My Wellbeing Journey

I just love where I am today…

Business owner, being a mum…

BUT….

Things weren’t always like this…

I’ve been on quite a journey!

Back in 2019, my world crumbled when my beloved grandma passed away.

At the beginning of 2020, I started to have all sorts of health issues which led me to have a hysterectomy at the age of 38.

At that point, I was in a low place!

When I was at home recovering from my procedure, an ex-colleague of mine suggested I read a book called Feel Your Fear and Do it Anyway, by Susan Jeffers, I have to say, it was one of the most amazing books I had ever read! It made me look at my aspirations in life, in the most incredible way!

When Covid “graced” us with its presence and locked down was enforced in March 2020, I went into autopilot mode to look after the family and work full time, and let’s be frank, that was true for most people, it didn’t matter whether you were a parent or living on your own.

This pandemic meant we were all working longer hours and having to struggle with hardships that some of us had never experienced.

Hubby and I just got on with it, home-schooled the kiddies, and worked full time… but little did I know what was brewing for me!

I loved being an Executive Assistant! It was all ever I knew! I took on extra responsibilities purely because I thought that was the right thing to do and at that time it felt good to me.

By the end of 2020, it had become a ticking time bomb!

Months went by and bit by bit things started to pile up, I was having to work constantly into the late hours and felt like I was on call 24/7, I was a mum, a teacher, my children’s school friend, an EA, and a wife.

February 2021, I noticed I started getting very emotional. I was getting irritated by the smallest of things, it felt like I couldn’t get anything right, and I was definitely not sleeping as much as I should.

I remember distinctly when I went to see my doctor, he said to me…

You’re a mum of 3 young children (and at that time all under the age of 6)…

You work full time…

So, what was it…?

BURNOUT!

I didn’t think this was something that would happen to me!

I thought I had everything under control, which I did, but I didn’t know when to stop.

2 weeks off work and I made a change!

I took my work emails off my phone! So, from my perspective, I had some form of control.

Months passed and I felt I was losing my passion for being an EA. I wasn’t giving 100%! And that wasn’t me!

Towards the end of 2021, I was overwhelmed with everything and there I was again, back at the doctors, in tears.

STRESS had reared its ugly head!

I was immediately signed off work. I remember stepping back and thinking Davina, this isn’t you!! What’s going on!!

I sat down with hubby and I reevaluated my life, and came to the realisation of what I wanted to do! Wellbeing and Mental health!

In January 2022 I resigned from my job, after being an EA for 20 years and it’s been the best decision of my life, not only for me but for my family!

If you asked me back in 2020, is this something I would even consider? I would have said no way! I have 3 kids, a mortgage, turning 40, this was not a time for a complete career change!

But I took that leap of faith and here I am! I launched Wellbeing by Davina!

The best thing I could have done was to step back and look at all the red flags that had popped up, all the way back to 2019!

Your wellbeing is a journey – take your time on that journey. Be kind to yourself, but most importantly, be honest with yourself. It’s easy to ignore those red flags!

I know all too well, what it’s like to have something niggling at you, it starts off small but can escalate into a very big problem and you just don’t know how to get out of that funk!

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