For this episode I had the opportunity to interview the strong and beautiful Christine Capella.

She as an incredible story of surviving assault and the resulting facial reconstruction and spine surgeries, causing her to really lean into strength, grit, and resilience in a whole new way. In this episode, Christine shares her powerful story and walks us through what it looked like to choose gratitude and resilience as she endured a long and sometimes incredibly painful healing process. She also opens up about how she's discovered that sharing her personal story has been so healing not only for herself, but for so many others. With her signature mantra, "Get up; get it done!" Christine is empowering many and changing lives as she lives authentically and shares her story of strength and healing. I know you will love her as much as I do!!

More about Christine:

Christine Capella is an online transformational coach and speaker. She was assaulted in 2015 and had to undergo multiple surgeries, 2 facial reconstructive surgeries and 2 spine surgeries. Using fitness and the principles of fitness she was able to overcome all obstacles in her life, build her mental toughness, resilience and confidence. Her mantra: “Get up, get it done” has gotten her through all her hardships and knows that it can help you too!

Connect with Christine:

Instagram - @christinecapella

TikTok - @christinecapella

(TRANSCRIPT) Episode 7: Cultivating Resilience Through Painful Circumstances - Christine Capella

Gabi: Hello friends and welcome back to Pain to Passion Live. I'm really excited because today I get to chat with someone that I've kind of been getting to know on Instagram. We had a mutual friend and I was like, this chick is awesome. And she said yes when I asked her to be on the podcast, so I'm so excited.

Her name is Christine Capella. Hi Christine. Thank you so much for being here with us today.

Christine: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I really am so humbled and honored to be here.

Gabi: Well, I'm really, really excited to talk with you cause you have just like the best vibe, so much energy and an amazing story that I know our listeners are going to just be like, gobsmacked by. It's one of my favorite words, gobsmacked.

Christine: It is a good word. I love it.

Gabi: It's such a good word. But I'd love for you to just tell us a little bit about you. I'll put your bio and stuff in the show notes, but I love for my guests to just introduce themselves and say like, This is who I am, because maybe something interesting that's not in the bio will come out.

So go for it. Tell us who you are.

Christine: So my name is Christine Capella. I am 43 years old. I live in New York City and in 2015 I was assaulted by a stranger and I've undergone multiple surgeries. The most recent was, um, a spine surgery in 2019, and then I had a double spine surgery in 2020. And I'm a transformational coach along with motivational speaker and really, what fueled me was my story. I realized that my story had a purpose and it led me to where I am now.

Gabi: That's amazing. I mean, talk about pain to passion. It's like, the perfect story for this podcast, which is part of the reason why I'm so excited to chat with you. But it's just interesting because you say like, this happened in 2015, right?

Which is like almost eight years ago. Which is crazy. It's almost 2023. But, you're still Christine. You were Christine then, and you're Christine now. Then this crazy thing happened to you, which we can go into the story more, but what would you say is like the biggest change in, before Christine and after Christine, and also maybe what's stayed the same that's been at the core of who you are?

Christine: Oh, that's such, that's such a good question. Um, I honestly think that at my core, I've always been really strong and very resilient. So that is really what got me through everything. But I don't know if I realized my strengths. I didn't realize my resilience, I didn't realize my grit, my determination.

So like it was always there, but I, I didn't know it was there. If that makes any sense. So like absolutely this, this event actually like uncovered it a little bit more for me, for me to really see it and see that that's who I was at my core. But then it also really built my confidence in myself, which sounds really crazy that such a traumatic event would build your confidence.

But it really showed me that I can overcome any adversity and I can push forward and it, that did build my confidence. 

Gabi: Wow. Yeah, I mean, really honestly, how could anyone know what their strength is unless they face something that requires it? Right? And so I'm sure you were a gritty, passionate, strong, go for it kind of person, but you had never faced anything close to what you faced in 2015, which really put you to the test.

Right?

Christine: A hundred percent. And I feel like, you know, like you always think that one thing that you're dealing with, like, you know, I remember prior to this, it was like, you know, breakups and like these terrible relationships. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is the worst thing my life and I'm never gonna get through it.

