Old year/new year wisdom

(Originally published 1 January 2012) 

[This was inspired by "one of my favorite ever blogs" by another Spark member, entitled Looking back on 2011, but only for a minute, & the Year of Me—which sadly I can no longer find] 

I totally relate to yearning for purpose and passion. I found my path this last year thanks to the amazing Sparkverse, and my awesome Spark Friends. Since the fall of 2010, I've lost 55 pounds—one quarter of my original body weight! I will continue to practice the fitness habits that have brought me this far, and I will eventually reach a healthy (according to BMI standards) weight.

I've chosen a new life area to focus my attention on in the coming year—organizing my home and life. I'm going to concentrate on my Conquer Clutter Campaign, which I haven't blogged about since launching the Babysteps Brigade team. In order to win the war against ingrained packrat habits, I need to strive for a desired end, and not just focus on what I don't want. (Just as my weight loss success stemmed less from trying to lose weight than from changing my eating and exercise habits in order to become stronger and healthier.) So my intention is to create more beauty and order in my home, and more comfort and ease throughout my life.

I will close with my 2-part huddle today: Let your dreams for this year soar! . . . Now make plans & take steps to manifest them!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Babystepping My Way to Glory

(Originally published 26 February 2011) That phrase, “babystepping my way to Glory,” came to me while speed walking yesterday on my afternoon break, as I gazed towards a golden sun in a sparkling blue sky that was reflecting off the still white patches from our last snowfall. I had been doing my Louise Hay affirmations* and my lovingkindness meditation phrases* and my heart was full of gratitude, joy, and hope; I was delighted with the beauty of the moment and pleased with myself and the progress I'm making. This was a much different and better place than when I wrote my Bad Days blog less than 48 hours earlier. Yet while I could feel the power and energy flowing through me so freely, I did not fall into the trap of thinking this is how will always feel or should always feel, or it's going to be easy from now on, or I'm always going to get as much accomplished as I had that day. I won't automatically earn as many nutrition and fitness points or get as much declutte...
Read more

Bad Days

  (Originally published 23 February 2011) I really know I'm making progress now. Work was OK, but it's been a rough evening at home. Frustration and disappointment over vacation planning issues, with more frustration and disappointment over the failure of the new resistance cord DVD to offer modifications for stiff knees. In the old days, any stress at work or in life was an excuse to buy and consume comfort food — in my case wine and chips, or other high-fat foods. Not this evening. OK, I switched from salad to soup, but chopped and added fresh veggies before emptying the can of soup into the pot. I made sure I was maintaining my Oases of Order (those small sections of real estate I have liberated from clutter) in the kitchen while I cooked. I cleaned the litterbox (one of my daily routines I'm establishing) and put in my (minimum) organizing time in order to fulfill my Babysteps Brigade team challenge activity and earn my corresponding Other Goal point. I wasn'...
Read more

It doesn't have to be hard!

(Originally published 8 March 2012)  This is a comment I wrote on a Spark Friend’s blog about living with a recovering type 2 diabetic:  “What saddens me the most is that people assume change has to be hard. It doesn't have to be. Moderation and babysteps will produce improvements. We don't have to be perfect. As long as we make better choices most of the time, we will get stronger, slimmer, and healthier. To me, that's not hard--it's fun, it's empowering, it's motivating!” Losing weight, getting stronger and improving your health (or getting organized or making any other improvement in your life) does not have to be hard. But if you tell yourself it will be hard, or worse yet impossible, that will most likely be your experience. The question is, do you want it to be hard or not? Notice, I'm not saying it will be EASY to change. But it does require a willingness to make changes in the way you do things, and especially in the way you think. I love Louis...
Read more