I have such a love/hate relationship with tomorrow. Tomorrow is a chance to start again, to have your do-over, and another chance to accomplish your dreams. But that "other chance" is where I also find myself not fond of the concept surrounding "tomorrow". Getting another chance, for some, is the perfect excuse for procrastination.
"I'll do it tomorrow."
How many times have you said that, and "tomorrow" turned into the next day, or the next week - or even was forgotten all together? I have been saying I want to clean out my garage for about two years now, and that I'd start "tomorrow". I said that in 2015 - thankfully in January 2018 it's finally happened, but that procrastination wasn't just days - it was years!
Where I see this happen the most is with people who fully anticipate furthering their education, but they put it off and put it off because the "timing just isn't right". Before they know it they have been out of the education game for ten years and now the "timing isn't right" because it's "too late". (For the record - it is NEVER EVER "too late" to do AN-Y-THING).
I write this experiencing some procrastination of my own. I seem to have found myself in one of those areas of life where you seem to be stuck in some weird purgatory full of lack of direction. You know you want to do something, but you can't exactly pinpoint what that "thing" is. Personally, I don't necessarily want to rush this decision at all, because then I could end up doing anything just to do SOMETHING, and that certainly isn't what I want. I feel like whatever this little "purgatory party" is leading me to, it's going to be something significant. But how does one not put something off until "tomorrow" if they don't know what that something is yet?
My remedy for this is giving time to each day to think about where I thrived in that day. What made me feel really great, or really accomplished that day? Where do I get the butterflies in life - and by that I mean, what makes me feel truly alive when I am doing it? What makes me feel like what I did held purpose? What interests me? What activities are associated with those things that I can continue to do, or tap into, that can help grow those feelings into something more?
Many of you who are reading this might find yourself in a lack luster job. You don't hate it (or maybe you do), you're grateful that you have it, but as far as being passionate about it - eeeeeh - not so much. It is the passions in life (that we too often ignore) that give us LIFE! It is those passions that we should be taking time each day to explore, and consider, and contemplate how we can do more of those, or find ourselves in situations where we can experience more of them. Passion should never be handed the "tomorrow card", because the more cards it is handed the faster it seems to fade.
If you have a passion, nurture it today - don't push it off until tomorrow. Even if it's five minutes that you can give to it, give it those five minutes. Just like your body and your life, that passion is YOURS - it isn't someone else's'. Stop worrying if it's the right thing to do, what other people may think, or if you will succeed or fail and just enjoy the ride for today.
And then do it all over again tomorrow.
Challenge: Is there something you have been putting off that you know needs to get done? Sound off in the comments below and then check back in once you have taken your first step!
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Change is Good - But the Good Can Take Time
Recently, I made a huge change in my life. For about six years of my life I was involved in network marketing. Network marketing was never something I aspired to do - ever. I would often roll my eyes at the Avon or Mary Kay people but that was because I couldn't see the passion behind their product. For me, with Beachbody, I didn't join to "sell things" or "earn side money" - I just really loved the products and thought my friends might love them too. For six years, we all loved them together! Business boomed, relationships were formed and grew, adventures were had!! But at the start of Year 5 something inside of me shifted. It wasn't the business, it was me - and it came out of nowhere.
Just that feeling of the shift scared the living day lights out of me, because I was very "Ra-ra Team Beachbody!" for many years; however, I became sad. I became disheartened. I became stressed out and full of anxiety when things weren't going my way. Pairing that with everything else in life outside of that opportunity, what I really became was exhausted. For six years it was go, go, go in all areas of my life - full steam ahead! It was time to slow down and I had a difficult decision to make: I could stay in my current state, and force trying with the business without much heart (which felt disgusting), or I could let it go and see what happens.
I decided to let it go and see what happens. Immediately upon making that decision the fear set in. Now what was I going to do? What if I lost friends over this? What if this totally changes who I am as a person? What if this isn't what God wants for me? What if this is all wrong?
