My Pregnant Body

I have always had a flat stomach, with defined abs... always had a body I loved, viewing pregnancy as something I "had" to go through because I wanted a child, a lil boy, for so many years....

...and many years had neither... my amazing and supportive husband and I started the adoption process because he knew how badly I wanted to be a mom... how much I needed to have a child of my own and although I secretly wanted to feel that deep connection between mommy and baby, wanted to know what it would be like to feel him/her from the inside... I told myself it's okay because I could keep my body and still be mommy! My husband fought gently about not giving up my dream, a dream he shared with me now, too.. and that is when it really began.. I stopped projecting negativity of not being able to conceive and started envisioning, believing, seeing, our future family.

Finally, on June 6th, 2013 I get that beautiful positive on a pregnancy test (and 6 other tests just to be sure) and my world turned upside down. I knew THIS is what I wanted... this feeling that something incredible is happening inside of me...I knew that it was the  universe allowing me my hearts desire. Despite that I was still terrified of losing my "pre baby" body... scared that my 16 inch ribcage tattoo would be horrifically deformed afterwards... I was still elated. No word or cluster of words will ever properly explain how happy I was that day and how it has intensified each following day after.

Being pregnant is all about glimpses and signs of why you're going through this...Sweet reminders that something amazing is going on and temporarily, the amazing miracle is masked with unpleasant gift wrapping... In the midst of my first trimester, I was considered "High Risk" which was terrifying but I am not going to talk about that because we got through it.... All I will say is that it just intensified my love for this sweet baby of mine... So, in the midst of throwing up all day, every day, being so sick I couldn't speak or handle a conversation because it triggered a migraine...

We heard his strong, fast, beautiful heart beat... oh, there is no better sound!! His heartbeat made me probably look insane, smiling AND throwing up, BECAUSE I was throwing up! "If this is what you gotta do, my love, keep on doing it!!"

"Do whatever you need to do to your mama, sweet little one, I just want you here!"

and now? I am 21 weeks pregnant with an obvious baby bump... and I couldn't be  happier... I couldn't feel more beautiful. When I look in the mirror and see my tummy, I smile so huge because I am filled with pride and joy knowing my SON is growing and thriving... and when I feel him kick? Ahhh.... nothing else matters :) The whole world melts away around me and regardless of what my day brings, I smile and am filled with happiness and warmth radiating within me because my beautiful lil baby boy is jabbing his mommy.

When I look in the mirror... I don't see my newfound cellulite... I don't see extra weight that my face packed on, I don't see all the extra acne, my alien looking belly button that hasn't popped yet but is definitely no longer "in" and that "Baby line" Linea nigra? I even see beauty in that because it is a mark of pregnancy.. and pregnancy is something I fought so hard to get and lost all hope for awhile to have...

I KNOW my body is changing and I KNOW it is about to endure so much more in the months to come but I eagerly await because it brings me so much closer to holding my precious son in my arms, hearing him cry, watching him smile, seeing his sweet little eyes wander around and soak up the world around him....

We really do earn our titles of "Mommy" and it begins with pregnancy... but I love every minute of it... I could do without the morning sickness, back pain, sciatica.. and fatigue.. but if that is what it takes to meet my precious baby boy?

I am ALL IN.   

This is truly the greatest time in my life... I married my soul mate and my best friend, the universe waited until we were together and in such an amazing place in our lives to bless us with our son... and this time in our lives is the greatest "waiting period" before we meet our miracle little fighter :) Being able to parent our son together is a gift I don't think many people/children have these days and I treasure the opportunity and am so grateful that it is something we will be able to tackle together. I cannot properly explain how happy and perfect this all is. My pregnant body is something I love so much because it is literally a growing reminder of how lucky I really am :) He is kicking up a storm as I write this and I cannot help but think my lil boxer knows how happy he makes me...even though he will stretch my skin out that defies the limitations of anatomy... bring it on, baby! As I have said since 6 weeks pregnant: Do what you gotta do, my love! I just want you here!



My today! Week 21 1/2 (Not that I am counting hehe) :)

Me at 20 weeks :)
 
The best pic of all!! My Handsome lil man waving at 18 weeks :)

To seek fulfillment in life is not the same thing as being complacent with it

“I’ll never forget that moment… it really stuck with me.”

How literal can that statement be?

