Navigating my Wellness

My wellness starts out the day with a prayer of: “Thank you Lord for my life, my health, and my salvation.” Because these are the words that I pray to Him on a daily basis.

My life is very important to me because I’m a mother of three adult children and I have a grandson. I’m also divorced. My health is also important to me because it ties into my life. But the most important thing to me is my salvation.

First of all, I am truly grateful for my life and I do my best to stay positive. Today my life is filled with three wonderful, beautiful, amazing adult children and a grandson. I’ve taught my children to work hard in their lives and to be the best that they can be as human beings. My grandson is the love of my life.

I also love my life and life itself. My children, grandson and I live together and we all help each other out the best that we can, because with the increase of rent today, sometimes it’s not easy living on your own. We all share duties of the household chores and expenses.

Most importantly, to keep my life going, I enjoy talking to people and offering my help to them in any way I can. I’m grateful that I can get up in the morning and have the life that I have. The minute I walk out my door, I’m smiling and saying good morning to everyone. The best part of my day is giving someone a compliment. Staying positive in my life is extremely important to me and my wellness, but not just for me but for others too.

Secondly, my health means the world to me because I have had a lot of health issues with my wellness. In 1999, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Fortunately, it was early stage cancer. After living through cancer, I started walking for exercise, and eating healthy with a variety of lean meats, fruits and vegetables. I especially keep up with my annual doctor appointments too.

Today I’m 20 years cancer free, and I’m 60 years young, and I still continue to walk for exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

In 2011, I had a gallbladder attack which led me to have my gallbladder removed. Again, that led me to be even more cautious with what I eat. I lost 15 pounds being on a low-fat diet. The pain of the gallbladder attack was, by far, the worst painful experience for me.

Then in 2015, I was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, which almost led to a kidney failure. I was told by my doctor that I would need to omit alcohol from my life, which was not a problem for me because I had been struggling with alcohol most of my life. Thankfully, I survived that!

All of these unfortunate medical diagnoses have led me to be extremely aware of what I put in my body and has allowed me to appreciate my life. Occasionally, I like to eat pizza and hamburgers but I do my best to keep healthy meals in my life.

Lastly, my salvation is the most important thing to me in my life. Knowing that I have been rescued from my sins reassures me acceptance into heaven. I have willingly admitted that I am a sinner and I have personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal savior.

I attend church on Sunday mornings and I have faith in the Lord that he watches over me and my family. I enjoy praying and asking for prayer requests for my family, friends and strangers.

I have had many family members pass away in my life starting with my parents. I have lost three sisters, three brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, one nephew and recently, a niece. And I cannot forget a dear friend of mine that passed away over a year ago. But I believe I will reunite with every one of them someday.

Also, forgiving is important to me and my wellness because it allows me to be able to forgive others for any wrong doing that has been done to me. That comes easy for me in my life because without the Lord, I would not be able to forgive.

In conclusion, having my wellness start out the day with a prayer of: Thank you Lord for my life, my health and my salvation, which are the words I choose to pray to him on a daily basis, comes naturally for me. It’s what keeps me going in my life, which allows me to stay positive, healthy and continue to go to church.

Yolanda Reyna is a member of the writing class offered through the Cerritos College Adult Education Program. It is held off-campus at the Norwalk Senior Center.