Advocating ED

Tonight was my speech at my Mom's Kiwanis club. All day I was calm and confident about talking, but once I got to the venue, I was shaking from head to toe! I was able to meet some of the member before my speech which helped a lot! I was able to gauge who my audience was, and from my first impressions they were very nice people. One of my biggest fears going into this was that the audience would not be interested, or understanding of the topic. I guess tonight really taught me to never prejudge.

My mom introduced me and had me tearing up before I was even able to begin. Once I swallowed my tears I went right into it. I started by asking the members what they already knew about ED. I got some great responses. After I felt everyone who wanted to contribute had, I started my power point. Public speaking has never been a natural thing for me, so I said a few (lots) more "ums" than I would have in my mind, and probably fidgeted a lot, but I got through it. After I told my own story, I used some resources from NEDA's website to give some statistics. At the end there were lots of questions, which excited me! I could tell they were all very interested in learning more about ED.

Being able to see the reactions of those I was speaking to and have a conversation about eating disorders was a very empowering experience for me. It was the first time I felt like the past three years of work have actually been worth something! I know my health should be worth all of the work I have put into my recovery, but seeing how my story has effected the people I spoke to meant the most to me. At the end of the meeting most of the member came up to me and complimented (which made me feel great), some opened up about their loved ones who have dealt with ED or other mental struggles. To know that what I was talking about was relevant to them and meant something to them made all of the nerves seem silly! I walked away from the experience proud and on a high that I had changed some lives tonight. Even got a few more ideas of things that I need to add to my next speech :)

Thank you to all of the Xenia Kiwanis members for listening to me tonight and participating in the conversation. Together we are making changes!

Stay Strong and Beautiful! <3