Last year was really difficult.

The truth is, life isn't perfect, things aren't always rosy, and we aren't always happy. The pressure we feel to project such is toxic, and I contend, it causes us more harm than we know.

The truth, for me, is this: last year was really difficult. The business I love was presented with challenges no amount of education or experience could have prepared me for. The truth is, we've fought hard alongside all of you, and we're still here, and most days that's all I can ask for. I lost my best furry friend - the one who'd been with me for over a decade, and while I love Gil more than I ever thought possible, the truth is, our family's hearts are still hurting. While I consistently preach to all of you to love yourself, be proud of your bodies, and to treat yourself with love and respect, the truth is, my own body image has never been lower, and I've never been more disrespectful to myself - mind, body, and soul - than I am at this moment.

Hear me when I say this - you are not alone. If you are someone who knows what you need to do for yourself, and just can't do it, you are not alone. If you keep gaining weight instead of losing it, you are not alone. If you neglect yourself and have seen your mental health decline these past months, you are not alone. If you sometimes wonder how you'll make it through another day, you are not alone.

I don't share this with you for sympathy, or even to hear encouraging words. I say this to tell the truth, to remind myself, and YOU, that we are not alone.

If you need help - get it. In the form of a friend, a doctor, a coach, a spouse, a dog, or a therapist - it doesn't matter, just don't walk this alone. We've been talking this year about creating the life we dreamed of, and sometimes, that starts with a simple admission of not being able to create it alone.

I'm dropping this double rainbow here for you today. Perhaps it will give you hope, perhaps it will remind you that after the rain, comes the rainbow. Let's find our rainbows together, no matter how long we have to slog through the mud to find them.

May your day be full of whatever your heart needs right now.

xoxo,

Steph