When your village people win
A story on my personal wellness journey and how I worked through the challenges I faced to build a wellness lifestyle community in Luxury Wellness Africa.
You know the saying “life comes at you fast”? That’s exactly how my 2019 went. I moved to Lagos for the first time, excited to start a new job and live the Lagos life everyone raves about. But shortly after the move, things started to spiral out of control. The life I imagined I’d be living was not falling into place for me like I thought it would, and at every turn I was met with problems, disappointments, or flat out embarrassment. It felt like life was dragging me to the bottom of the ocean and I was constantly fighting for air.
Alas, after a good ten months, I packed my bags, left my job, and moved back to the village. Lagos — 1, Joche — 0. In my mind, all I needed to do was take a few months, secure another job and come back with a bang! But while I was planning how to become my own life #goals, I realized that it went so much deeper than stunting on the ‘gram. Before I could enjoy the pleasures I was after, I would have to first address the core of the matter: my mental wellbeing. Why did I feel like I was drowning?
I confronted the negative mindsets and expectations that were holding me back. When I realized I was too focused on outward success and not inner peace, I knew I had to make a change. Because that outward success is not achievable or sustainable until you become fully in love with your life and journey. That’s when I got serious about my personal wellness journey, breaking down my limiting beliefs and habits so that I could build healthy ones.
I got serious about working through my uncomfortable feelings to understand my triggers. I got serious about defining what success looks like for me and what core values I want to be at the center of all my decisions, whether it be career, relationships, hobbies, etc. I got serious about confronting the toxic people in my life (even when that toxic person was myself). I got serious about visualizing the person I wanted to be and understanding that I was already her. And that’s how Luxury Wellness Africa was born.
Luxury Wellness Africa is a resource for African women to get the self-care and wellness advice, inspiration and guidance they need to help them achieve the life of their dreams. Luxury wellness is the understanding that in order to live your best life, you first have to make sure you are operating from a place of sound mind, body, and soul and that your actions align with your goals. We always talk about leveling up, but to me, the true #levelup starts with your personal wellbeing and radiates from the inside out.
Going down this journey does not mean that I now live a problem-free life, that is not the goal nor is it realistic. Instead, it has helped me reprioritize my efforts and be grateful for everything, in spite of the difficulties. And there is no greater feeling than seeing the community of women who have benefited from LWA’s resources. We uplift and learn from each other everyday and, even when I feel down or the good old imposter syndrome starts to kick in, they are always there to keep me going. It’s nice knowing that there are women like me who are taking charge of their life in a way that’s authentic and meaningful to them.
So I’ll end this with, if you do nothing else after reading this, I hope you will pause and assess whether your actions today are aligned with who you are, your values, and where you want to be. Basing your goals off of material things is like chasing a moving target, you’ll always want more and never be satisfied. But when you chase after a fulfillment that comes from within, every step of the journey will be a step you fall more and more in love with the crazy, beautiful life you live.
If you’d like to contribute to the LWA blog or share your personal story please send us a DM on Instagram @luxurywellnessafrica.