In order for that answer to bare truth in my personal life, I have no other choice except to type: 

                                                                  “Entirely too much so.” 

I am once again…wholly enveloped in my own contemplation of… an unforeseen psychological shadow and trend.

I really don't mind psychoanalyzing me... I have grown to appreciate myself as a patient (Mainly because it would be technically unethical and/or illegal for me to have "patients" before I am a licensed Psychologist but whatever.) Despite that, I do feel that I am increasingly self aware, complex, strong and… let’s go with “quirky” for my lack of obligatory terminology. . . .

....But as it so frequently occurs in life, I am stumped. This exorbitant mystery is driving me insane and I must stop it.

But… how can we stop something if we are unsure of why it begins?

Maybe I ask too many questions…but this just doesn’t seem right.

So, before I have no other choice but to fire my own mind… I will write and hope that some divine transference of wisdom be shown through the sky onto my fingers down to this page that I am staring at. ...Maybe.

At a certain age, we all experience a sting… a burning pain usually intensified by another person’s action or doing. Whether it is a romance and broken heart, or disappointment from a parent, sibling, or friend…whatever it is… Someone in our lives will hurt us. 

That person inadvertently takes a piece of our proverbial heart and it never returns.

We have all heard the saying: “That stuck with me.” Typically used in a negative connotation, right?

…Do you wonder why it is right nearly every time, but in the most literal fashion possible? 

I Do. 

Why is it so easy for us to carry the negative around with us? So easy for us to refuse to leave an abominable routine....

Because we are used to it and it's comfortable? Or solely out of habit? 

To seek fulfillment in life is not the same thing as being complacent with it..... (Yet I meet too many people who disagree with me on this statement.)

*Ahem*

Example time...yay!

This has no actuality to me personally but we have heard people claim to never want to be like their parents when they grow up… yet they still emulate traits genetics do not hold in captivity… Which must have been learned and despite not approving of what they witnessed, they grew up to do the very same thing..

This next example, unfortunately, does carry a similar resemblance to my life…

If a lover hurt us… why do we carry the pain with us to the point of it being imbedded inside of us and a part of our identity? Why? It is utterly void of sense and logic and yet it drenches our reality.

That significant yet pejorative, horrific event in our life stung us to the point of… Committing the same crime? How does that make sense?

                                                   History repeats itself.

…..until you break it.

….until you stop it.

Until you demand it stops and fight like hell to break that habit....It won't... 

                     So don't give up.

You WILL actively succeed. Perhaps not overnight and probably with a pace likely to aggravate us all...

But you will get there.

I just do not understand why our minds seem to be so wired for malevolence and destruction.

We want to succeed in life... in work and in our careers for instance.. But why can't we be happy to witness someone else obtaining our eventual goal? Why is it so much more common to try and tear that person down in order to get there first? Do you really want to succeed that way?

You can't break a habit by taking short cuts. Trust me, I've tried them all.

…...and each one led me to square one. 

It wasn't until I finally caught on to this that life really began for me. Even though I remain stumped in this areas, I know to keep going. I know not to stop. 

So maybe, just maybe... history can one day simply be a subject we learn in school and have no other relevance to our lives.

One day.

Life's clock is never in sync with mine.

         If you were to ask what just happened to me tonight.....years ago... I would tell you it was a gift, a blessing, a miracle even....the final end to my longing journey of wondering.

….and now? I don't know how to explain it...it wasn't anything, really. I am grateful that this person now has clarity in their life... but to hear it years later? I feel nothing...

At least, nothing that I would have felt in the past. I would have raced to “square one” as if it were an olympic race that defined my fate in life...

I am grateful because I am a humane person that this person is slowly becoming free from a darkness that entangled their very soul...

Because no one deserves to live in turmoil... no one should grip onto their demons so hard that they cannot even identify which one is which...

For that: I am grateful. It is an answer to prayer I used to pray quite often.

         I am choosing not to be angry that I was the person that they hurt enough to lead them to the road of redemption... because we all have those.... I was just that for this person.. “it is what it is” and to think any further would be pointless because so many amazing doors have opened because of this path... that I couldn't escape from... and now? I would not change a single thing because of my present state of life.

….and that? Is beautiful in itself. I have new friends that I cherish, a beautiful future that is hard as hell to gain but worth every second of it..... roads opening that I never imagined worthy enough to step into...dreams unveiling themselves as reality...and a strength inside of me that I doubt would have manifested had I not had to wait.