And then you get through it and then this happened and I was like, Oh wait, this is way worse than any of my breakups, but I can use that strength from the breakups. And then when I was told that I was gonna have these spine surgeries, I was like, Oh my gosh, I can use all of the strength from before.

So it was almost, I really do believe in life that like you kind of get prepared gradually for these big defining moments, and that's really what happened in my opinion. 

Gabi: Yeah, I agree with you. I definitely agree. We, we can't really understand what the pattern of our life is for or what it's about until we have those Aha moments.

And sometimes the aha moment is like something magnificent, and sometimes it's something really terrifying, but it's like, that's what this was all leading up to, and I'm prepared for it now, which is pretty cool when you think about it. So I'm sure that people are already curious, like, Okay, you've hinted at this story, so I would love to just open the floor and let you kind of share whatever you want about your story, and then we can dig into how you've become and who you've become through all of this.

Does that sound good to you? 

Christine: That sounds perfect to me. So I will say this, that this story is a very long story with a lot of like twists and turns and plots and you know, like there's a lot to it. So if I skip over any of it, or if you really want like the real nitty gritty, like it's on my Instagram and my highlight, so like, I'm gonna try to get through it cuz like I said, there's so, there's so many layers to this story, but in 2015 I was out with my girlfriends and I always like to preface the story with, there were a lot of times in my life when bad things should have happened. I put myself in a lot of bad situations. This was not one of those days, this was one of those days where nothing should have happened. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, right? Like I wasn't in like in a bad area, and my friends and I were leaving the place that we were at and we were waiting for our Uber, and there was a stranger on the street.

He was very intoxicated and started aggressively hitting on me. And what I always tell people too is that from my Instagram, you can't tell how little I am, but on a good day, I'm just brushing five feet. So, I'm teeny tiny, and he's now aggressively hitting on me and pulling me by my arm and I can't get his hands off of me.

And so my friends come around and they literally had to peel his, his hands off of me cuz he had such a grip on my arm. And we thought everything was over and done with. And we turned around, had our backs to him, thought he was leaving and the Uber was literally like a minute away, and he came running up behind me, picked me up over his shoulders and wanted to take me and carry me with him.

But because he was too intoxicated, he couldn't hold onto me and he let go, which, in a way is a saving grace too, because God knows what would've happened if he had taken me or what his plan was if he had, you know, been able to carry me away. But he let go of me and I went face first into the concrete.

My hands didn't brace the fall. My nails didn't break. I didn't have a scratch on my hands, arms, nothing. My purse remained on my shoulder, so as my entire face into the concrete. And then he fell right on top of me and yeah, it's wild. It's wild when you think about it, right? Like it's just a crazy and it's one of those incidents.

This could have happened to anybody, right? Like I said, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, one of those situations. So then he ends up taking off and running. I get put into an ambulance, and I don't remember very much at this point. I just remember that there was blood everywhere.

I remember being in the ambulance and asking to check for my teeth and I started screaming, thinking I didn't have my teeth. Thank God my teeth were there. Um, I end up waking up in the hospital to find out that I have a severe concussion. My sunglasses had shattered completely on my face and went through the bridge of my nose.

My nose was completely shattered. This part of my upper lip that's connected to your nostril was completely detached from my nostril and hanging down, and they had to stitch that back up and my teeth had gone through my lip. And then in the fall he had also crushed my neck. So that was what I woke up to.

And I remember being in the hospital, and again, when these things happen to your face, they won't let you look in the mirror, and all I wanted to do, I mean all, all I wanted to do was look in the mirror. We are all defined by our facial features, right? Like, that's how people identify us and how we identify ourselves.

And I remember getting home and. That was the very first thing that I did when I got home from the hospital and I was unrecognizable. It was like nothing I could have even been prepared for. And after that, I ended up having to go for two facial reconstructive surgeries. My, my nose, like I said, like I like to say my nose was on the side of my cheek.

Like it was not even connected. My face was just a mess. And little did I know that, um, my neck was really going to be the cause of a lot of great pain, but at that time I was dealing with the facial issues and going for the facial reconstructive surgeries. And then I also had what's called, um, Postconcussive Vertigo, and if anybody is familiar with vertigo, I think it might be the worst thing that I've ever experienced.

