Hello Journal & Friends,
Once again, time for our Challenge Update!
First, a reminder of our overall goal for the Challenge:
"The goal of this challenge is to teach yourself to look at your new behaviors positively, to learn to be nicer to yourself and believe in yourself, to learn to enjoy healthy behaviors and learn some moderation. A little balance. It's important. More important to learn than the extremes - too much and deprivation."
And now for my own weekly check-in...
My Spring Challenge goals:
1. Every day for the next 13 weeks, do some kind of Exercise.
2. Every day for the next 13 weeks, drink a Greenie.
3. Check in every Saturday.
4. Tell one thing each week that I like about myself.
5. Save up to buy myself a fun Reward at the end.
My Exercise:
Improving, but still not up to snuff yet! I'm letting poor time management flub up my schedule, and let MyGuy being home all week become an excuse to miss some of it. I still did something each day, but not near what I was doing before. This will be fixed starting TODAY. Period... no more excuses.
My Greenies:
I made 5 out of 7 this week. Better, but again, I need to get back to my plan, which was DAILY. Again, starting TODAY, back on plan.
One thing I like about myself:
Wow, I'm running out of things! Okay, here is one:
I like that years ago I learned about the power of appreciation, thankfulness, and gratitude. As long as I choose to find things for which to feel genuinely thankful, it helps to lift my attitude, and things look brighter.
Focusing in on the good instead of the bad helps to keep my attitude buoyed up, floating above self-pity and whining. Occasionally I forget this, and get my focus on the wrong things, and then I struggle. But I want to remember that it's better to focus on what I CAN do, not on what I can't.
Sometimes people who have a positive oriented blog are criticized for being "phoney". I have been... but it's because they don't understand my mindset. I write the kind of blog that I, myself, need to read. Uplifting, encouraging and positive, as much as is possible. I NEED to learn to see possibilities and count my blessings, not wallow in the negatives.
What we focus on GROWS. We ALL have negatives in our lives. We all have a story. But we ALL have possibilities and potential, too. So I choose to focus on the possibilities, even while dealing with the hard stuff that comes up. I just don't want to wallow in it.. to STAY there, in the negatives. Deal with it and move on!
Life is too short to waste it choosing to be miserable and whine and complain. Do we all have things we could complain about?? Of course. More at times than others. Sometimes life can hit us hard... but it's still a choice if we STAY down in the mud. I choose to look up, to the stars.
One of my favorite little poems is by Frederick Langdridge:
"Two men looked out from prison bars,
one saw the mud,
the other saw the stars."
"Cosmic Rosebud"
For my Reward:
Still squirrelling away money in my glass bear jar. Still haven't totally decided on my reward.
I'm sure glad our challenge motto is: Progress, not perfection.
I hope all you Weight Loss Warriors had a good week. Mine could've been better... this next week IS going to be better.
From Dr Phil's book: "By changing the way you think, you can change the way you feel and act."
My verse for today: "I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples."
My quote for today: "When you are weary, be truly thankful for how far you have already come. Let your gratitude transform what is, into the very best of what you know can be. Life's energy is what you make it. Make it purposeful, positive, fulfilling, and great." --Ralph Marston
Enjoy the Journey,
Loretta
=^..^=
