Life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change and actually doing something about any situation you don’t like.

Everyone has a turning point, but only you can decide if you’re ready to change. These pictures were taken exactly 8 years years apart and feature my oldest and youngest child at the same age. The physical differences might be easy to spot, but the mental and emotional growth inside is much harder to see.

In 2010, I was attempting to treat Crohn’s disease without medication. I hated the side effects medication brought on and was struggling to figure how to succeed without it.

When I truly cleaned up my food by switching to a fresh Whole Foods diet and avoiding sugar, dairy and grains, I slowly started to feel better. Feeling better allowed my gut to calm down and helped me run farther and train longer, slowly building endurance and balancing my over-active immune system. It was hard then, and some days it still is, but the difference I feel means I’m never going back because now I don’t want to.

Change is uncomfortable because it requires ACTion and Action Changes Things. The first step is usually scary and always the hardest. However, sacrifice in the beginning brings greater rewards in the end and allows the process to keep repeating itself.

It’s now a new week, what do you want to change?