know spend time outside. It's a whole. It doesn't look the same for every single person. You have to find what works for you. It's a different. I'm in for everyone. But it is just kind of integrating it into your life and kind of taking the lessons, and sometimes it can really push you into a more aligned path for yourself, cause now I feel way more aligned in my life, but I had to take those lessons from my chronic illness, you know flares.
Speaker 1:So Absolutely, and I appreciate you sharing that because that's just like a similar headspace that I've entered and I always say sometimes you know it can sound funny, but I always say that lupus was never meant to be an ending for me and it's always been meant to be a beginning because, like you mentioned, this is the lifestyle you always desired for yourself. However, it took hitting rock bottom to get there and create that for yourself and as someone living with a chronic illness. There's a lot of trial and error involved because, you're right, there is no one size fits all formula for anyone living with UC or anyone living with lupus. It's so different for everyone. But the overall umbrella Getting there is the lifestyle adaptations and figuring out what that looks like for you.
Speaker 1:You know, really sitting with yourself and being present in figuring out what mindset chips Do you need to create or what limiting beliefs do you have that you don't even realize that you have engraved in. You Like mentioned the nervous system regulation there's trauma plays a huge role in autoimmune disease and just really Learning to find that balance in your life. Well, also, you know, depending on if you can, but living by that 80-20 rule because you deserve to live a life that you really enjoy, without letting your disease define you, but also keeping it in mind, because you have to now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I love what you touched on there about Like the. What did you just say? Oh, my god, my, it's. What is it today, wednesday, christmas break. My brain is like all over the place.
Speaker 2:But you just mentioned about like the, like the deep healing of like the emotional side of.
Speaker 2:What I picked up was like the emotional side of disease, like for you on your journey, when it came to likes like there was, you said, and I don't, I was like drawing a blank of what you just said, but what I picked up on that was like the emotional side of disease and oh, trauma, trauma, that's what that was it.
Speaker 2:Oh, my god, when it came to like Realizing that trauma can impact your disease and everything. Like what was there any any like aha moments? When it came to like the spiritual side of I'm healing your chronic illness, like any any emotional things that you had to go back through and heal. If you feel open to kind of Sharing, I know for me in my UC journey, healing has not just been this take a pill, like we just have been saying. It's not just taking a pill, it is looking at the emotional side of disease, it is looking at our mindsets, what we have been told. I know for me with my UC like I've really had to go back in and learn how to not be such a People pleaser and kind of seeing these patterns come up in our life and breaking them.
Speaker 2:So I'm wondering if anything has come up for you on your journey. So, that was really long-winded.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so there's. There's a lot of different things that come into play here for me and this piece and a lot of it wasn't didn't really Connect or come to light for me until I started working with a, a functional medicine doctor, who, of course, as we know, at this point in holistic wellness, it's all areas of your life, not just disease and, yeah, treating it. So this part of my journey really did involve a lot of inner work, being really present with myself and my emotions and being able to Work through past trauma that I've had, whether it was childhood, whether it was past relationships, all of those things. That life is hustle and bustle, so you go through it and you move through it and that's it. But this journey really forced me to, like you said before, slow down, be present and and it's very difficult to sit with those Things that you may have wanted to forget about or push aside that you went through. So I think really acknowledging those things, no matter what that looks like for you, can include therapy right, that's something that has been really helpful for me on my journey and processing stuff and also you bringing up the people pleasing.
Speaker 1:I mean, that was me for my entire life and I shifted so far away from that where Intoxic for a little bit actually, because I was kind of just like the answer is no, like no became my favorite word, whether it had to do with an event or a person or a Relationship, it was just like nope. You got to go like because you realize over time that that's not worth the Negative emotions that come with things and if you have control over it then that is incredible. So, and I'm sure, as you know, stuff like emotions really it's like has like a domino effect on lupus, yes, but chronic illness in general, where Start to see what ends up being worth dealing with and not because things can then just ripple right into symptoms and yeah yeah, and I think Having self-awareness of how you can tune into we there's something as a yes or a no is really really important.