Life and its timing is a crazy thing.

I apologize that this is not eloquently designed or laid out... I'm tired, it's finals week..and I admit....I am a little dumb founded about tonight.

Is It the Destination That Counts? Or the Steps Throughout the Journey?

I've been contemplating this for some time now....recent events have occurred in my life that left that answer obvious..

….black and white facts have become a preference of mine..and when applied to life I embrace it because I know it is a seldom occurrence these days...

So the copious amounts of other events ..the ones that are not so clear and simple. Those.... leave the explanation as more of a mockery riposte; leaving me with a state of momentary calamity that always leaves...yet never fails to return... somehow setting a secret “replay” button not even my freak of nature cleaning sprees uncover.

I'm perplexed because I have yet to find an answer that exhibits any promise of error and the universal quest for answers be put to a vast halt. I would love to diminish the need for this never ending journey; just have yet to find anything that justifies reason to do so. For that reason; I choose to write about the latter and my state of affliction towards it.

The mere word “journey” written in there was actually unintentional at first...even though it is the title of this writing....I suppose.... maybe....that might be part of a conclusion: The journey we go through searching and experiencing things in life; particularly the unpleasant and painful experiences, are the reasons we question why it even had to happen in the first place.

But what if that road led to a much more amiable path in our lives? One we may not have otherwise appreciated? The only request being to wait with patience...for promise of a more pleasant state of living....? (in whatever form it may arrive in..)

Patience is a bitch...I know..but why are we so ignorant to believe we know the exact timeline our lives should follow?

Despite the fact that (hopefully) we learned something through each and every journey and gained a stronger sense of who we are through it...

ooohhh but wait...remember?? it wasn't fun..it sucked..so...therefore …

(I love Americans...) It was wrong...right? The world is perfect, America is amazing..and no-one is ever supposed to go through crappy times. Nope, not us.

..Okay...sorry...I'm a bit cranky....

But I DO feel that too many of us carry that mentality. That “poor me” mentality...which is when we shut ourselves off from seeing the beauty, or more pleasant events to come...even miniscule things we may miss because we are so damn focused on every negative thing that happened. By doing that; we miss the subtle yet awe-inspiring events that occur everyday....So...

Which means the most to you?

I began writing this, to no-ones surprise, more referring to romance and love. Now, however, I have found myself asking this question in so many more areas. For awhile, I tried to portray animosity for love; tried to portray a facade of not caring or believing in it...which isn't true; simply a momentary defense mechanism of sorts that I no longer need. It's clear that was a journey within myself...and I know for a fact I have not yet reached a destination...in the eternal sense but reached the destination of relinquishing the defense mechanism...perhaps because I, unfortunately, see the world for much more of what it is...but partly because the direction my heart was fortunate enough to gravitate towards...I've fallen in love with. . . . .But am I really seeing it end so soon? In my opinion; It barely started...yet, the constant trend this time is that I don't regret it..in fact ….I cherish every single moment of it...

I just don't want it to stop...at all...but is that even in my power to control?

So...I guess...

The opposite end of that spectrum...the before, during, and after phase and experience...the overwhelming memories of beauty and intensity ......I now know unequivocally that I wouldn't trade them for the world. (Destination, maybe?)

I know I am being far too philosophical...but I still am unclear which was more pertinent and vital. I am closer to finding the answer for myself but perplexed at the world...at why so much negativity is held onto....Why so many people are so unhappy...or they try to give the personification of having a void...but why??? When they.....when WE have more than most. Hard times are prominent..but what else do you have? Whats more important to you? Marvel in the beauty? Or harbor on the negativity? 

What is it worth to you?

If the answer is harbor onto the bitch driver who cut you off on the highway and ruined your day...I want nothing to do with you..I'm sorry but I have wasted too much of my life letting frivolity get in the way of the blessings I took for granted. No more. It's not worth it.

....Had I not been through what I had..I cannot honestly say that I would have appreciated anything as much as I do now. I can't honestly answer because I just don't know. What I do know...is that it did something weird and permanent to my heart...but not the typical scarring that hurts.....this stings but in a different way...this...I take pride in.

