The Future
In March 2020, it was time to receive my MRI results. Once again, I was interested to see if taking a natural and holistic approach was still making a difference to my health. However, I was a little nervous about my results because of all the stressful events and associated emotions that I had experienced over the past few months. I had decided to share my story however I started feeling unwell due to a new herbal tonic I started taking, there were some birthing complications with the birth of my beautiful niece, I had witnessed an accident, I was very busy at work, I felt anxious about climate change (drought, bush fires and floods), I had experienced a dust storm in central NSW and the news of corona virus (COVID-19) was rapidly emerging. I could feel the stress getting to me and I was worried that even though I was looking after my health, there was a chance that the stress could have increased my cortisol (stress hormone) levels again which in turn could have affected my condition. You can imagine my relief when I was told “you have no new lesions and your condition is stable!".
Present day, it has now been just over a year and a half that I have been working on my health with my naturopath, Fiona. I still have much work to do and more to learn however knowing this really drives and excites me! Actually, before starting The May 50K, I enrolled into a course offered by Anth and Crystal, the founders of The Healthy Patch which teaches people how to grow their own organic veggies with minimal maintenance. I decided to put the course on hold to focus on The May 50K and blogging about my story. I am not a green thumb at all however I can’t wait to get started and see what comes of it! Overall, my journey has allowed me to learn so much about my body, I have experienced the positive impacts of taking control of my health first hand and knowing that I have started healing my body brings me so much joy. I now feel as though I have the simple tools to continue living a balanced life to best support my body. I will continue to nourish my mind, body and spirit by eating well, moving my body, walking daily, dancing, practicing yoga and meditation, doing pilates, being playful, resting whenever I feel need to, being creative, singing, enjoying my work, reflecting on how far I've come, doing whatever my heart desires and by connecting with my beautiful loved ones; husband, family and dear friends.
Taking control of my health empowered me to share my story which was a big step for me. Even though I’ve learnt to be resilient, it took me 5 years to feel ‘ready' to share my story. I’d like to be clear in saying that I feel there is no right or wrong amount of time to heal, every one of us is different and processes or deals with things differently. It took great strength and courage to share my story. I felt many emotions and I had many fears such as being pitied, being treated differently, being judged and being constantly reminded of my diagnosis. I felt excited about participating in The May 50K with my husband and family/team however nauseous about sharing my story alongside it. I felt overwhelmed by the love and support received. I was touched when others reached out to me with their stories and I feel great respect for the people who chose to not say anything at all or who responded with “I don't know what to say”.
I understand that it can be difficult to know what to say sometimes - I have also experienced this! I don't have all the answers however in these type of situations, I've learnt to either say nothing at all or respond by showing understanding without pity or judgement and offering a listening ear. Overall, I have found the experience of sharing my story to be emotional, fulfilling and very liberating.
I chose to share my story to raise awareness in the hope that it benefits others in some way. I encourage people to refer to my website to educate themselves about MS or to learn about my journey and I encourage people to be mindful when asking me questions about MS by choosing an appropriate time and place.
Finally, I don't know what the future holds for me (then again who does!) however I do know that my MS diagnosis will always be a part of my life. I know that my wellness journey began when I chose to take control of my health. I also know that life has its ups and downs, some days are better than others and sometimes we are faced with challenges - without these things in life, we would not be living life. I will continue living my truth and being the best version of myself and most importantly, I will continue to take control and look after my health and wellbeing.
Thank you once again to my husband, my beautiful loved ones, my dear friends and those of you who have joined me on this journey, I deeply value all your love and support.
I'll leave you with this:
Life is all about making choices, choose carefully. Choose to take control and look after your health and wellbeing, choose to love, choose to surround yourself with amazing people, choose to be grateful and choose to be mindful and kind as you never know what someone else may be going through.
Choose to live a beautiful life.
To your best health,
Mirella xx
Soul Photography Session with Lisa Ray
The images used throughout my website to share my story were from a Soul Photography Session that I did with beautiful Lisa Ray in September 2019.
I wasn't planning on using these images as they were a gift to myself to celebrate my personal growth and achievements.
The session was such a beautiful experience. I left feeling happy, relaxed, inspired and empowered.
When deciding to share my story, I opened up my beautiful keepsake box from the session which houses 7 of my images and I instantly thought ‘i'm going to use the images from this photoshoot to share my story’.
My team, Wellness Warriors and I participated in The May 50K challenge throughout May 2020 to raise vital funds for MS Research as research is the KEY to changing the future of MS.
You can still show your support by sponsoring me and/or my amazing team at the following link:
https://www.themay50k.org/fundraisers/mirellapetrucci
Please note, our fundraising pages will be active until 30th June 2020.
Thank you, your support truly means so much xx