When I was diagnosed with an eating disorder back in 2011, my whole life kind of...paused.

In fact, I was telling someone the other day how my years in the ED trenches are like a brushstroke on my life’s canvas.

Sure, I remember several moments that happened during my eating disorder (I mean, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to write multiple books about my journey!), but I didn’t really achieve anything during that time.

While my classmates were progressing through school, going through puberty, and building relationships, I was existing in the snow globe of an eating disorder.

When I finally decided to recover in 2017, my peers were applying to colleges – and you bet university was the last thing on my agenda.

If you’ve read my memoir Rainbow Girl, you know that I didn’t finish high school until I was 21 (my negative reviewers like to point out that I’m “unqualified” because I didn’t go to university, but that’s a whole nother story, lol). In any case, to say I felt delayed would be an understatement.

But here’s the truth: You can only be “behind” if you’re comparing yourself to others. You can only be “unqualified” if you base that definition on what someone else has defined as “qualified.” This is literally why comparison is the thief of joy!

Your eating disorder didn’t make you delayed. You’re not unqualified to forge your own path. Rather, your discovery journey is giving you an infinitely more meaningful form of education – for what’s more valuable than learning who you are at your core and connecting with people on levels that are impossible to describe in words?

So when I say I’m grateful for my eating disorder, what I’m actually saying is that I’m grateful for the journey my lived experience allows me to embark on each day.

If it weren’t for my trauma and triumphs – if it weren’t for the alternative path that strayed from “the norm” – I wouldn’t be connected with you right now!

Today, my best friends are the ones I’ve met through Liv Label Free. These are the people that have emailed me after reading my books, the people that have messaged me after discovering my podcast, the people that have embarked on discovery journeys with me through 1-1 Coaching, the Existential Autistic Membership, and the Autistically ED-Free Academy.

So if you currently feel “behind,” I invite you to ponder the following question: How might this be an opportunity to create something infinitely more meaningful?

If you’re ready to create your very own meaningful life, check out the following resources:

✨ Existential Autistic Membership: weekly group calls + 24/7 private community for neurodivergent aliens – the most affordable way to get direct access to me!

🌈 Autistically ED-Free Academy: the transformative 8-week program that guides you to complete freedom by embracing your autistic traits.

🍩 Extreme Hunger Course: constantly thinking about food but terrified of weight gain? Extremely Hungry to Completely Satisfied is your step-by-step guide to food and body freedom 🙏

📚 Books: Learn to forge your own freedom path through books where lived experience meets scientific insights!

Keep forging your own path,

XO Liv