Abby Gilmore reveals how she found a happy life

Abby Gilmore has revealed how she found the key to unlocking her happiness and how a simple change in thinking helped reshape her life.

Abby Gilmore has given an insight into how she’s used the power of positive thinking to rebuild her identity and find happiness..

The social media influencer and mum of three admits she’s grateful for the rough times which have helped shape her life.

“I feel like when my life’s direction went in a different way, I was trying to cope with a loss of identity and trying to find who I was and what my purpose was,’’ Gilmore said.

“I had two beautiful kids but sometimes I feel us mums get lost under that hat sometimes and I felt like when I took that mum hat off I didn’t know who Abby was.

“The last four or five years has been me discovering that.”

Gilmore and ex-partner, Essendon star Jake Stringer, split in 2016 when he was playing for the Western Bulldogs.

It was on that path since where she started to inspire others and positively use her influence.

Two months ago she launched Shine by Abby Gilmore, everyday affirmation cards for children.

Abby Gilmore and her children. Picture: Instagram

“I found that in my journey of trying to help my kids through their own stuff as well that’s where these affirmations came in to work,’’ Gilmore said.

“We used to do them every night and sometimes I was doing them for the kids but I really needed to hear those words. Then it turned into really trying to undo a lot of conditioning that you get from a lot of people when you go through something so big.

“You get a lot of people’s opinions and ideas on what you should be doing but I really just wanted to make my own decisions and to do that I needed to unlearn a lot of things and decondition myself to give my kids the best opportunity at having a safe and happy family.”

Gilmore and Stringer are cohesively co-parenting their two daughters, Milla, 6, and Arlo, 5, who are their priorities.

She is now in a relationship with builder Leigh Wellington and they have a two year-old son Mason.

Stringer and his partner Taylor McVeigh welcomed a son, River, last year.

“When you shift your focus to your kids and this goes for everyone that co-parents, it’s so easy to get invested in your egos and everyone else’s opinions in what they think you should be doing, but it’s so important to remind people experiencing what we did, to stop and put your kids first and think about them,’’ Gilmore said.

Leigh Wellington and Abby Gilmore. Picture: Fiona Byrne

“When I do these affirmations with my kids we are literally enforcing new patterns.

“It helps with problem solving and I think as an adult why wait til you are an adult to find the best tools to cope. I want to give that to my kids now.”

She added: “There’s a lot of work that goes into healing yourself and it’s not always glamorous and pretty and you’re not always happy. But I seriously find so much greatness in the low moments too.

“It’s in those moments you do want to stop and keep going but if you do just go that little bit further, that’s where the magic happens.

“I’m so grateful for a lot of pain I have had to go through because that’s where the learning happens and the big shift happens.”

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