What it? What if? What if?!
But...what if?
What if this is what I am supposed to do? What if this closing of one door is leading to an opening of another? What if there is something else waiting for me? What if this is intended to make me grow? What if this is what God has had planned all along?
What if??
It has been a battle in my mind the past few weeks between the good what-if's and the bad what-if's, but this is the first week that I just feel very much "so it shall be". I was thinking about life in general on my drive home yesterday (I get super deep while in my car, haha) and the various scary things that I have been through in my life, and so many of those things included so much change involved with them. Scary changes! And I considered where I was now after having gone through them. In all situations, I am better for having gone through the scary stuff, than if I never went through it all. It has taught me to trust my instinct, to be more confident in myself and my decisions, to be brave, and most importantly to be authentic to who I am and my beliefs.
This rationale didn't happen overnight. With some of the situations, if you could sit back and watch the journey I assure you the downward spirals would leave you on the edge of your seat and asking yourself "Oh my....will she ever recover??" And the answer to that is - it all took time. It all took time, and sometimes even more change that was scary or risky. But without taking these risks and walking forward into change, we will never find the good that awaits us - because good is always there waiting. Where I think so many people get frustrated is they assume that if they make the change, the good just poof! shows up for the taking. That could not be further from the truth. The good takes time and may even come in very small doses.
Think how this might be relevant to your current situation - perhaps you are on a weight loss journey, maybe battling with addiction or know someone who is, perhaps you are on the job hunt, or maybe you're just trying to "find yourself". Do you not wake up each day with a million questions and hopes? "What does the scale say?" "Will my pants fit?" "What situation will tempt me today? Will I be able to overcome it?" "Will I find a job?" And when you do not receive that instant gratification, do you not get a little frustrated? We all do! And that's why I wanted to write this blog, because while I believe that we all KNOW change takes time, it is too easily forgotten!
If you're going through something, just remember these three things: (1) Change is good, (2) The good takes time, (3) The wait is worth it.
Thanks for reading!
Just that feeling of the shift scared the living day lights out of me, because I was very "Ra-ra Team Beachbody!" for many years; however, I became sad. I became disheartened. I became stressed out and full of anxiety when things weren't going my way. Pairing that with everything else in life outside of that opportunity, what I really became was exhausted. For six years it was go, go, go in all areas of my life - full steam ahead! It was time to slow down and I had a difficult decision to make: I could stay in my current state, and force trying with the business without much heart (which felt disgusting), or I could let it go and see what happens.
I decided to let it go and see what happens. Immediately upon making that decision the fear set in. Now what was I going to do? What if I lost friends over this? What if this totally changes who I am as a person? What if this isn't what God wants for me? What if this is all wrong?
What it? What if? What if?!
But...what if?
What if this is what I am supposed to do? What if this closing of one door is leading to an opening of another? What if there is something else waiting for me? What if this is intended to make me grow? What if this is what God has had planned all along?
What if??
It has been a battle in my mind the past few weeks between the good what-if's and the bad what-if's, but this is the first week that I just feel very much "so it shall be". I was thinking about life in general on my drive home yesterday (I get super deep while in my car, haha) and the various scary things that I have been through in my life, and so many of those things included so much change involved with them. Scary changes! And I considered where I was now after having gone through them. In all situations, I am better for having gone through the scary stuff, than if I never went through it all. It has taught me to trust my instinct, to be more confident in myself and my decisions, to be brave, and most importantly to be authentic to who I am and my beliefs.
This rationale didn't happen overnight. With some of the situations, if you could sit back and watch the journey I assure you the downward spirals would leave you on the edge of your seat and asking yourself "Oh my....will she ever recover??" And the answer to that is - it all took time. It all took time, and sometimes even more change that was scary or risky. But without taking these risks and walking forward into change, we will never find the good that awaits us - because good is always there waiting. Where I think so many people get frustrated is they assume that if they make the change, the good just poof! shows up for the taking. That could not be further from the truth. The good takes time and may even come in very small doses.