The only way I can describe it is it's like having the drunk spins 24-7. Horrible. So like the imagine the nauseousness and the headaches and the sickness is just 24-7. You're feeling like that. And that went on for months for me. Like that was not just like a few days.

The assault happened in May. I ended up having to go for, um, a very specific type of physical therapy, which is called vestibular rehab. And I wouldn't say I, they kind of, I would kind of cured it is like I putting it very lightly in October, November. So it was months and months of spinning, but, I mean, I still had more healing to go through and more physical therapy in that regard.

And then I had to go for physical therapy with my neck. And I went for physical therapy for about two years, I would say, with my neck and did all the injections and did everything that I could possibly do. And I remember the doctors looking at me, they're like, this is as good as as it's gonna get and you're gonna need surgery.

And I...There's no way. There's no way I'm gonna need spine surgery. There is no way. I'm fine. And they're like, they were like, You're gonna need it. I'm like, No, no, I'm not. Like I was very, very determined that I wasn't ever gonna need spine surgery. And then in 2019, I don't know what was going on. Like a lot of time had passed and I wasn't connecting the two, but I was, and I should have, like, I really should have been connecting the pain that I was experiencing the pain from the assault, but all of my pain was just gradually getting worse, and I was having terrible migraines, and my arms were going numb, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. And I remember one day being at work and I couldn't hold onto anything, and I called my mother and I was like, I, I actually think I need to go to the hospital.

This is really bad. Like, I don't know what's going on here. So I took myself to the hospital in 2019 and they were like, You're gonna need to go see a neurosurgeon. And again, like I, I should have, I should have known then that I was gonna be going in for surgery. But again, it was like I just had this like, False, like hope.

I don't know if like that's what's gotten me through everything, but I was like, I'm gonna be fine. I'm gonna be fine. Like there's no way I'm gonna need surgery. I walk into the surgeon's office and he's like, Well, we'll give you medication for two weeks. If that doesn't work, then we'll try you on some injections.

I was like, Okay, cool. Like, that's great. I'm gonna, I'm gonna be fine. I left there again, very hopeful that the medication was gonna work, and I go back two weeks later and I couldn't understand why the medication didn't work. And again, still I'm thinking he's not gonna tell me I'm gonna need surgery.

Like I'm not gonna need spine surgery. There's no way. And he is like, Look, you need spine surgery. I'm like, What? Oh my gosh, what do you mean? I go, I thought we were gonna talk about injections. He's like, You've already done injections. They didn't work. You've tried the medication. It's not working. You need spine surgery.

And I think it was like within three weeks after that I was going in and wow it, so it was very fast. Um, and I don't wanna take away from any other type of surgery, but there's something really scary about going in for spine surgery. Just knowing, I mean, there's always a risk with any surgery, right? Like, I'm not gonna take away from that.

There was something different about this, like very different than my facial reconstructive surgeries where I was like, I could be paralyzed with, with a slip. Like God forbid his hand shakes, like I could be paralyzed from the neck down. And so you just have to really mentally prepare for this in a totally different type of way than I've ever, that I could ever even explain. So I did all, all the things that I could possibly do to mentally prepare myself, and I go in and I'll never forget waking up from that surgery. And I looked at my surgeon and I said to him, Dr. Baum, did we make the right decision? Because again, you know, I'm very young.

I'm young in the spine surgery world. And so it was a, it was a difficult decision to make and thankfully, the team of doctors that I have, like they sat together as a team, they really discussed it and they were like, Yeah, no, you need surgery. And so I trusted them, but again, it was a, a difficult decision.

And so that was my first question, waking up and he's like, not only did we make the right decision, but you would've been paralyzed from the neck down within six months to a year if we didn't do the surgery. And I was like, What? Why? And he's like, Your scans weren’t showing that the bone fragments from the assault had moved into your vertebrae canal and were pressing against your spinal cord, and you had bone spurs growing at such a rapid pace that you would've been paralyzed from the neck down within six months to a year. And I was like, Oh my gosh, this is wild.

