Janet shared this post on Valentine’s Day, but every day is worth finding love, so we’re reproducing it here… a few weeks after the legitimate chocolate binge has faded. If you feel the need toe at chocolate while reading this post, we endorse that wellness strategy. Over to Janet.
A little over 5 years ago I sustained a concussion while playing hockey.
What I figured would be a short blip in time before I felt “normal” again, turned into days, months, then years, of foggy-headed confusion.
Little did I know that coming along for the ride would be many tears, feelings of loss-grief-anxiety-depression-hope-strength-determination-joy and what seemed like the whole spectrum of emotions, sometimes all of them in the same day.
As happens in life, as time passed there were countless ups and downs and so many unknowns as I attempted to piece my life “as I knew it” back together.
In a matter of a moment I went from from feeling vibrant and capable to feeling mostly stunned and incapable.
For weeks I couldn’t get out of bed.
Thankfully that stage passed and eventually I was able to get up and walk around the house.
From there I continued to gain strength until one day I was able to walk all the way across the yard.
More time passed and I was able to make it across the flats of the yard all the way to the creek behind the yard.
Walking seemed to have become my measuring post of strength and health, and gave me the feeling of freedom.
The first time in my walking journey that I made it past the fuzzy wall and over to the bottom of Jim Jam was a cause for serious celebration. This walking journey was by no means easy. There were days where I used trees and branches to help myself along, I tripped and fell all the time, and the pace was far from blistering.
While in my mind I wanted to go further and faster than I was to be the old me, I began to choose to stay present and appreciate the moments where I was, and celebrate the joy in them.
At some point in time on my daily walks I began to notice hearts in my travels.
They weren’t something that I was consciously looking for but would appear when I least expected them to.
I began to share them on social media and people seemed to really enjoy them. Since then people have given me heart shaped rocks, heart shaped gifts for my bday, and sent me countless photos of heart shaped everythings.
Commander Chris Hadfield spots hearts on Mars and someone sent them to Janet. Naturally.
People also tend to comment or share the story of how I see hearts everywhere, after which I will usually come across a heart as happened the other day with my friend Wendy.
Valentine’s Day has never been a big thing for me. For example last year I had forgotten that it was Valentine’s Day and I was skiing and commented to my friend on how it must be fancy jacket day because all the lifties were dressed up in well, fancy jackets! They looked at me and laughed and said of all the days I thought you would remember the day where there are hearts everywhere.
Apparently not.
So whether you love this day or dread this days here’s a little love coming your way with some of the hearts I’ve come across in the past week and the intention card that I pulled today which happened to remind me of the power of choice. 
❤️
The Wellness Almanac 