1/23/13 Treading water, in the quicksand

They weren’t kidding when they said time goes faster as you get older. I swear since I hit 40 it’s going by faster than the speed of light! Fortunately, I am surrounded by the most amazing people who make my life journey worthwhile. This past week, I once again celebrated being born. I have always enjoyed birthdays, and not just mine. My Mother always made us feel special no matter how old we got. Of course, with a January 20^th birthday, I have historically shared that day with crazy world events like the Presidential Inaugurations, MLK 3-day weekends, and even a few Super Bowls...so YES, I do feel special. This year however, was special because I am surviving adversities, and am just ever so grateful that I have cultivated friendships with some of the most outstanding people anyone could know!

Three weeks into what I am hoping is a fabulous 2013, I am trying to find my inner peace, enhance my health & well-being and continue to work on digging out of financial crisis. It’s going to be a long road, but with the support I have, I remain optimistic. Not getting overwhelmed and hiding from the world seems to be the biggest obstacle!

I have signed up for my first 5K in early February, always nice to have a goal for my workouts. I know I also have to work out a plan for the upcoming FSU baseball season. No, I don’t play, but I’m a strong spectator, and worse yet; a super strong tailgater! Can I find a better balance at tailgates of better food & less adult beverages? Only time will tell! Meanwhile, I will continue to pursue my dietary & exercises changes on a daily basis as I figure out what works best for me.

1/14/13 The good, the bad, the ugly

The Good: Two weeks into the New Year and I’m feeling good! Exercise is becoming a regular activity again, and while losing 5 lbs. feels great, what I’m really excited about is that I can already see the difference in how my clothes fit again. Pounds lost may be slow, but I am feeling fitter & trimmer. I’m starting to see some muscles again—and I’m only seven workout-days in! The best part? My husband is actually noticing and commenting, which he has never done in the past!

Now the food changes come to me much slower. Deprivation has never really worked for me, so I’m more about portion control, and incorporating substitutions as I go. The most successful thing for me has been reading numerous blogs and recipe suggestions and applying what works for me. A few options outside my comfort zone have been interesting, if not particularly appealing to my palate—at least I’m trying now.

I am still adjusting to how things are at the small Methodist church we’ve started attending. Having been raised Catholic and attended suburban Catholic churches all my life, the small country Methodist church is just a bit different of an experience. However, even in my lapsed church attendance, I have still always believed God is well aware of where I am and what I’m doing all the time. If I can find my spiritual inner peace, I’m pretty sure he won’t mind which physical church I attend.

The Bad: Ongoing financial battles, constantly 2 steps forward, one step back, or maybe we’re just going ‘round & ‘round and never actually forward & back? I hate that I’m nowhere near the financial state I expected to be in at this point in my life. Not that I expected to be Bill Gates, but I definitely thought I wouldn’t be worried about making car payments! Getting in shape financially is even harder than getting in shape physically!

The Ugly: Attending a funeral tomorrow and it is never, ever an easy thing to say goodbye to someone or console friends who have lost a loved one. I will offer my love & support with the hope it gives the family a little comfort.

Circle of Life

The wheels of life roll on and if you don’t roll with them, you might get run over! I understand the circle of life, babies are born, people pass on, and that is the natural progression of things. Unfortunately, the reality is, dealing with death is never ever easy.

A close friend lost her father yesterday, and that is just awful. I hope the support I offer her will give her some comfort, but I know from experience the grief process is different for everyone and she’s going to need time. Then low and behold, another friend went in to labor later in the day and delivered a beautiful son later in the evening. Hope for the future blossoms with the birth of a newborn, which is what we all need to hold onto as we say goodbye to those that have passed on. Doesn’t make it any easier by any means, just gives us that little something that lets us know it will all be OK.

I have attended more than my fair share of funerals in the past few years, including my own Mother and a very dear friend. It just stinks no matter what. I am generally good in a crisis and I like to think I am able to offer support to my friends and loved and ones at such times.  Mostly though, it serves to constantly remind me that life is indeed very short, you never know what is going to happen. Therefore, I try to make sure the people I love know it! I encourage others to appreciate their loved ones also, because in the end, the people we love and the relationships we have are what is most important and IS our circle of life.

