I haven’t written here since I was pregnant in 2018. The baby is 14 months now. I’m sitting in traffic looking forward to visiting family.
My blood sugar has dramatically improved. If you’re following me here, come follow my Insta at selahinthelight and follow my Facebook group called The Happy Journey.
Here’s my Instapost for today! Wishing you a bright and Healthy Holiday season đ˛đ˛đ˛đđđđđđ
Reflection makes you learn and learning makes you hopeful. As a teacher, I know that reflection is key to getting through to me and a student. If reflection doesnât happen I canât get a hold of what happened. Sporting events have replays. The reflection is your replay. What went right and what went not so right? How will you get better if you donât reflect? How will you keep persevering if you donât get better? Getting better at something is what keeps you going. Itâs the intrinsic reward for hard work and reflection.
The reflection process is a mindful process. You donât have to get deeply introspective but thinking about what you do will help you conquer the next move. Doing a task without making a mindful investment will leave you empty. It isnât that you didnât work at it, you just gave little thought to it.
What happens without reflection?
You forget what happened.
You canât remember where you left off each time you begin.
You pose no new questions about challenges.
You keep doing the same thing thereby creating stagnancy.
Challenges are avoided.
Giving up looks easier to do with each new challenge.
Procrastination.
Each time you procrastinate giving up looks like a good idea.
How to start the process without hating it
Set a timer for five minutes (you’ll enjoy it eventually and you won’t need this).
Write/ Type it out.
Get an app to track progress.
Review progress before starting again.
Create plans.
Act on your plan.
Need help with plan: hire somebody, read a book/article.
In other words this is a time investment. In some cases it means there is a cost. Determine how important this is to you.
Next up? When will you begin?
Giving up is a daily struggle.
We put something off because we dread the results weâll get and we dread that feeling of dissatisfaction. We fear discouragement and failure. Patience is part of the process. If you do it, you are productive no matter the result because then you will have had something to improve in the future.
So what are the things to improve?
Some things to consider to get started:
Preparation
Reading, seeking advice
Technique
Application of what you learned as you prepared
Mental State
Did you sleep enough, is there distraction?
Are you anticipating new exciting things or are you focused on failing?
Just keep doing whatever it is. The more you do it the more you will learn and the more reflective and hopeful youâll be.
Next up? Reflection keeps you from giving up.
So you thought you would give up? Youâre not getting off that easy. I thought I would too, but I had no choice other than to keep goingđ
This year I thought I would throw up all nine months of pregnancy and die of starvation. Really. I lost about 20 lbs of hard earned weight and muscle. Weakness was real. I ended writing about my lifting goals and trying to convince others they had what it took if they just tackled their minds. âOh, ha ha ha. You blabbing weak fool, you thought youâld keep going but now vomit and nausea has you.â Memories of nay-sayers in the past popped in my head. That was the sneaky nasty voice in my head. It wasnât helping me get out. It definitely wasnât good for my little baby. But something happened in early January 2018 that my future self would be grateful about April 2018. I signed up for a 10k. I only ran one race in 2017. Strength was my focus last year. I thought my running days were over but a friend finally convinced me in my pre-pregnant state to give running a shot again.
Part of my pregnant self thought… how will I eat enough to make that race happen? I donât know if I can eat anything, Iâll faint. So I gave it a whirl. Iâll run and see what happens. I ran slowly but consistently. I knew I had to tackle six whole miles of hills so that meant milage.
It wasnât easy, but I had a choice: Sit around inside and be miserable or keep running outside and smell nothing. Smelling nothing was SO appealing. The more I ran the less nausea I felt. The more I ran the more I ate. This was the case with my first pregnancy and this is what happened now. I only ran on a treadmill with my first born so this was a little scary. I had to do my homework for road running, But I informed myself. My husband checked out books for me, I read pregnant athlete blogs, I consulted with pregnant athletes. I learned and I discovered.
New discovery: the more mileage I ran the less nausea I had. I have less nausea at three months pregnant now than I did with my first born.
New discovery:
I discovered the progress I kept making. I looked at my five weeks Monday through Friday letters to myself I posted on social media in January. I have never made daily entries like that with that amount of consistency in the past. I looked at my lifting stats for this year and running stats for the last three years. That was progress.
I discovered that I was able to make progress even when I felt weak. I ran the 10k three months pregnant. Now the next thing was getting back to these posts.
I hope you can see past your new life conditions, injuries, setbacks, etc. and feel progress in your bones. It’s possible. Go for it. Be consistent even if it doesn’t blow your mind.
Next up? Why are you giving up?
I ran a 10k at 13 weeks or 3 months pregnant! Iâve never done that! I didnât with my first born but I did run on a treadmill. At that time there wasnât much literature on the subject. I didnât talk much about it since I knew I would be discouraged. My doctor at the time was all for it but the people in my life at the time thought otherwise. You must be cleared with your doctor, but I am here to say that it can be done. It has been my biggest help in pregnancy and especially now.
The 10k course was in Austin. It was especially hilly; it was about 282 feet of elevation. All of the first four miles were mostly uphill. It wasnât the way I trained but it was a great experience. If I had not signed up for it before this pregnancy I would not have committed to doing this. Iâm especially cautious with my low sugar. So far Iâm not diabetic but I will get another test in a few weeks. I just keep telling myself to breathe. I will get through this nausea and I will have fun in the struggle! This baby is meant to run!
I ran again and this is what spilled out. đđGood morning!
Desperately looking for things I don’t need.
The gold lies all around me.
Something unworthy of photo glory;
In the heart
So precious and lovely.
Hold it, cherish it, don’t depart.
Break all the glorious rubbish apart.
Take up sweet courage to contemplate
Beautiful souls:
True Works of art.
I wrote this after I ran this morning. Thinking about all the discouraged souls out there. Whether you run or not take your passion and feels its breath. Really. Take its breath. You need it and the world awaits you.
Run because you love it
The wind and air entering closed lungs
The ground cheering on each step
Run because the dawn greets you with a song
The song opens deaf ears and life is yours again
Live and let passion rule the day!
itsybitsychispa 