13: How to Live a Slower, More Authentic Life (with Kris Vaughan)

Kris Vaughan was always a go-getter, moving at 100 miles per hour, feeling great pride in her ability to do it all with great efficiency.

But that all changed when she decided to run a half marathon, which finally put her already-delicate health into a downward spiral ending in a thyroid crash or what some call adrenal fatigue.

After 2 years of nourishing herself with healthy foods and having lots of quiet time just “being,” Kris has restored her health and continued to make it a priority to live slowly, deliberately, and with authenticity.

 

Nuggets of Wisdom from Kris:

• “I spent so many years of my life with no joy because I was so focused on living a life that I thought everyone needed to see of me.”
• “I have really come to embrace that I am a hippy at heart.”
• “It’s OK to be who I really am.”
• “I didn’t want anybody to think I was lazy, so I was constantly in motion. It was this feeling that I was never enough.”
• “Just be who you were created to be.”
• “I was created to be this creator of things in my life, but to do them in my own quirky, zany way with joy.”
• “I don’t have to be enough for anybody else. I just have to be enough for me. I don’t have this need to push myself so hard anymore.”
• “So for about 2 years, I had to really focus on nourishing my body, paying attention to my medications, doing things that were fun, and not being this workaholic that I had always been.”
• “Live like life is no longer an emergency.”

 

Some of Kris's Favorite Things:

• Personal habit: “Every day I have ‘un-cocktail hour' with my husband. And I call it ‘un-cocktail hour' because we could just sit with water. We don’t have to have an actual cocktail. This is thirty minutes where we sit on the patio and get to reconnect with each other. It’s kind of my breathing time where I get to remember that he’s my best friend.”
• Easy meal: Kebabs on the grill with steak, peppers, onions, zucchini, and bacon (marinated in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, onion, salt & pepper) with rice pilaf.
• Possession: Books! “You don’t ever say ‘Enough’ and ‘Books’ in the same sentence. That just shouldn’t happen.”
• Book: TrueFaced by Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol. “It’s about how we walk through life wearing masks of what we want other people to believe about us. You know how you go into a party and you put on your ‘I’m super successful mask.’ In reality, these masks begin to crack and everyone around us can see those cracks but we don’t think they can see it. So they teach you in the book to take these masks off and show your true face to people.”
• Bucket List Item: “Tiny house, living in the woods with my hubby after my kids are grown and moved out, which is coming soon. I really just crave the serenity.”
• Best Advice received: “Just be who I was created to be with no apologies, with no guilt, and to accept that I have this beautiful, positive nature about me and those who matter will love me that way. God didn’t make a mistake when He made me be this weird, quirky woman that I am.”
• Happiest memory: “The moments that really make me stop and take a breath are each day when I come to hope I get one of the biggest, longest hugs from one of my daughters. And she will seriously hug me and not let go for about 2 minutes.”

 

Kris's Happiness Formula:

“Walk in the woods, laugh at silly things and acknowledge that you are a work in progress which is right where you're supposed to be.”

 

A Challenge from Kris:

“Find one thing in your life that really feeds your soul and then schedule that thing into your life at least once a week. This will really help you to slow down, take a breath, and find your joy again.”

 

Resources:

• Join Jen's email list to get free meditations, printables, and more.
• Whiskey Row Marathon
• TrueFaced by Bill Thrall and Bruce McNicol
• Herbal Wisdom Institute

 

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