Speaker 2:And for me, human design has been really really impactful for me in that way, because I am a a Sacred role.
Speaker 2:So for me, when I am debating whether something is a yes or no, I just tune into my gut, whereas someone else needs to tune into their, their heart, someone else needs to tune into their mind, like we're all different and I think figuring out how you can gain, how you can like tune into your own intuition to figure out whether something is a yes or a no, is really really important on the healing journey. Because I mean, I feel like this is why chronic illness is on the rise is because us, especially women, we are conditioned to be people pleasers, we are conditioned to go overboard and put ourselves at risk and, honestly, we're conditioned to like hustle in this like man, man Centered world and that's just not the way that us women are supposed to Be and this is why it's on the rise. And there's a book that I was reading called the heroine's journey, which, like that they. It said that and I was like, okay, I get it now.
Speaker 2:Living a more slow-paced life and learning to say no and listen to our natural Intuition is one of the best ways to go hand-in-hand with all the other holistic approaches. But Learning to slow down is and listening to ourselves is really one of the key parts and living a more holistic lifestyle, which will help help us heal Absolutely, and you know there's just a lot of difficult decision that needs to be made when you come to that.
Speaker 1:Realization of your body is literally telling you that you need a slower-paced life. And I mean from again living in New York City. I was an elementary school teacher. That did not exist. I did not know what that looked like and you know I got to a point where I felt like I had a wall on my healing journey. So I I like just recently made a decision to start start my life over from scratch.
Speaker 1:I mean, I had six incredible years as a teacher in New York City, and I Made I had to sit with myself and make that decision to basically walk away from everything that I've ever known for the last 20 years of my life, to start life over, and I made a really bold move I'm not sure if you know this, but I made it very bold move to leave New York City and I now live in Florida.
Speaker 1:I stepped away from my teaching career to dedicate myself to my own healing journey, but to support other Lucas warriors, because that's just what I've become so passionate about and we all really deserve to, you know, lead fulfilling lives, no matter what our battles are. So that became my passion, and that was a result, though, of Making these hard decisions, and the lifestyle in Florida is so different. I'm able to, also being an entrepreneur now, but, like I'm able to really live that slow life that my body was saying Selena, wake up, because this is going to look ugly if you don't start slowing down, and where I was, it just was not possible for me. Now I see what that's like and I cannot believe that I lived a life any differently, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just always believe that. I mean, I believe that we can gain lessons from a chronic illness diagnosis and I think one of the great, one of the things that I see across the board with people who are dealing with chronic illness is that lesson of like something needs to change in my lifestyle, whether that is ending a relationship, whether that is moving to another city, whether that is ending, you know, switching career paths to be to allow you to live that more slowed down life. So I feel like there's always this common denominator of like something here needs to shift right. And when we allow ourselves to do that, I see it so many times when people are like, oh my God, I'm just living a more aligned life after my chronic, after after my chronic illness because I learned these lessons through it. I think that there's always lessons that we can learn from our chronic illness and you can really lead us down the path that is really way more aligned with our souls and the life that is really meant for us.
Speaker 1:For sure and I think, something that came up for me and I'm sure comes up for others and I'm sure you as well when you are making these decisions right, it can be really scary because you just don't know what's on the other side. But now, being where I am for the last six months, I say to myself like I wish that I knew that this type of life was what a small not so small, but a small decision. One decision could have made like I could have done that sooner. But we're here where I am for a reason and I'm definitely super grateful because, again, it wouldn't be without LUBOS. If I did not have to be forced to make these decisions on my journey, I wouldn't be where I am now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think finding peace and making these decisions, like there's going to be someone who's listening to this, who maybe is having something come up that they're like, oh my gosh, I need to, I need to shift this part of my life and, yes, it can feel really, really scary. So is there any advice that you would have for that person who is experiencing that right now, who wants to make a change to better their health, but they're like I'm really worried.
Speaker 1:Yeah, For someone who is feeling that sense of not really being sure if they can make a change or if they're feeling kind of stuck with a decision.
