Written by: Pia Antico, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Stepping into my 49th Birthday Month of celebrations I opened my cupboard doors & jumped in, ready to go on a magical transformative journey.
No, it wasn't to Narnia!
The transformative journey was to a world of kindness & acceptance of myself AS I AM NOW!
The final frontier of self-love has definitely been one centered around my body. Finally being OK in my skin.
I've spent my adult life from 18 to now in some state of bodily trauma or another - from my first UTI turning into a kidney infection that nearly killed me & that
would then become the battleground for conscious & unconscious anxieties - my 'weak area' - which was my first experience of uncontrolled rapid weight loss. The teen years 'puppy fat melted away & skinny me walked into abusive marriage no.1.
Praised for keeping skinny through my pregnancy & looking even skinnier with an 18-month-old daughter- none of it from deliberate weight loss & exercise- most likely through ongoing illness & anxiety from the abusive marriage.
Skinny 28-year-old me trying to keep her head down in her marriage steps out into her first full-time job after childbirth & kidney recovery only to get run over at 100km/hr coming home from work. The impact of which saw me shrink even further after waking from a coma a few months later.
Fast forward to 35, I got out of the marriage, experienced exponential recovery from my head injury & for the first time in my adult life started to put on weight. Started to dare to exhale & become visible.
It was this visible me that met my second abusive husband in 2009 & this visible me that changed her Faith path that had as one of its misogynistic false requirements to conceal & be less visible. Hard to do when your boobs have their own postcode.
In 2014, through no conscious effort of my own, but by the magic of trauma, & the effectiveness of the Pakistani D-diet; I shrunk again - praised all the way by jealous sisters-in-law for looking 'smarter'. Apparently, 4 university degrees doesn't make you look as smart as being emaciated.
Of course, my tailor was thrilled that I kept visiting him to take in my kurta.
But, being skinny did not stop my ex from abusing & neglecting me.
Four years ago, skinny 45 year old me gets her arse on a plane escaping the marriage & facing life rebuild no. 3 back in Australia.
The transformative journey of these last four years being the basis of my first Co-authored book SHINE VOL 4 - ch12 Living & Loving Heartfully my story of inspirational success over adversity.
💥 READ HERE:
Over these past 4 years I have become more visible again, my reframe for having 'put on a stack of weight'. Yes, even bigger than the me that went to Pakistan feeling 'grateful' a handsome guy in his 20s would find me desirable.
Today, at the start of my 49th Birthday Month I stepped into my cupboard to go on a transformational journey into kindness, acceptance & self-love.
I pulled out all the clothes I bought at the beginning of life rebuild no.3 & thanked them as I bagged them for the charity clothing bin down the street.
I decided to no longer have the past, that no longer fits me, take up space in my closet.
I decided to take a look in the mirror, take accurate measure of who I am right now, & wrap myself in color & style that compliments who I am as I am, & that excites me to be more.
Today I celebrate every extra inch of myself that gets to dream beyond abuse & dare to begin to build upon an envisioned 6 figure business that I love.
Yes, I want my final ground of mastery to be that of gaining a sense of confidence & strength in my body; the body that even when weakened & injured carried me to safety & salvation.
So at 49, I choose the power of acceptance for what is, & releasing what no longer fits.
Are you holding onto things that no longer fit in your life?
Pia Antico, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
“In the middle of a storm, it is possible to find peace and strength when we tap into our innate Spirit-led wisdom and step heartfully into the present moment.” — Pia Antico.
Pia Antico is the Founder of Essential Awakening Mentoring, a Relationships Reset Mentor/Coach/Trainer, Speaker, and Author. Pia is also in a Creative Partnership with the charity “More to her life,” contributing a percent of her sales/fees to inspire and support women to dream and build beyond domestic violence.
She guides and encourages unfulfilled women over 40 who have spent their adult lives looking after others and following ‘the rules’ to courageously step into the second half of their lives with a total ‘Joy Reboot’ using her signature AWAKEN Model © of joyful living, based on a 3-step transformational journey embodying the 6 key elements of joy. This allows her clients to respond to any situation with calm, clarity, and confidence, enabling them to live and love fearlessly in the present moment.
Pia holds three degrees in Psychology, Counseling Training, and Certification in the Inside-Out Paradigm. Additionally, she learned how to thrive after two toxic marriages and following an accident that left her with a life-altering brain injury; all while she raised a resilient, courageous, and creative daughter who has now stepped into her own light and soulful marriage.