Think how this might be relevant to your current situation - perhaps you are on a weight loss journey, maybe battling with addiction or know someone who is, perhaps you are on the job hunt, or maybe you're just trying to "find yourself". Do you not wake up each day with a million questions and hopes? "What does the scale say?" "Will my pants fit?" "What situation will tempt me today? Will I be able to overcome it?" "Will I find a job?" And when you do not receive that instant gratification, do you not get a little frustrated? We all do! And that's why I wanted to write this blog, because while I believe that we all KNOW change takes time, it is too easily forgotten!
If you're going through something, just remember these three things: (1) Change is good, (2) The good takes time, (3) The wait is worth it.
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
I Came To Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance
Don't lie - you're singing the song right now - it's fine. Take a dance break, shake your ass a little, have a good time. I'll allow it.
While driving home today, I felt a bit hopeless. I sat staring at the grey sky, the wind whipping the flags back and forth as if it was trying to tear them off of their post, and thought to myself, "Ew. It looks cold." Ever get like that? You're down and then you look around and it's like "Thanks for the help, mother nature", or that song comes on the radio that makes you think of a not-so-great time in you're like and you're all, "Well, shit." Yeah. It was one of those drives home today.
Today is a rest day from my workout program, and I definitely didn't feel like working out -- I felt like eating a pint of ice cream! As I contemplated the 2 minute drive to Safeway for some HaloTop Cookies & Cream (yass, girl!) I remembered that a mood boost was only a couple of clicks away on my laptop. Technology has made it so much easier to get moving now. YouTube, Beachbody on Demand, Les Mills On Demand, and a host of other online platforms are available to get you moving wherever you are, but! I didn't just want to workout today. I need something to elevate my current level of happiness. The HaloTop would have to wait.
When that happens, sometimes you just gotta go rogue. See, that is one of the problems that happens with me (this goes back to my control issues) - if I veer away from a workout calendar, it gives me a great deal of anxiety. And after doing it once or twice I basically chalk the entire thing up to a wash! To add insult to injury with that issue, I get bored easily - so you can imagine how many times in my life a workout program has lead to more strife than is probably normal. But as The First Blog Post said, I'm trying new things! and trying to really learn who I am, what I like, and what I don't like. So a couple of clicks later, I am doing God-knows-what version of a Zumba/hip-hop type fitness workout. I can tell you, my version was neither Latin-inspired, nor hip-hop inspired - but did look alcohol infused, despite being sober.
Lawd, if you could have seen me. It was bad. I mean bad. I'm pretty sure a three-legged, drunk dog has more rhythm than I did that entire workout. Praise Jesus for window sheers and being on travel alone. But it didn't matter. I moved my body in ways that made my knees hurt, made me feel 50 years old due to the pain in areas I've never had pain before, and probably made me look like I was having a mild seizure. Slowly but surely, the mood started to rise. Truth be told, I'm not sure if that was due to the music, the movement, or the reflection I caught of myself looking like a dumbass - but I like to think it was a combination of all three. I definitely feel like my reflection was the biggest motivator of them all - I have to get my rhythm back! Girl can't be out dancing like that...sheesh!
Will I be dancing tomorrow? I'm not sure, but probably not. Will I be dancing out on the dance floor anytime soon? That really depends on how much vodka I consume - but one thing I can tell you very matter-of-fact is that the workout cured my bad mood way more than ice cream ever could.
So get out there! Lace up those shoes, warm up those hips, shake dat azz - and let your true self shine <3
While driving home today, I felt a bit hopeless. I sat staring at the grey sky, the wind whipping the flags back and forth as if it was trying to tear them off of their post, and thought to myself, "Ew. It looks cold." Ever get like that? You're down and then you look around and it's like "Thanks for the help, mother nature", or that song comes on the radio that makes you think of a not-so-great time in you're like and you're all, "Well, shit." Yeah. It was one of those drives home today.