So I escaped paralysis in the assault because I really, I truly believe so many worse things should have happened on that day. That I escape and paralysis being one of them. Now here I am, laying in this hospital bed knowing that I escaped paralysis for a second time, and all I have is this massive amount of gratitude. And I, like, you couldn't keep me in that hospital bed. Like the nurses, the nurses were yelling at me because I was, you know, like the compression things that go on your legs in the hospital?

I was ripping them off of myself and I was just getting up out of bed and I go in the bathroom and they're like, Whoa, whoa, whoa. Like, you're supposed to ring for us like you are a liability. I'm like, You cannot tell me to sit down after you just told me that I could have been paralyzed.

So I was like up and about, ready to go. But then, I mean, I was doing well with my healing, thought I was on the right path. And six months into that, um, recovery, all my pain came back. I was like, What the heck is going on? And now we're in the midst of lockdown, right? So now the whole world is on lockdown.

I'm like, hospitals aren't even open. And I'm reaching out to my surgeon who's in like the Covid ward. God, God bless him for even like responding to me. But he's like, Look, hospitals are shut down. There's nothing that you can do. Let's wait the full year. I was like, Okay, we’ll wait the full year. He's like, But you're on like even more restricted like workouts.

Cause I was working out this entire time, like I wasn't stopping. And he is like, you know, we're going to restrict you a little bit more. I was like, Okay, that's fine. Just don't tell me that I can't not move. Yeah. And so, um, we again now have to meet and decide am I going back in for surgery? Why? What's going on? Why is the pain back? And we're realizing. The scans are showing that I'm fused because I had a fusion done as well as all the metal that was put into my neck on that first surgery, which means that I should have had bone growth to connect my spine and just make it secure. And the scans are showing that I'm fusing and things are fine, but clinically based on what I'm telling my doctors and going for the second and third opinions that my doctor insisted I go on, they were like, You're not fused.

Something's not right. Like you need to go in for another surgery. But this time, You're going in for a double spine surgery. I'm like, What? What do you mean a double spine surgery? They're like, Well, the first time we went in just the front of your neck. This time we're gonna go in the front of your neck again, because two of the levels above aren't looking that great.

We're gonna fix those. But at the same time, you're gonna be on a special operating table that has you strapped in and flips you over mid surgery. And we're gonna go in the back of your, vertically from the base of your skull down to the middle of like your back, and we are going to manually fuse you.

So now we're gonna put in titanium rods because you're, you know, you need to be fused. I'm like, Okay, here we go again. Let me just like mentally prepare for this again. So I went through that same process and um, I did all the things that I needed to do and I was scared. I, and I can't lie. I mean, this was a bigger surgery as a 10 hour surgery and now, now I already know what the pain is like.

Like I've already done this once before. Yeah. I'm no longer a rookie. So, I go in again and again. I wake up and this and this time is in the middle of Covid, so I'm by myself and oh my gosh, is the first time like I'm really by myself. Cuz my parents, God bless them, had like really been with me through all my surgeries.

But again, I'm like, well I'm a celebrity at the, at the hospital, you know, they all know me. It's no big deal. Like, I'll be fine. But I go in and I wake up from that 10 hour surgery and I ask my surgeon the same exact question. I said, Did we make the right decision? And he said, Not only did we make the right decision, but you weren't fused at any of your levels.

And in the year of you supposedly healing and recovering, You weren't healed and your neck was like a weeble wobble, and so you snapped two of your titanium screws in half and you had metal fragments in your spine. Terrifying. And the scans weren't showing any of it. So now again, the third time here I am escaping paralysis.

Like I'm waking up from this surgery with a new lease on life. And again, you are not holding me down in that bed. I am like a wild animal. I am just getting up out of bed and I just have a massive amount of gratitude for life and for the fact that I can move my body. And now here we are.

Gabi: Wow. Girl, that's a crazy story.

Christine: It’s a crazy story. And that's like me cutting it down for you.

Gabi: Yeah, I'm sure. Cause that's years worth of stuff. All like whittled down to however many minutes that was, not very much time. Um, and not only was your body going through like so much craziness, but also let's talk about getting assaulted is like super traumatic in so many ways.