Regardless of what it is or the subjective personal meaning; I'm mainly just searching for anything that solidifies any prominence. Label it what you want. I need substance and I feel it is far too scant and foreign in this world. I found a couple of people I feel share that with me....Maybe less ...and I'm very much okay with that...because I refuse to exhaust myself trying to “encourage” people gripping onto negativity. Let go of it. Or don't. I've found something precious. I fought hard for it... I pray that within this journey I am able to keep it. However, I trust that regardless, I will be okay. My journey is something I treasure; regardless of the outcome...

Even when patience is a bitch....

The Gift of Family

Typically, I carry the personal preference to wait a certain period of time before I write about it. I tend to withhold a lugubrious aspect of the situation and feel that may overpower the words I actually feel and desire to get across. . . .It's second nature to get caught up in emotion; which is not what I want to happen right now .... and with this in particular, this subject and these feelings intertwined in the subject ...it's overwhelming. It's deeply painful and yet; I wouldn't change a thing. Not for a second.

Please realize that it's only painful because the dynamics have changed. The center of my life...the prominent aspect of it for sixteen months is something I can't even begin to describe. The depth of what that means is unbearable to explain; perhaps even impossible. Mainly because I am still uncovering the meaning myself...but also because nothing could have prepared me for the impact that would quickly arrive...and the overwhelming love and emotion that I feel...that I will always feel.

.. I pray it never leaves me.

This graciously allowed me to be irrevocably changed.. These people are my family....but it's an entirely new dimension of “family” because they chose to be this way. We chose on a daily basis to be this close to one another; supporting each other and being dedicated through it all. It never quite made sense to me why these wonderful people went above and beyond for me...but I stopped questioning it a long time ago. I embraced the gift of unconditional kindness and allowed myself to experience it. At times I tried to mask the overwhelming shock I had through each time they displayed it...which ended up being countless; so I gave in....and...I couldn't be more grateful for it.

I am richly blessed to have a drastically deeper appreciation on life; to know an entirely new level of devotion and love like I do now is priceless. Over a year ago I made a promise to stay until the very end...without realizing it would approach rapidly. It is a bittersweet emotion that I will never look back on with regret.

This experience is crystal clear evidence of being one of my most prized possessions that consistently reveals itself. The blessings, the love, devotion, support and patience that I gained..is a gift I am profoundly undeserving of and yet..find myself drenched in by these amazing people. I am horrifically sad that my time experiencing this regularly got cut so short, though..but..that is both inevitable and undeniable.

Sixteen months just isn't enough time.

However, as life often reminds us, some things are simply out of our control. I have never been faced with incidences as powerful as I am now. Not this prominent..Not this close.. Not this..visual. For once, no adjective is necessary to describe this because.. it is vastly different. On one side; I feel utter melancholy to the most proper delineation. On the other; so full of pure happiness and joy to have the gift of experiencing this.

Something inside of me drastically transformed. I finally know the real meaning of love. When all you feel and surround yourself with is love and devotion...you can't help but be affected by it.

It shakes you to your core.

I suppose I should start from the beginning...in hopes of allowing you a piece of the gift that was given to me months ago.

I simply had no idea. ..

A friend knew about a lead from a friend. That was it and I went for it...

That friend and I scheduled to meet on a Saturday; he welcomed me immediately with genuine authenticity. A rare and contagious warmth radiated that enabled a feeling of being “home” in a place I had never been before.

My transformation was already beginning, I just hadn't realized it yet.

And true; I had dabbled in the line of work and knew enough to qualify; plus I was eager to utilize my medical skills....but it was how the interview was conducted that sold me......I was hired immediately. I wanted nothing more.

[...little...did..I...know...]

My life will never be the same...him hiring me was the biggest blessing in my life; in areas people only dream about...in ways...people only read about experiencing....I found myself profoundly undeserving, enveloped inside of, drenched with and wholly apart of.

Even though some days were strenuous; often times they were happy and light hearted.. Only about a handful of those days seemed impossibly frustrating and tested us all. The prominent consistency being each day started and ended with a hug and an “I love you.” Not one day went by without that; so regardless of what category the day was, it didn't matter to me. It was just life unfolding itself and we all experienced it together. Thats how I saw it...I didn't view it as a “job” that I was obligated with...it was life and we were living it.

