Design Your Life | Pernille Speirs-Lopez

I can only see my feet, and only the flashing red light. I remember what was on my mind: Is this then the success? Here I am far from my home, my family, my children, and my life. I was lying in the back of an ambulance after just turning forty, thinking I was going to die of a heart attack, though I had just collapsed from exhaustion. This happened in the middle of a very happy and successful career. I had just been promoted from store manager to human resource manager at IKEA in North America, and had been traveling weekly from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. I had been married to a wonderful man who was my husband and friend only a few years ago, we had two wonderful children, we took care of the house, we took care of the dog as well, and lots of friends. But at some point I forgot to take care of myself.