BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

Being in nature is my absolute favorite! It allows me to be in tune with my divine self and connects me closer to my inner being. After a long draining work week, me and my girls decided to take a day trip up to Payson, AZ. While we were there, we decided to hike Horton Creek Trail. I have never hiked this trail before and being a beginner, I hesitated after hearing it was 8 miles long. Sometimes fear holds us back in life! I am a walking testimony of it. I tore my ACL & Meniscus 1 year ago and had to have knee surgery after falling off an electric scooter. My recovery journey has had its ups and downs. It has not been the easiest only because in the beginning I limited myself to what I can and could not do. My negative mindset was controlling my reality. I babied my leg and did not try my hardest to heal because I was so afraid of injuring it again. I got depressed in the process because I felt like a failure and could not do everyday activities such as walking, straightening and bending my leg. I lost weight due to not being able to put pressure on my injured leg; I became very insecure with how I looked. I realized that I was causing suffering upon myself by being so negative and speaking down on myself. I had to wake up and smell the coffee. I could not change my past or what had happened to me, but I was able to change my future. Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I shifted my mindset to something more positive. I started nurturing my inner child because I realized she was hurt and needed healing. I am currently on a self-love journey and have been challenging myself each day to step outside of my comfort zone. I want to experience life fully and see all the beauty it has to offer me. During my self-love awakening I realized that I connect closer to my intuition when I am in nature. I can meditate and quiet my mind. With all the hardships that is going on in the world today with COVID-19 it is quite common for many of us to lose ourselves and suffer internally. It is incredibly important to take this time to find yourselves and heal from past trauma. During this time, I promised myself to not fall back into old patterns and negative thinking. I had an awakening on this day trip, it has changed my life miraculously. I faced my fear and I hiked this trail! I captured many beautiful pictures in the process. This picture symbolizes the heartache I went through, the depression, the fear, and the suffering I had brought upon myself. This photo Reflects the woman I have grown to become. The beauty in this picture reflects the true beauty that is within me and has never left me. I challenge myself every day to be better than I was yesterday. My past does not define me! Bad things had to happen in order to make me stronger. I know now in order to heal you must reveal. Being in nature allows me to do just that! I chose to not edit this picture because I wanted to capture the true essence of this view. I needed to experience this view in order to heal the false beliefs that were running through my head. This story concludes that I am a unique individual and I do not need to change anything about myself in order to fit into societal preferences!