Hi, I’m Katie!

Stop Imagining Someone Else Living Your Life

For a long time, when I imagined my future, I was never really in it.

If I dreamed about running a marathon, becoming an athlete, traveling, or doing something brave, the person doing it in my imagination was always someone else. Someone thinner. Happier. Healthier. More confident. Less depressed. More deserving.

The dreams felt possible. Just not for me.

I’ve struggled with depression for most of my life and spent more than 25 years battling my weight. For a long time, it felt like me against my body—and eventually, I crumbled under the weight of that fight. In 2021, despite having so much to be grateful for, I had lost my joy. Even getting out of bed and getting through the basics of my day took everything I had.

I didn’t know how to change my whole life, so I started with one hard thing: brushing my hair every day.

Then came 10 minutes of intentional movement. Then another hard thing. And another.

Little by little, I started to believe something I had forgotten: I am capable.

In 2022, I made a list called “22 Hard Things in 2022” and started chasing my joy—not by becoming a different person first, but by letting me be the person who did the things I dreamed about.

And my life has gotten a lot bigger since then.

I’ve run a marathon. I’ve helped bring women into the world of triathlon. I’ve become a mom through adoption. I’ve made big, scary life changes. I’ve run, swam, baked, adventured, laughed, and said yes to things I once would have decided weren’t for someone like me.

I’m still figuring things out. I still have hard days. My life isn’t perfect—and that’s kind of the point.

Because I’ve learned that the good and the hard can exist at the same time.

You don’t have to wait until you’re thinner, healthier, happier, more confident, or “fixed” to start living. You don’t have to become someone else before your dreams are allowed to belong to you.

So that’s what I’m here to remind you:

Stop imagining someone else living your life.

Imagine you.

You are strong. You are capable. You are worthy. And there is still so much life waiting for you to live.