Even if you hadn't gotten hurt, that would've been a lot to process. Right, but you did, so there was that mentally, physically, emotionally, like all of those things. It's just like you were in the fire. But I look at you now, for anybody who doesn't watch the video and hasn't seen Christine, like, go look at her Instagram.

She's a beautiful person, which it's pretty amazing what those surgeons can do, right? Let's just talk about, Wow. Some very gifted people out there. Um, but you're also like smiling and you're showing up and you have kind of made this, I'm assuming it's a pretty big pivot in your life where now you're doing transformational speaking and coaching and all of this stuff, like something really grew inside of you that is pretty extraordinary.

Like what, what happened that brought you to, I mean, obviously we know what happened. What did that pivot look like? Like how did you decide, Okay, I'm actually going to do something with this message? I feel like I have something to give back to the world because not everyone, it's not right or wrong, but not everyone who goes through something like this is like, Okay, now I need to use my story for good.

What was that in you that created that?

Christine: So my, again, I feel like I have a lot of long stories.

Gabi: That's okay. Go for it.

Christine: Um, it's really interesting because I don't think I really realized the power of my story and the power within me until this last spine surgery, which is really wild to think, right?

Because, hearing everything, you would think that that's what would've propelled me forward. It was actually five. I'm trying to think, when did I get into the social media space? I got into the social media space five years ago. And I didn't get into it because of my assault. I had no intention of sharing my story.

But I got into it because I was going through a bad breakup. There's always a bad breakup, right? Like there's always some like man attached to certain things. So there was this bad breakup that I was going through and I needed to focus my energy on something else, and fitness was already a part of my life.

And I was like, how much more time can I really spend in the gym? Like I need something else. So, There was a, a girl that I knew that was part of an mlm and I saw that she was doing it and I was like, Well, you know, I can, I can do this and I need some to make some extra cash. So I ended up joining her team.

I ended up just falling in love with social media. I do have a love for MLMs. I'm no longer part of an mlm. I'm very grateful for the journey that it brought me on. Um, She really pushed me to start sharing my story of my assault and how I overcame it and how I used fitness to overcome all of it, because I really did work out throughout the entire journey, which is wild, like, and, when I say working out, sometimes that was just, that just looked like a walk, right? But I made sure that I was moving my body throughout the entire process, even through all of my spine surgeries. And so she kept pushing me to share the story as that. And as I started to open up about that story, I realized the impact that I was having on other people, and I was like.

I never expected this because to me, at that point, even though at that point it was like two years old, I, I, I thought it was old news. I was over the story. I was like, I'm tired of this. Like I'm moving forward in my life, right? Like little did I know that I wasn't really moving forward. I was gonna have two more spine surgeries, but, um, I realized that I was impacting people just by sharing my story and that there were actually other people out there who have been assaulted, whether it was domestic violence or something similar to what I went through and just finding other people to share my story with was healing not only for myself, but healing for them. And that was very, very powerful. But then, like I said, I don't really think that I realized my true power until the second spine surgery.

I was laying in that bed after that surgery and it something hit me, something came over me where I was like, No, this is it. This is it. Like I, I don't have any other choice but to move forward with this and keep sharing my story and keep helping people and keep inspiring people and keep showing people how to get up and get it done and you know, that is my slogan.

And that is my mantra. And that's been my mantra from day one. But that was when I, it was really like where it really came out of me, where I realized this can really help people. And I'm here in this position. I'm here in this hospital bed to help people and to show people what really can be done.

And so that was a pivot for me.

Gabi: Wow. What an amazing perspective like, to be there in the hospital and not to be thinking like, Oh woe is me, Which I feel like in some ways you had a right to feel pretty sorry for yourself, but okay, you had two options, right? Be like, What the heck? Why am I here again?

Or the option that you chose, which was like, oh my gosh, I just dodged the bullet again, I am getting up out of this bed and walking away like I'm a miracle. Right? And I, I see this, It's kind of interesting as I'm thinking about it, I see this repeatedly in people's lives where if something happens three times, it's, God's really like trying to hit you over the head cause you're like, this has a  reason. That you're experiencing this and it's not just for you, it's for so many other people. And stories are so powerful. We're moved by story. We, That's why we love to go to movies. That's why we love to read books. It's because stories move. At like a human level in a way that other things just don't. So I love that you're sharing your story. I think it's so, so powerful. And again, for those of you who can't see Christine right now, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see her, but otherwise, Her sweatshirt says, Get up, get it done.