Upon arriving back at the hotel, I found a card underneath my door - which was surprising because typically, one does not get mail while at a hotel. It turned out to be from one of my closest friends back home, wishing me a happy birthday - and it contained page markers that looked like smiling bacon. If you're wondering if that did the trick - as far as muscular movement in my facial region, it did! However, the spirit was still low.
Today is a rest day from my workout program, and I definitely didn't feel like working out -- I felt like eating a pint of ice cream! As I contemplated the 2 minute drive to Safeway for some HaloTop Cookies & Cream (yass, girl!) I remembered that a mood boost was only a couple of clicks away on my laptop. Technology has made it so much easier to get moving now. YouTube, Beachbody on Demand, Les Mills On Demand, and a host of other online platforms are available to get you moving wherever you are, but! I didn't just want to workout today. I need something to elevate my current level of happiness. The HaloTop would have to wait.
When that happens, sometimes you just gotta go rogue. See, that is one of the problems that happens with me (this goes back to my control issues) - if I veer away from a workout calendar, it gives me a great deal of anxiety. And after doing it once or twice I basically chalk the entire thing up to a wash! To add insult to injury with that issue, I get bored easily - so you can imagine how many times in my life a workout program has lead to more strife than is probably normal. But as The First Blog Post said, I'm trying new things! and trying to really learn who I am, what I like, and what I don't like. So a couple of clicks later, I am doing God-knows-what version of a Zumba/hip-hop type fitness workout. I can tell you, my version was neither Latin-inspired, nor hip-hop inspired - but did look alcohol infused, despite being sober.
Lawd, if you could have seen me. It was bad. I mean bad. I'm pretty sure a three-legged, drunk dog has more rhythm than I did that entire workout. Praise Jesus for window sheers and being on travel alone. But it didn't matter. I moved my body in ways that made my knees hurt, made me feel 50 years old due to the pain in areas I've never had pain before, and probably made me look like I was having a mild seizure. Slowly but surely, the mood started to rise. Truth be told, I'm not sure if that was due to the music, the movement, or the reflection I caught of myself looking like a dumbass - but I like to think it was a combination of all three. I definitely feel like my reflection was the biggest motivator of them all - I have to get my rhythm back! Girl can't be out dancing like that...sheesh!
Will I be dancing tomorrow? I'm not sure, but probably not. Will I be dancing out on the dance floor anytime soon? That really depends on how much vodka I consume - but one thing I can tell you very matter-of-fact is that the workout cured my bad mood way more than ice cream ever could.
So get out there! Lace up those shoes, warm up those hips, shake dat azz - and let your true self shine <3
Sunday, December 10, 2017
The First Blog Post
Have you ever found yourself in a place in your life where you feel like you are trudging through mud? I have found myself there for the past year, not really certain of when or where the issue came about, what brought it on, and quite honestly - I have had NO idea how to work myself out of it.
While reading my current personal development book, Adventures for your Soul by Shannon Kaiser, I was reminded that "Things don't happen to me, they happen for me."
When I think back to the second half of 2016 and all of 2017, I am reminded of Danny Gokey's lyrics to his song, "Slow Down"
Oh, it's been a while since I felt I could breathe
I'm not running my life
No, it's running me
It was as if God physically stopped the freight train. See, I have this issue where I try and control so much of what goes on in my life, I try and save people from things that are going on in their lives, and I have a very difficult time letting any of those useless obligations go. And they are useless, let's be clear with that. I feel the more we try and control situations that are obviously out of our control, the more out of control we feel. We just need to sit back and let God (or the Universe - whatever you believe) do its job through us. When we allow ourselves to move in a more fluent way with the way our world is working, we will be able to adapt in an easier way to our situations.
