#SEBestLife

There’s nothing I’ll ever be able to say that clearly articulates almost dying. Nothing. But what I can say is for the rest of my entire life I’ll be grateful to Dr. Farukhi at Redlands Hospital. The hard part after almost dying isn’t the beating death thing, it’s the living in the aftermath that’s hard. I didn’t know how I was going to rebuild my life. Hell I didn’t even know how I was going to walk again. But at some point in time over that turmoil I promised myself I wasn’t going to give up, I would not under any circumstances surrender. Since surving almost two years ago now, my life has dramatically changed. Not just physically from my new “health maintaining” habits but my ability to appreciate life and roll with, instead of against its punches. I had no idea back then that a friend I would meet while attending graduate school at Pepperdine would inspire me to try and change the world from my bed.  When AB gave me that very thoughtful and endearing token of affec

Today [12.16.17] marks the First Year Anniversary of Spoonie Essentials Box and I couldn't be more of a mixed bag of emotions. I am simultaneously incredibly proud of myself and incredibly tired. ha ha chronically ill humor. No but really I am incredibly humbled as I sit and reflect on "The First Year". It has been one--long, emotional, back breaking, inspiring, eventful--incredible year! This is the first "milestone" I've accomplished since being diagnosed.  I cannot say it was all pretty and all graceful but it is official, I have been in business for myself and living my purpose for exactly three hundred and sixty-five (365) days! As much as I have struggled with this reality over the last year, the truth is my chronic-illnesses control the vast majority of my life. On the more challenging side of business if I wouldn't have a had a flare, I  would have gotten that order out in time sort of thing. Or even the "If I didn't have thre

Spoonie Essentials Box membership has closed for the 2017 year, if you would like to subscribe in the new year (2018) please join our mailing list here to stay up-to-date on when the list opens! Happy Holidays!  Team Spoonie Essentials 

#WednesdayWisdom: Always stay true to who you are no matter the situation or circumstances, you’ll be grateful you did in the long run. Never stop spreading love as thick as peanut butter! I send out “happy mail” even though I get hate mail because Spoonie Essentials Box was not meant to be about just sending a box of stuff... it’s about receiving and giving a community of peer support and spreading love. That is why I send “happy mail” to all current AND former Spoonie Essentials subscribers.  Supporting someone shouldn’t stop just because they’ve chosen to not receive my box anymore. The goal was never to get people to buy boxes, but instead get people to give support.  So yeah, I even spread love to the nasty people of the world because they need it the most. I committed to spreading love to ALL #SEBsubscribers & I meant it.   Never stop spreading love  ️ as thick peanut butter!  #SpreadLove17  Xo Britt 

Mindfulness |  You are the very same person who achieved your goals before. It was the MINDSET not the trophy  , that was the prize though. Never give up, never surrender!  _______________ I etched my name on the @ucrtrack record board back in the day, but I also lost a couple big track meets that same season. The champion I was then is no different than the one I am now. What got me on the board wasn’t my talent. I mean I never actually landed a “big” throw that year. But had I allowed the loses to keep me from training, from conditioning, or from competing I’d of never broke the decade old @ucr school record. I got on the board because I refused to quit. You may be like me and have physically changed, but the victory is and will always be in knowing you already know how to KEEP GOING... KEEP TRYING... KEEP FIGHTING because you’ve done it before. My #TrackNation days may be over, but knowing the heart of a champion doesn’t only belong to athletes is forever.   __________

by: britt renee' I recently had the unique pleasure of visiting with Isabelle "Izzy" Mejia, a founding member of Spoonie Essentials Box. Izzy is a sophomore at  Arlington High School  in Riverside, California. Izzy has  Lupus ,  Juveniles Arthritis , and  Sjogren's Syndrome .  Izzy, her mom Elaine, and I talked for about 4 hours on Sunday evening. I couldn't help but be in awe of Izzy, she is an amazing intelligent, funny, and unbelievably kind young person. We talked of our shared experiences with “Fighting the Wolf” aka Lupus, a phrase Izzy coined herself because the “butterfly” analogy just wasn’t her thing. Izzy reminds me of a person much older than herself, I suppose this is likely another byproduct of living with a chronic illness at such a young age. You are forced to mature before you’re ready because the management of chronic illness thrust important life decisions into your lap long before you fully understand what they mean.