This woman was my side kick. She was my adopted grandma, my protector, confidant, sister and friend. She laughed with me...goofed off with me, cried with me..got angry with me (and at me at times.) If she saw me sick or in pain she instantly tried to perform a sneak attack role reversal and take care of me in such a motherly and endearing manner.

There was something about knowing we still loved each other during the bad times...something so comforting knowing such devotion like that existed. Never had I had such a profound sense of acceptance before. It changed the way I see the world...I'm immensely humbled and in awe by all of this...

Her family rallied for me when I needed it the most...when my life obstacles nearly destroyed me; they were there for me. No questions asked. I always looked for ways to reciprocate to show my gratitude; which was difficult because they never asked for anything. That was never why they were there for me...

and Why? 


Because...It's just what families do.






R.I.P. My amazing "Mimi"...Thank you for sharing your family with me. You will forever remain deeply imbedded in my heart

Seek Answers.

Alright, as usual; allow me to first say that I realize we, as humans, are completely flawed (although varying in degree and category, of course.) Since I, too, am a human, I completely throw myself under the bus here along with each and every one of you. It's basically the equivalent of us hugging right now...just fyi.

I have always been fascinated with the human mind; how it operates and every chain reaction that follows the “why” to that answer and any domino affect that would formulate and so forth. How one reacts to an emotionally charged moment, positive or negative, can be vastly different to how someone else handles it.. I find to be both remarkable and horrifying. Perhaps that is one element as to why I find myself “set apart” from society and the average it deems necessary for certain people that flock to it. In fact: That notion is completely foreign to me; particularly more so in my adult life. Granted, that is just a speculation of mine but entirely feasible nonetheless. This is why I have a few main topics in this entry; I've derived much of my favorite opinions on human nature for this reason....I seek to find out what is not wired within me. I seek answers.

Here is something that never fails to leave me baffled and disgusted if I elicit the power to do so.

I'll simplify it, too. Not to be insulting at all but to possibly allow you to see the way my left brain dominates and why I feel this is such a clear opportunity that too many people run from.
Fact: We all live in “this” world.

It's in quotes because I think I just like using quotes too much;  not that I'm sitting in a dim lit room with incense and a lava lamp; feeling some form of synchronicity happening...nor do I dare put other countries in the same opinion I have towards America... ...I just mean that: We breath the same air, see the same sun and moon and walk the same earth, right? Okay. So..

We, as humans, all have the same opportunity in regards to bettering ourselves..even if it isn't pleasant at first. Even if it's scary. We do. We have that. We HAVE that!! I wish I could shake people sometimes and scream it, lovingly,  in their face to be honest but, as a psychology major, I'm not sure I should be admitting that fact...but just hear me out, please.

Since we are flawed human beings (and that fact I really do find beautiful because it puts us all at such a raw and humble place. ) However, WHY AREN'T WE DESIRING to MAXIMIZE our inner selves!? Why are we not only asking: “How much better could I be as a person?” or “What else do I need to do in this world?” But Why aren't we...
actually..

Doing it. Seeking to find those answers. Uncovering mysteries and beautiful (sometimes tragic) truth? Why? I know it's scary but.... if the outcome only glimmers failure but truly promises a deep and meaningful depth we no longer would have unraveled?

Why? It doesn't make sense to me.

You know how when we were kids we all had some object; whether it was a blanket, a pacifier or stuffed animal that was coined as our “security blanket” ? That one thing our parents eventually had to buy instructional books of mastery about in order to simply wash it without our worlds ending (or..until we heard the buzzer sound of the dryer letting us know we were going to survive.) Regardless of what it was or how attached we actually we were to it; at some point we held onto that object as if our lives depended on it and without it near..instant panic and fear permeated our little body.

Same page? K. Good..

I welcome anyone to answer this mysterious perplexity of mine:

Why is it that the vast majority of adults are frantically chasing after the same dirty and decrepit security blanket only manifested into a different form? It even seems like they hold onto the fallacious conjecture that their lives actually do depend on it? The despondency in that statement is that the lack of drive and motivation to have more than mediocrity in life because it somehow appears comfortable...is tragic. Why are so many complacent with their life? In no way am I attempting to conjure up negativity. Quite the opposite.

As I said, this is my opinion...however, it's a daunting one for me because I am constantly finding myself perplexed and dumbfounded at people. It saddens me that people settle for something that is a definite one..when they aren't willing to get out of their comfort zone and at least try for something huge.

