The Old Us vs. The Resilient Us

The old Eric and Mandy would have absolutely gone all in on my birthday. And to be fair, this year we kind of did too. 40 is a big deal, right? The champagne was flowing (okay, flooding), and I ate enough cake to make my inner 8-year-old proud. Our celebrations stretched a little longer than they should have—and we had a blast.

But here’s where things look different now.

In the past, indulgence didn’t stop when the party ended. Old us would’ve rolled right from champagne and cake into short rib mac and cheese on the plane home, followed by a lazy takeout dinner the second we walked through the door. One fun weekend could easily spiral into weeks of “oh well, I’ll start over Monday.”

This year? On our trip to NYC, I actually listened to my body. After a few days of overdoing it, I hit the pause button and went three full days without drinking alcohol—even through a fancy tasting menu. That was a huge win for me. And you know what? It felt good. I also realized I was done with animal products (for now, at least), and we sought out some healthy, plant-based options on our last day in the city.

On the flight home, instead of defaulting to the heaviest comfort food option, we ordered the vegan meal. When we got back to Dallas, instead of grabbing the phone to order takeout, we put together a healthy, homemade dinner. Just like that, we were back on track—no guilt trip, no “restarting,” no letting it spiral.

That’s the difference between the old us and the new us. It’s not that we don’t celebrate anymore (trust me, we do). It’s that now we’ve built the resilience to bounce back quickly. We’ve learned to indulge without derailing ourselves for weeks.

Because at the end of the day, you get to decide: Do you want to be the person who lets the good times roll a little too long, or the person who knows how to pick themselves up and get back to what makes them feel good?