Reinventing yourself to live closer in line to your values is something we should all strive to do, especially if we’ve been following a path that doesn’t feel quite right. And the brilliant thing is, it’s never too late! Today’s outspoken and hilarious guest, Alli Waddell, is over 40 and states, without a doubt, that she is quitting herself!

Alli has been in the wellness industry for 17 years, starting as a fitness instructor and exploring careers as a nutritionist, attending culinary school, and realizing that true health comes from within. She’s now opened her own ketamine infusion clinic, Illumma, where they provide alternative mental health treatments. It’s been a long journey to get to where she is now, but Alli has faced both her supporters and naysayers with a casual, and sometimes crass, nonchalance.

But now that Alli has found a career path that fulfills her, she’s turning her attention to being a voice for those who can’t speak up. In this rare politically fueled episode, we talk about the recent war against women’s reproductive health and Alli opens up and shares the many reasons why having an abortion was the right choice for her.

Alli’s passion for women’s reproductive rights is rampant in this episode. She shares that when she hits menopause, she might mourn the children she never had, but she made the decision to be childfree of her own free will, and with complete confidence. It’s okay to mourn our choices and still be satisfied with them.

We need to break the stigma of what your life has to look like in order to have an abortion. Unwanted and unexpected pregnancies can happen to anyone, and there is no shame in making a tough decision. Education and healthcare are paramount to reducing the number of abortions, not bans.

How do you live in accordance with your values? Have you ever felt you want to start over again, even when you’re hitting later in life? Do you stand up for the rights of others? Let me know in the comments on the episode page!

In This Episode:

• What it’s like to step away from your life and reinvent yourself
• How you can be brave and help others be brave
• Why you need to let go of your past self to grow forward
• Why it’s okay to start over when you’re “over the hill”
• What it means when you feel relieved when people cancel on you
• Why you need to consider every aspect of life when it comes to an unexpected pregnancy
• Why it’s okay to still mourn your choices, even though you made them with confidence
• Why access to healthcare and education will reduce the number of abortions
• Why we need to break the stigma of what people have an abortion look like

 

Quotes:

“I have to let go of her in order to fully embrace this new thing. To me, feels like the next evolution of me, in this higher version of myself.” (5:49)

“That unease is just because I don’t know that I’ve done the work that I need to do to kind of solidify, or that vision hasn’t fully come into what exactly that is gonna look like.” (10:53)

“[When I got an abortion,] it was f*cking hard, it was hard and it was sad and it was traumatic… but it was the best choice. And it was the best choice for everyone involved. It was the best choice for him, it was the best choice for me, and it was the best choice for that baby.” (19:34)

“I think if you believe in pro-life and you haven’t adopted a kid from foster care, you need to shut the f*ck up.” (22:46)

“I feel like we’re living the la-la land. But the only thing that I can say, is I think this is the final death grip of a bunch of old white men who are f*cking terrified about the storm that is about to come raining down on them. And this is their last ditch effort to grab onto all they can have because their time is coming to an end. And they know it, and they’re scared shitless. Because that’s what happens when people are scared, they go after f*cking power.” (23:31)

Links

Find Alli Waddell Online

Follow Alli on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Find Illumma Online 

Follow Illumma on Facebook | Instagram

Read 30 Years of Depression, Gone

 

Check out the full episode post here

Keep up with everything Quit Happens here

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Podcast production support by the fine folks at Counterweight Creative