Having Courage with Miss K

This months theme is all about #findingmotivation, so to share a bit about herself and how she found the motivation from within is the absolutely stunning Miss K. She is a local aesthetician at Union Salon & Barber - shout out to them, they did my hair & make-up for my wedding and knocked it outta the park!! She is an absolutely beautiful soul, and it was my honour and privilege getting to know her and her story a bit more. So let's let her tell it herself...

"I am 19 years old, and I was born and raised in Lethbridge, Alberta. Currently I just finished cosmetology school, and I am doing hair at an amazing salon. I love having time to spend by myself, but in my free time I like to hang out with my best friend, take weekend trips to Calgary, and hang out with my family.

When I was 13 years old, in grade seven, I got bullied a lot about my weight, my appearance, and stuff that I couldn’t even change like my body features. I got bullied for two years, which caused me to have depression, and an eating disorder up until I was 16  years old in the beginning of grade 11. 

I never thought I would get over it, I went to therapy, I tried to talk to my friends about it so I didn’t bottle it up inside anymore. Then one day I woke up and decided I couldn’t be like this anymore, I couldn’t keep putting my parents through this and have them and my friends worry about me 24/7 because I refused to get better. 

I decided to actually start leaving my room or my house and made a conscious effort to do stuff with friends, and actually participated in the things my friends or family were doing. Things were starting to look up. Then I met a boy. I'd felt the happiest I had ever been in a long time and I was surprised to see how he made me feel amazing. He actually made me feel beautiful in my own skin, and I found the courage and the strength to stop my eating disorder. I still had underlying depression, but it wasn't as prevalent as before.

I soon grew to rely on him for my happiness, and when we broke up, I was heart broken. Months passed and I didn’t seem to get any happier. I felt like I was going back in to my old ways again. It wasn't until the end of my grade 12 year my best friend decided “let’s go to Florida, and the Nassau, Bahamas for a month” because she is from The Bahamas. 

I said, "sure what the hell, why not" and we went there and had the time of our lives. It saved me. In the month we were there, I can really say I found myself. I found happiness, and I found out how to rely on myself and not a stupid boy. I learned how to find happiness within myself, through my own independence. 

Throughout the years I can say I was very lucky to have my family and friends supporting me. They saw me through all the ups & downs. I finally grew to a place where I was happy with my body, and with who I was. And then... I was put on a medication that changed everything. It caused me to gain weight, and it made me feel horrible about myself.

That's when I found Katie, and boudoir. I thought it would benefit me and make me feel way better about myself, and I was 100% right. Katie made me feel so good about myself, she is such an amazing person inside and out, I felt so comfortable in my own skin doing this boudoir shoot and I haven’t been able to feel like that in a long time. 

My advice to women or girls struggling with the same stuff is to travel for awhile, and find yourself, and don’t rely on any man and or anyone to make you happy but yourself, and don’t be afraid to talk to someone because people are always listening."

I seriously love this girl, and although she didn't want to dive too deeply into the details of her life, I appreciate her giving us all a reminder that we are not alone. I know how easy it is to feel alone (I run a business by myself, work by myself save for my awesome clients, and find myself talking to my doggies more than I care to admit), but just because we feel that way, doesn't make it true. 

Remember today, and always, that when you need to find motivation sometimes you need to leave a crappy relationship, sometimes you need to take a holiday somewhere tropical, sometimes you need to talk to a good friend, and sometimes you just need to surround yourself with people who remind you daily that you're an awesome human being, and who never let you forget that.

Go out there and find your #innermotivation, and comment below with your own words of encouragement or how you discovered your own motivation, I love reading your stories!