I have always been told to “dream big” and well, 24 years later it is finally forming...but I never stopped trying or fighting for what I had faith in to be a possible outcome. At times it didn't seem plausible...but I never stopped. You shouldn't either.

I encourage everyone to at least try to step out of their comfort zone and try a hidden desire of theirs (as long as it is legal of course.) and actually risk “failing” because that means you are also risking the chance to succeed and uncover an amazing depth within your soul. Uncover a deeper, more meaningful definition of happiness.

So, please....

Seek those answers.

The Prominence of Negativity. To End This Habit.

Wow. I get it now.

[Meaning: I now have answers to a lot of my unspoken questions; even some to the verbal journey of confusion I traveled. I “get” what I will be needing to do to obtain “it”]

I am choosing to withhold the frivolous ( aka “ridiculous”) truth of how long it took me to get to this point. I am utilizing my rights as a citizen in America...or..something. Whatever. I'm not tellin'.

1. THAT is why I felt so defeated?? A. That is why it continued to happen. [even that didn't seem to be a negative sentence...it was just my routine.]
   
   That “vicious cycle” that all should pity and fear to find? Yeah thats pretty much solely self induced. If you allow it, I mean. It is a choice—one each individual is faced with and all behind a different mask of illusion. You take it because YOU decide to. It is no ones faults entirely nor are the derogatory sequence of events life gives at times in a competition of morale. Things happen in life...good...bad..everything in between. However, if it appears that the bad is increasing rapidly, or if it has already became prominant ...You might wanna re-evaluate your lifestyle. If you fail to discover anything...
   
   re-evaluate your attitude.
   
   The two negative mind sets that I imitated and even believed to own at one point will literally drain you; not even leaving exhaustion left over. Trust me, it happens. It's ruthless and in total error. I was the queen of this. Might have even invented it.
   
   If it were to manifest into a physical example: Think Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in Fight Club...without the bad ass movie aspect part. Not pleasant.
   
   Seldom (if ever) have I felt such a clear “light bulb” go off for me. And actually listened. It's fascinating how humans evoke defense mechanisms to cover certain areas of their lives in hopes of being unable to recognize it...only to discover those mechanisms just took us on the longest, most difficult wrong way on the road to our destiny.
   
   I chose not to say our “life” because you can be as negative and repugnantly close minded as you want and still live your life of breathing.
   
   Your destiny is that mysterious and beautifully feasible secret we get glimpses of when we are making the right decisions or being positive and healthy in our mind and in our actions.
   
   It is a never ending process of self discovery and growth but if done driven by destiny.. it's worth it.
   
   Side Note: (Isn't it interesting how a person or persons can repeatedly tell you something...and you “listen” but it doesn't sink in at all; then a stranger or someone you hardly know makes a remark not half as eloquent and loving and---just like that—it completely makes sense and stops you dead in your tracks?)
   
   That is definitely not what happened here with me ..not in a focal sense, anyway.
   I'm too stubborn for that paragraph to hold any truth next to my name..and that truth? I'm sick of.

Allow me to honestly introduce myself:

I am completely dominated by my left brain and lack what others term “common sense” due to my incessant need to thoroughly (“over”) analyze to reach a few conclusions per sub category that is my life; then dissect those, eliminate one (because only 2-3 are allowed to make it to the final round...but everyone knows that.), and THEN I will “go with my gut” instinct. Yup, just a normal laid back, easy going chick' who prefers facts, proof, charts, a statistic here and there....and a rock solid game plan. Or 3. My immense need for security and willingness to compensate for the lack thereof allowed this impenetrable denial inside of me that ANY action I took or thought or whatever...could be wrong. Nope. Not the straight A wordy chick with magenta hair.

How insidious and repulsive.

And now I feel the urgency to stop revealing such cool facts about myself. Lets move on.

Because thats a beautiful thing about life, you get to move on. You get to start over. Learn and change...

“There is literally nothing left for me to do that hasn't been done.”

Except...

this one.

But to let go is so difficult for me to do. Up until now I would have rather gone to the dentist or go head to head with a fire breathing dragon then trust anyone to do something reassured it would happen.

Perhaps getting that painful and expensive (yet amazing and beautiful!) 13” reminder on my rib cage wasn't all in vain.

I need a huge reminder like that. Habits and patterns are hard to break.