Speaker 1:You know, I think just learning how to trust the journey is really important and it's really difficult, but I do hope that me sharing my experience will be helpful for someone that just needs to take a leap right.
Speaker 1:It's really it's trusting yourself, it's knowing yourself and knowing that, as long as you surround yourself with knowledge and understanding and community and support that you really have the ability to create the life that you envision for yourself. You have the ability to take control of your life, no matter what that looks like for you and that can be something that sounds very sticky depending on where you are on your chronic illness journey. But chronic illness doesn't have to take away your life from you. It can feel like it, but it doesn't have to, and I think that we lose a lot of control when we're first diagnosed, but we can gain a lot of control back once we're able to, you know, be okay with making decisions, such as if you need to walk away from a relationship or walk away from a job that's causing you a lot of stress. So that's specific to yeah, that's definitely hopefully that would be helpful.
Speaker 2:I 100% agree with everything that you just said. I think one of the most powerful things is to continue to surround yourselves with people, whether that's in a virtual community or an in-person community, who are also reclaiming their power through difficult circumstances or have reclaimed their power, because you can take belief from that person. I know for me and my Altitude of Colitis journey, one of the things that really got me through was hearing stories of women who were in very similar positions where they were, where they got through some really difficult times. When I was in it, like I remember I was really really sick going through it and I just needed some hope of like am I actually going to be able to get through this? And I heard a story of a woman who had probably one of the most severe cases of Altitude of Colitis and now she's like. She was like crushing life and I was like, okay, there's hope for me, right.
Speaker 2:Or yeah, it's like surrounding yourself with people who have really aligned themselves with. I think a lot of people who are living really aligned lives and really empowering lives have been through some shit, have been through some real crap, because they learn lessons through it, right. So I think it's always taking yourself out of it and like reminding yourself that nothing is happening to you. These things are happening for you, right? So how can we learn through these?
Speaker 2:You just gave me a job Like how can you, how can we start to lean in and like, yeah, trust, trust the journey of life? I think for me, you know, when you're dealing, when you're dealing with an Alt, like a chronic illness diagnosis, a lot of times, especially in the beginning, it's okay to be sometimes in the victim mentality because that's, I think that's kind of a part of the process, right? Oh yeah, that's a part of the grieving process.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Reminding yourself that, like I know for me, when I was like, why is this happening to me? Like we all are, we all have our own journeys in life. Like someone else may not have a chronic illness diagnosis, but they are experiencing something else that is painful, right? Like we all go through our own painful experiences in life, right? So just reminding ourselves like this is the journey that you or I am on, so learning to accept where we are and that can help us get into a more empowered place, it really starts with acceptance, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's how you know. It's really just the only way that one is able to move forward on their journey. You can't get to a place where you are in control and thriving without nailing down that acceptance piece. And the acceptance piece really goes through the entire journey because, again, like we've been sharing about both of our journeys, it's just an ongoing process and you have to adjust your whole life.
Speaker 1:But you know, I really love how you shared about that person that you were listening to, that was kind of in the rut of their journey and got out of it. Because this is why I do what I do and I know, and I'm sure, why you do what you do for your community. Right, it's like, if it's for, if our stories can just help one person, that's good enough for me. I've been blessed that my story has helped way more than one lupus warrior and chronic illness warrior, but really I just needed it to be one for, like you just shared, that person's story that you heard has stuck with you and it's always going to be that when you re-sensor yourself and get re-grounded and just reflect on your experience, it was that one person that did that for you.
Speaker 2:So I love that yeah and until, and I think a lot of times, it's just important to find people like that, because and, like you know, this is why I do this podcast is I share multiple different stories, like I mean, I talk about, I have people on who share all different types of difficult circumstances and limiting times, because there's going to be different pieces that can resonate in different insight and different wisdom that each person gets, and I think it's just important because there's always going to be something that clicks with at least one person you know.