1/7/13

One week into 2013 and I’m feeling good about diving into some life changing habits. I’ve jumped back into exercise (3 workouts the first 5 days—YAY), and been documenting & changing some eating habits. This also included changing some alcohol-consumption habits. So far, so good as my plan was to start small (not drinking during the week) and is working out well so far. Sure, it helps to  not have a bunch of happy hours or events during the week. However there were 2 events Friday and Saturday I wanted to attend, in the end missed both due to battling a cold—so that helped me avoid drinking too. So first weekend of 2013 spent sober, kind of sick, but still made it to Saturday morning boot camp class—a fun one at that. This also provided the hubby and I some needed time together at home, just puttering around as it were.

I have also have been reading more—already finished a couple books. I used to be an avid reader and I enjoy reading, so I believe the reduction in my reading just for fun was contributing to my less-than-optimistic-mindset. Sure I read blogs, emails, and work stuff all the time, but I enjoy a good book and like to read in my spare time, it gives me much needed peace.

I’m realizing more & more the need for mental peace and finding ways to achieve it. It’s a tough challenge when daily life is bombarding me with situations that need resolutions—the brain never stops when you want it too. Certainly, neither does life. There was a line in the movie “For Love of the Game” that I strive for: Clear the mechanism. Costner’s character used it to prepare to pitch baseball games, I’d just like to be able to apply it once a day or so!

The quest for a sound mind, body and spirit is a pretty classic one. The power to achieve it is within each of us, I think they build and thrive off each other. One you start working on one, it’s easier to work on the rest, at least I certainly feel it’s working that way.

Rednole Ramblings: Motivation

Rednole Ramblings: Motivation: Motivation is that wonderful thing that drives us. It drives us to work harder for success, exercise to our limits, and find whatever j...

Motivation

Motivation is that wonderful thing that drives us. It drives us to work harder for success, exercise to our limits, and find whatever joy we can in this life. It can also be very difficult to hold on to. We are all motivated by a variety of forces, some more subtle than others.

During a tragedy, we become more motivated towards causes and stopping future tragedies. In life, many of us struggle daily for fitness motivation. It does seem a bit ridiculous with today's technological tools at our disposal. You can find everything from exercise & food tips, to online friends and supporters with a few key strokes!

There is motivation everywhere we look. From the lady in the office you see take the stairs every day, to the elite athletes we watch on TV. Charitable causes that hit close to home will motivate us to donate more; be it money, time or energy.  Motivation should be the easiest thing to maintain...so why do we make it so hard on ourselves?

Take a look around, and look inside yourself and ask, what motivates you?

Personally, 2013 for me is all about tackling things differently than I have in the past. I am very fortunate to be surrounded by many people that inspire and motivate me. The big realization is that motivation truly has to start within myself. I am motivated to not only know what I want, but to know my limitations, work around them, and seek help when needed.

I started strong with a New Year’s Day unlike any of my past—I went to a 90 minute exercise class, I did not have a NYE hangover, I did not gorge myself on food & alcohol while watching bowl games all day—low and behold, I still had an awesome time, and I felt pretty darn good.  Of course, my NOLES won their Orange Bowl game—that definitely helped!

I have started utilizing some new tools for my health, and find it spilling over into other aspects of my life. I’m sure others are on a similar journey this year, and I will continue to follow those stories as mine unfolds also. So often we are reminded how short life really is, I believe we have to make the most of it, and sometimes adjust our thinking to what means and that my friends, leads to the ultimate in personal growth.

2013 underway!

Ah the promise of a new year..it's intoxicating! Lose weight, get organized, eat better, be a better friend, and on and on it goes. However, after experiencing a pretty rough 2012 full of challenges, I am embarking on 2013 with fresh perspective.
Of course I still want to accomplish all the things listed above, but now I'm actually taking the actions necessary for success.
While I was indeed raised with a strong Catholic faith, I have definitely not been much of a church-goer as an adult. I've been pretty good with Lent, holidays, weddings, etc. but not Sunday attendance. My faith is always there, but my relationship with God & religion needed work. I have slowly been giving that more attention this past year though. In August, my husband and I moved into a home that is a former parsonage for a Methodist church. Yes, that means we now live right next door to that same church and the church Board is our landlord. Even this has been a struggle financially, yet we have persevered so far. We saw this home a blessing, and it has been for our marriage at the very least.
In December, we finally started attending the church...so three whole visits to date, but you always have to start somewhere! Amazingly, we are feeling pretty good about it and things seem to be looking up in other areas of our life!
So two days into the new year, I am making some positive changes, trying to solve instead of hide from our challenges and I feel pretty good about the year and want to share that optimism with those around me. THAT is my resolution for 2013---the rest are just action items.