Fresh Start

2019 has been a roller coaster of emotions for my family which has been the excuse I have used all year for not being consistent with my eating or moving. For those who don't personally know me, I am tall and skinny and fight for every pound I have. Just one week of not eating well and I dropped six pounds. This will take me quite awhile to gain back. All because I wasn't taking care of myself.

Guess what? Today is a new day and with each new day we have the opportunity to make amends for what happened yesterday, learn from any mistakes we have made and proceed forward with confidence that we will do all we can to do better. 

This week I am working back on my eating schedule, walking one mile and doing yoga daily to get my body loosened up. I am NOT going to jump in with both feet and hurt myself. I am a believer in slow and steady....with bursts of high intensity at the right times. I am in a slow and steady time and encourage any of you who have not made the best choices yesterday and before, to join me in taking steps to better health one day at a time.

Focus

 

"Focus on what it is you want to do. It will expand, it will multiply."

I like to listen to motivational/inspirational messages on youtube while I'm working out. I heard these words this morning and they spoke right to my heart. I am like a squirrel in a room full of shiny things...I go from one thing to the next shiny to the next shiny and then...oh wait...there's a real pretty shiny over there! Can anyone else relate?

Nothing seems to get my full attention for long. Maybe I should mention I'm an instant gratification type of person. I like to see results in short time and if not, I tend to lose interest and move onto the next shiny object. This is definitely not a good quality when working on longer term projects....like myself. 

However, if I pick just one thing to work on instead of trying to tackle the whole project at one time, I find I do much better. For too long I've been trying to take on all of me at one time. Working on becoming more organized, less procrastination, eat better, eat more, exercise, study, open a new business, keep my home clean....whew, I almost lost myself just reading all of that! Too many shiny things at one time.

Breathe. Focus. Choose.

Make The Bottom Step Yours

We've all heard that every journey begins with a single step, and this is true.  However, that first single step can be hard, scary, lonely.  Not everyone wants to go on your journey with you.  Heck, not everyone wants YOU to go on your journey.   How you are is comfortable to them, they don't want you to change, they may not accept the changes. They want to hold you back. 

You have to do you.  What do you want, what dreams do you have, what goals?  Give some serious thought to these questions and write down ideas.  You aren't going to figure this out in two minutes, let it be an ongoing list that is ever growing and changing...as you continue to grow and change.

Who you are today and what you want is not the same as it was ten years ago, and it won't be the same ten years from now either.   You are a living, breathing, ever evolving wonderful child of God.  He did not make you from a mold.  You are your own unique person...with a mind of your own.

Take a look at that list you are writing.  What do you need to do to get started on making any one of the items on it come to fruition?  Not the whole plan, just the first thing necessary to get it going.  That is the very first step...often times the hardest step.  Don't look at the whole staircase that needs to be climbed to reach what you want at the top.  Look at the first most precious step.  The step that means change, improvement, a better you.  

Stand tall, know what you want and step up. 

Don't forget to DO

It is nice to realize there are things we want to do and accomplish in our lives. We dream about how life will be when these things happen. It gives us the warm fuzzies.

However, just dreaming about this future life and accomplishments isn't going to make it happen. WE make it happen! We think about what we want and then decide the best course of action to get it. Some things will require only small changes on our part. Others will demand more of our time.

Dreaming and thinking and planning are all important aspects of getting what we want, but action...truly living our life in a way that promotes these aspects, is what will ultimately help us to reach our goals.