feature photo: photoxpress.com

I love the Fourth of July. For one, it comes two days before my birthday and I love my birthday. And since summer is my favorite season, the Fourth of July is definitely is on my Top 3 Holidays list. For me, the Fourth of July is not about going to the beach, enjoying BBQs with friends, or any of the wonderful things we are doing this weekend. The Fourth of July is all about INDEPENDENCE. In fact, it is my own personal New Year’s Day. It is the day I choose to declare my freedom from anything and everything that does not represent self-love and personal sustainability. To begin with, I declare myself free from the hundred pounds I lost two decades ago. I am fit and fabulous because I claim my self-loving right to exist in a body that I love to live in every day. 

Make no mistake, supporting that healthy body is all about supporting my mind. It means saying "no" to people who deplete my energy and wear down my spirit – and that means having to face the disapproval (or even rejection) of others when I don’t do what they want or need. 

These are the tough choices we all face. The simple truth is, that to say “yes” to ourselves and to prioritize the simple, healthy, every-day choices that create a strong body and a healthy lifestyle, means that we cannot do everything that everyone else wants every minute of every day. Rather, we will have to literally carve out a piece of our every day lives that belongs to no one but us. And if we have lived a life of self-deprecatory blindness to our own needs or dreams, it means that something will have to GO to make room for something new.

Tools to make all of your days Independence Days

• Start by making a list of everyone you see in a month – everyone. Ask yourself if they inspire and invigorate you or if they deplete your energy. 
• Place a plus or minus next to their name (this has nothing to do with your love for them). 
• For the rest of July, simply try to spend more time and energy with those relationships that energize you. 
• Next, try starting your day earlier – before everyone else in your house awakens. Like all shifts, there will be a trade. It may mean ending your day without Letterman or the eleven o’clock news (a negative way to end most days anyway). 
• Start your invigorating day with an inspirational reading (visit www.LauraFenamore.com/affirmations for a quick, positive message every day).
• Give yourself 30 minutes of movement. Take advantage of the light and go take a walk every night after supper.
• Plan your day and plan your food! Don’t get caught off-guard and find yourself starving at 4pm after a day of running around for others. That is, quite literally, a recipe for disaster.  

Remember what Thomas Jefferson said:

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." That is what we must embrace every day if we are to be strong and vibrant and self-loving.

So let us acknowledge this July, the month that begins in Independence Day, as a chance to celebrate a life in which we are fully participatory and independent. We literally have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, right?

First LIFE.  Claim your LIFE – literally. Make a list of what would support you to live one more healthy, beautiful day above ground. Make a list of things you believe would get you to a healthier, freer body.

Then LIBERTY. What would it mean to let go of your biggest burden, just for today?  Who could you reach out to -- to ask for support in order to give yourself a break? 

And finally, the pursuit of HAPPINESS. What would life need to look like to be truly happy right now? What would your life feel like if you were truly at peace with your body? With food? And if you can’t get to that picture right this moment, and you need to make a plan to get there, can you CHOOSE to be emotionally happy right now, as you begin the PURSUIT of that life?