Which by the way, I need one of those. It's super cute.

Christine: Yes. My new launch is coming out soon. It's coming soon.

Gabi: That's exciting. I'm totally gonna get one. And her screen says, Get up, get it done. And she says it all the time, like on her reels and everything. She says, Get up, get it done. So Christine, can you kind of tell us like, What's this Get up, get it done all about.

Christine: So I do want, I'm going to share that, but I do wanna go back, um, to something that you said about how I had a choice to say like, woe is me. Why is this happening to me again? And I do want to say that I did go through those moments. Like I don't want anybody to ever think that I'm like overly positive, right?

These were traumatic moments. And I did have my dark moments, um, when I was told that I was going back and for spine surgery, believe me, I was on the floor in my apartment like woe was me. Why is this happening? How am I gonna do this again? How can I go through this pain again? Like, how am I gonna, like, there were all those questions.

So all of that did happen, but I always. I would say that there's gotta be a time limit on your pity party. So when I was given the news, I feel like I was given it on like a Thursday or Friday, because I remember like the weekend spending the weekend on the floor in my apartment, just like crying.

But then I finally was like, I know what, like I, I'm gonna get up and get it done. Like, I can't sit here on the ground anymore. This is, these are the cards that I'm being dealt. I need to play out this hand and see how it goes. And, and that's it, right? Like I have that choice to make a decision now and either I can go in to the surgery feeling defeated, or I can go in and look at myself as the victor and come out with a victory. And that's what I ended up doing. And so, and then also just getting that good news after coming outta surgery, like where Yeah, You know, like that kind that does help a little bit.

Yeah, for sure. It definitely helps. But um, I do think that we are all human and we are definitely entitled to have those lows, you have to feel through those lows. You just don't wanna get stuck there. Give yourself a time limit on the pity party. 

Gabi: Yeah, I like that. I like that cuz you're right, we do have to feel the things.

It's unhealthy to deny that like things that suck suck. Right? That things that are sad are sad and you need the healing and you need support around you. You need therapy, you need like all the things. Yes, I'm a full advocate of all the healing things. Yeah. I am also an advocate of the time limit and, um, Sorry, my dog just like walked by…Sorry Podcast listeners. She just like, I just had all this hair, like so gross. Anyway, the time limit is so great. It's like, I think the Mel Robbins 5 4, 3 21, which I'm sure you've thought of, you've heard of that. It reminds me of this, um, because there is something that happens in your brain when you say, I am giving myself permission to feel. But I am also moving forward. It keeps you out of that victim mode to an extent. You know what I mean? Where you're taking power back in your life, even in those darkest moments and getting it done. And I think what I've loved seeing you show up recently cuz you're, you're not talking about get up, get it done just with like physical ailments or, um, those kinds of struggles.

You're talking about it in relationships. You're talking about it in decision making and all of these different things that you talk about. I mean, you've been talking about, I think, like narcissists and things like that recently, which I've been like, Yes, girl. It's important. But, um, anyway, I'm totally getting sidetracked by all of that, but I just love, I love that.

Get up, get it done. Um, I think it's inspiring.

Christine: Well, I think that, like for me, I know that it. Pulled me through my darkest moments, right? Like not only with physical pain and daily chronic pain that I still deal with every single day, like I can't even tell you the number on the, on the scale of pain that I'm at right now, today.

You know, like my pain doesn't go away. So I still use it every single day to get myself out of bed. But also, you know, people think that, um, relationships sometimes, like when you have that breakup like, it's not supposed to be as difficult as it is, but breakups are hard. That heartache is hard, and sometimes you just, you do have to get up and get it done, and you do have to walk away and get up and get it done, and like keep, keep moving forward. And so really like this mantra for me applies to all areas of my life where really it's just about facing the hard going forward. And pushing yourself past that limit. Because I think a lot of times we think that we can't move through whatever that pain is, whether it is actual physical pain, whether it is heartache, whether it is mental pain, you know, mental health, whatever it is.

