The Good Life Revolution

We are on our way. Don't look back. Take assessment. Where are you now? what's working, what's not. Its a Good Life Revolution and I would love to have you join me. Today, its the power of three. Pick three habits or changes you wish to make in your life. Don't pick three that are overwhelming or unattainable. Just three simple things that you can tackle or complete in one day or one week. That is it. Post your three, and at the end of the week, let's check our success. I find that as we move through life, we set ourselves up for disappointment. We set these grandiose dreams like "Losing weight"...How much? How fast? Is that a reasonable goal? Not really. A reasonable goal has to be specific, the more specific the better. It might be something so simple as taking a healthy meal to work every day next week. Or it might be starting to walk around the block each night. That is it. Small attainable goals. You may not believe this to be true, but I know it works. Because once you can feel good about that small goal, you can increase, add on another, make it a little more difficult. But its a positive step and that is all it is about.

A while ago, I found my self in a deep rut, I mean deep. The pit was so deep that one of my favorite writers: Beth Moore, who wrote "Get out of that Pit" said you become so comfortable in the pit that pretty soon you are putting up curtains, laying down a carpet, finding a big sofa chair to keep you in the pit. What a visual! And how true. I needed to get out of the pit, but the walls were too high. So my first goal? To get out of bed 15 minutes earilier than I had been. This sounded so small at the time, but that 15 minutes got me up and moving and I was no longer arriving late for work. Then I moved it to 30 minutes. This allowed me time to make lunch and add in about 10 minutes of prayer. When I realized how much I liked that silent morning time, I began making my lunch at night and that gave me 30 minutes with God. You get the idea. Small attainable goals. Pick three that you can celebrate at weeks end. You can share them here, or record them in a journal. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you begin the Good Life Revolution.

Here are my three for this week:
1) To record my calorie intake for the next 7 days to see where my weaknesses and where I can improve.
2) To go to the gym one time a week.
3) To get back to bible study on Wednesday nights, at least one night a month.

Get the picture? Now its your turn.

Becoming a Stronger Woman.

Let's just get started. Its a no excuses kind of day today. I have made them and my alter ego is saying enough is enough. Like the Nike commercial she screams "Just do it". Enough already. You think you are so smart she asks? Well you are!! She screams. So quit acting helpless, hopeless. So perhaps you don't always think with a healthy mind, change that. Look at others, see how they respond to challenges, problems, issues of the heart, of work. What do they accept and reject? How do they respond and react?

I've been watching lately and I have learned a few things. Healthy, strong women don't settle. They aren't afraid to get hurt, and they don't shy away from the thought of hurting others. They don't go out of their way to be hurtful, but they realize that sometimes people will get hurt based on the decisions they have to make, and that is okay. Its not always fun, its not a requirement, but if it happens it is okay.

I on the other hand go out of my way to make people feel good. I don't want others to hurt, or be sad, or suffer because of me. And that isn't always good. Its not good if you are little by little sacrificing yourself and your own needs. If you are saying "yes" when you really feel inside that you should be saying "no", that is a sacrifice of yourself. And it doesn't allow the other person to learn and grow on their end either.

I have spent a life time going above and beyond for others at work, in my relationships. And recently, I got laid off. I honestly believe I was the biggest contributor to the company, generated the most ideas and had the most financial successes. But because I was so generous and so easy, the lay off came easy. The others made it difficult for the boss. They weren't as overly approachable, they didn't over extend themselves. You would think it would have been the other way around. But in reality, they stayed focused. They focused on themselves and the job they were given.

Its a very fine line to walk. For me, in my faith walk with God, we are to be givers. But we are not be walked on. If we create the opportunities for others to walk all over us, who is at fault?

My goal this year is to be authentic. To me that means speaking from the heart with genuine joy and compassion, integrity and passion. It means saying the difficult things sometimes, and doing my utmost to tell the truth no matter the outcome. But to do so with love, kindness and respect. It means not sacrificing my values, and at the same time being very sure of what my values are. Something I will be changing and learning along the way.

There is no right or wrong way here, only a path of learning and understanding about myself.

I want this blog to be for all of us who struggle. Who know that there is a better way, a deeper purpose and want to take the journey no matter how frightening. Will you join me?

Call Her Bluff.

Call it my alter ego, call it my inner self, today is the day I am calling her bluff. She says I can be fabulous at 50. She says I can accomplish anything I set out to accomplish. She believes I am invincible, a can do person, with a great smile, a strong contender for the good life, able to leap tall buildings. A Superwoman like no other.

I on the other hand fight her tooth and nail each day. I eat more than I should, exercise less than I need to, spend money, make and break my own promises, and apply a defeatist attitude to many days, many moments.

Mostly I do this when it's about me. To all those on the outside looking in, I am my inner self. To me, the outer doesn't match the inner. It's a constant struggle to finding me. I accept rejection silently, demand nothing from others, expect less and less for myself.

Today I am calling my own bluff. Today begins anew. Small steps toward a closer alignment of her and me. She and I. We.