Speaker 2:And, yeah, there's just so much power in sharing your story, right, everyone's story is valid and there's just so much power in that. So, yeah, I mean, along with sharing our story, we're also building awareness of illnesses, right, because you know, I know you shared in the beginning about the signs and symptoms of lupus, which is really, really important for people to know, because maybe there's someone who is experiencing, like you know, just symptoms right now and they're like what is going on? Like obviously don't self-diagnose yourself through a podcast, but like I think it just helps build awareness of what someone is experiencing, right, and kind of validating what they're experiencing. So, when it comes to advocating for lupus awareness and what impact do you hope to make with increasing understanding and support for those with lupus?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, my hope, of course, is to bring you know the understanding and support to those who need it the most and, through this platform, what I do and continue to do is create a safe space for women and any lupus warrior, to make sure that they feel seen, they feel heard and they just really feel empowered to live a full life alongside their diagnosis.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's just it's needed because I think a lot, of, a lot of people, yeah, we face you know it's very easy to feel in the beginning that your chronic illness is like a life sentence, right, when it's not, there's ways to still live fulfilling lives. And I think it's just important for every there to be an example for every chronic illness that hey, there's someone there who can kind of be that lighthouse for you of like, hey, I don't know if I have the hope in me right now, but that person can shine hope onto me that I can get through this and I can.
Speaker 1:we need examples from like everyone, right, every chronic illness, like find the people who are overcoming in each one For sure, and that's exactly what my you know, my group and one-to-one coaching programs were created through, right Like that result of the community that we've been building, but also just meeting that one person to kind of shed that light on you. And, you know, the impact really is just to have more people understand their disease, you know, educate themselves about their disease, but really be able to connect the dots, to take control of their health so that they can not only thrive alongside it but just reclaim their lives and elevate their lives alongside it for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love everything that you're doing and I appreciate the work that you're doing for sure. So, to wrap up, yeah, to wrap up. Is there a song or an affirmation that you go to when you need the reminder that you're limitless?
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. Um, okay, my mantra actually been coming up a lot lately and has really been keeping me in check when I need to tap into my inner strength is in every struggle I find strength, and in every setback is a new beginning.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:I'm writing that down. I feel, like the song. I feel like the song Unstoppable by Sia really echoes this for sure. It always lifts my spirits and reminds me of the warrior that I am and have been, and who I do it for, which, of course, is myself, but also the people that love me and the Luthor community.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that song so much. I always play that when I need the reminder that I'm limitless.
Speaker 1:So what are you?
Speaker 2:currently excited about and where can the listeners find you, to connect with you? Um wow, I.
Speaker 1:There's so much to be excited about right now. I just wrapped up our goal setting and get some guest expert planning for the next year. There's a lot of exciting things in the work that I have planned for the community and for anyone who wants to join along on this journey, whether you have lupus or any other chronic illness, or no one loves someone with lupus. You can follow me on Instagram at my lupi life. We definitely have been just getting a lot of people reaching out, which has inspired me and my team to open our doors doors even wider to just invite everyone to connect and grow with us Any chronic illness, support systems and loved ones. So awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so all the lupus warriors definitely check out Selena and all of her work and your Instagram is at my lupi life, but do you have like a website or anything that they can go to as well?
Speaker 1:So coming up, but you could find any links that they that you'd like to access through the link in my bio. Okay, Awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely link all things Selena for her Instagram and the show notes for you If you want to go ahead and check her out. But thank you so much, selena, for sharing your wisdom with us today and I just really was so happy that we got to connect, so thank you for being here.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, courtney, for having me out for all that you do for your community. Just you know, through sharing your story and giving others a platform to empower other women alongside you, yeah thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for tuning in. It means so much to me that you're here and that you're taking the time to listen to the podcast. If you found this episode to be valuable to you, it would mean so much to me if you shared it with your friends, who you think could also really benefit from this message. You can take a screenshot of you listening and tag me in your Instagram stories. I am at journey to lemurless underscore. That also gives me the chance to connect with you and say thank you. So until next week, I hope that you have an amazing week ahead of you and I'll talk to you then.