Like we think that we can't push through it, and a lot of times you just have to get up and get it done. That's it. Just keep moving forward.

Gabi: Yeah, absolutely. Um, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I know I could talk, you know, for hours, but I'd love to hear your thoughts about, um, the importance of having people around you that can help push you forward too, because I'm sure that while you are a very strong human, you didn't do all of this alone.

What has been the importance of those relationships around you to help Move forward?

Christine: So I will, I mean, like I, I have two like feelings on this, right? Because a lot of it was done on my own in that like I had to have the strength within myself to Pull myself up and go and work out like I like to say, or move my body, right?

Like nobody else was gonna do it for me. After that assault, when I could barely stand up and I was wobbly and I was. I remember arguing with the doctors and I was like, When are, when is somebody gonna clear me to work out? Because I need to start moving my body. They're like, You're crazy. You're not going anywhere.

Sit your, sit your behind down. And I was like, No, I need to move. And finally, like when they did clear me, my mom would walk with me because I wasn't steady enough on my own, own two feet. So, although it was Pulling myself up and me telling my mom that I wanted to go for a walk, having my mom there as my support system was so critical. And I always say, you know, people can support you, but nobody can come and save you. Like nobody can do the hard work for you. But you do need that support system, even if it is just one person. And I've been very, very blessed. The most incredible parents ever.

Like, oh, if you, if you watch my stories religiously, like when, whenever I'm with my parents, my parents make a little cameo. My mom's kind of Instagram famous people are obsessed with my mother. Um, that's a whole nother dynamic on my Instagram that I can't even get into. But, um, having that support system is so, so important because otherwise, At least for me, I know that you can easily fall into that negative spiral and having that support system, having like my parents to be able to like laugh with for example, you know, like things weren't always so serious, we would have moments of laughter and I think that if you don't have that, then it's really hard to get through the, the hard moments in life. I'm a big believer in laughter, like, as you can tell, like I know you mentioned it before that like I've been smiling the whole time.

Like, I think that laughter is medicine and it is good for your soul, and you have to find moments of joy in your day, even in your darkest moments. Um, it's all, it's actually part of my morning routine. I do, I do what I call car dancing. I love it. It's so ridiculous. But like on my drive into work, I just blast music and I car dance and that's it.

Like, you know when your music's up really loud and like you're just dancing and vibing out, like that's part of my morning routine cuz it just makes me feel good. But I think that having that support system to get you through those dark moments and to laugh and to smile with, and just even to cry with like you need, you need those people.

Gabi: Yeah, definitely. I have found that to be true in my life as well. I think probably most people have, and like you said, there was so much of it that was just like you had to make the choice. Which really, again, comes back to you owning the power that you do have to make the decision to move forward in that moment.

But to have those people around you to move forward with you is like, So invaluable, right?

Christine: It is. Yeah. And it does. It makes the journey a little bit easier.

Gabi: It sure does. It sure does. Absolutely true. Yeah. Well, this has been so awesome. I mean, you have shared so much great stuff, and again, we'll, we'll just have to chat again another time because you have so much wisdom and so much great stuff to share. I would love for my listeners to be able to connect with you. What's the best way for them to get connected with you right now as they're listening?

Christine: The best way to get connected with me is on my Instagram at @ChristineCapella.

I have just branched out to TikTok, so I know I feel so big like dipping my toe in TikTok. I love it. But you can find me over there. But Instagram really is the best way, and you can, I always tell everybody, feel free to send me a message. I love connecting with people. I respond to everybody. If somebody is going through a struggle, I am here.

I just love, love, love connecting with people in my dms.

Gabi: And you're good at it, you're gifted at it, so, take her up on it, you guys, and I'll be sure to put everything in the show notes as well. But for those of you who are just like, I love this girl, I wanna get connected right now, just go find her on Instagram.

Thank you Christine. If there's anything else you wanna share before we leave, feel free. Um, but otherwise, I will definitely not take any more of your time today, but is there anything else you wanted to share with us before we go today?

Christine: I just wanna say thank you and to all the listeners. Always get up and get it done every single day.

Gabi: Yes. so good. Thank you, Christine. Have an amazing day. We'll chat soon. Thank you.