Now let me make it clear that I love goal lists, to-do lists, vision boards, etc. What you focus on, you attract and so I think it is great to have a direction in which you desire to go and desire to direct your actions towards; however, it is also important to recognize when you are getting so attached to the control of that future that you lose sight of who you are. When you lose sight of who you are, you are losing control of those dreams and those goals behind the scenes. You don't even know it's happening until one day, most likely while driving or doing something mundane, you ask yourself, "Who the hell am I? What am I doing? And why am I doing this?"
That's why I decided to start this blog. I asked on my Facebook page yesterday, "Have you considered what your focus is going to be in 2018?" My personal focus in 2018 is going to be to learn who I am, what I love, what I don't like, and being true to those things. I have always been impressionable. I have always longed to belong, and so I always conform to my surroundings. Being different is scary to me; however, the entire time I'm being someone else, or trying to blend in it is as if my soul is screaming out tortured. At 33 years old, it's time to figure out who I am and the life that I desire to lead - not the life I think I should lead in an effort to blend in.
The goal of this particular blog, and the Facebook page that will accompany it is to promise positivity. A place you can go to scroll and find yourself inspired, re-invigorated, re-ignited, and brave enough to be whoever it is that you really are. Along the way, I hope to discover and share with you all who I really am and who I am choosing to be.
That said, feel free to follow and check back often! Follow me on Facebook, as well so that you can be promised positivity while mindlessly scrolling on that platform, as we all do. And until then - stay positive and remember: the real you will always provide the most shine.
https://www.facebook.com/Promising-Positivity-540221599669655/
While reading my current personal development book, Adventures for your Soul by Shannon Kaiser, I was reminded that "Things don't happen to me, they happen for me."
When I think back to the second half of 2016 and all of 2017, I am reminded of Danny Gokey's lyrics to his song, "Slow Down"
Oh, it's been a while since I felt I could breathe
I'm not running my life
No, it's running me
It was as if God physically stopped the freight train. See, I have this issue where I try and control so much of what goes on in my life, I try and save people from things that are going on in their lives, and I have a very difficult time letting any of those useless obligations go. And they are useless, let's be clear with that. I feel the more we try and control situations that are obviously out of our control, the more out of control we feel. We just need to sit back and let God (or the Universe - whatever you believe) do its job through us. When we allow ourselves to move in a more fluent way with the way our world is working, we will be able to adapt in an easier way to our situations.
Now let me make it clear that I love goal lists, to-do lists, vision boards, etc. What you focus on, you attract and so I think it is great to have a direction in which you desire to go and desire to direct your actions towards; however, it is also important to recognize when you are getting so attached to the control of that future that you lose sight of who you are. When you lose sight of who you are, you are losing control of those dreams and those goals behind the scenes. You don't even know it's happening until one day, most likely while driving or doing something mundane, you ask yourself, "Who the hell am I? What am I doing? And why am I doing this?"
That's why I decided to start this blog. I asked on my Facebook page yesterday, "Have you considered what your focus is going to be in 2018?" My personal focus in 2018 is going to be to learn who I am, what I love, what I don't like, and being true to those things. I have always been impressionable. I have always longed to belong, and so I always conform to my surroundings. Being different is scary to me; however, the entire time I'm being someone else, or trying to blend in it is as if my soul is screaming out tortured. At 33 years old, it's time to figure out who I am and the life that I desire to lead - not the life I think I should lead in an effort to blend in.
The goal of this particular blog, and the Facebook page that will accompany it is to promise positivity. A place you can go to scroll and find yourself inspired, re-invigorated, re-ignited, and brave enough to be whoever it is that you really are. Along the way, I hope to discover and share with you all who I really am and who I am choosing to be.
That said, feel free to follow and check back often! Follow me on Facebook, as well so that you can be promised positivity while mindlessly scrolling on that platform, as we all do. And until then - stay positive and remember: the real you will always provide the most shine.
https://www.facebook.com/Promising-Positivity-540221599669655/