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’ve had to rest a lot during this pregnancy, so the goals I set out at the beginning have taken a back seat; but I’m slowly climbing out of the nausea pit. I’ve written other things. I may begin a new blog just for my creative pursuits. So here is my poem. What do you think?
Do you ever get tired of the same story?
The one that keeps playing in your head
The one that keeps you up at night
The one that canât help you think of others instead.
Stop that story.
Write a new one.
Get inspired on the fly.
Enchanted lands with their creatures.
There is one nearby.
Let the story tell itself.
Youâll know youâre listening
Because you donât know whatâs next.
Be the hearer and the benefactor of the lesson told in its strength.
Everyone has a story.
Tell yours and listen to hers because
after all itâs the heart that gets nourished
When souls understand each otherâs birth.
Week 5 Day 4 Take it easy Tiger!
Yesterday was hard, last week was hard, everything was hard! But today I may have had a second wind. Iâm not sure if that applies to weight lifting, but I felt more refreshed. Itâs been a rough couple of weeks. Hmmm. Is that strength?
Maybe the weight is getting a little lighter? I donât know. I started off feeling like âoh no, why am I doing this againâ but then i felt it and my trainer said: wait one more rest minute. I was ready for more. I also ran yesterday. I also rested more.
So today: 145 lbs on the squats. I donât own a scale but Iâm pretty sure I still weigh less than that.
Day 4
Youâve got one more rep!
Youâve done Days 1-3. Youâve started on your goal, became passionate about it and breathed some life into it. Now is the serious part of the journey. If Days 1-3 havenât happened, make the magic happen. Today is like the the 11th mile for a half marathon, BUT youâve already run 11 miles straight so no stopping now!!!! Finish! In other words, for the unprepared, today might feel light like eating gravel for breakfast. Be prepared. Make momentum happen and let it work for you.
Muscling through the year might work for a while but when the mind gets stale the rest of the body and actions will go with it. This is Day 4 of week one. There are 52 weeks. Youâre in it for the long haul.
Days 1-3 got you here. Youâve committed. Congratulations!!! Now you need resources to keep this momentum going.
Here is a list:
Experts
Tools (materials, books, videos, etc.)
Accountability
Thereâs more but these are basic. This may look different for different goals. Find these. Invest in these. Experts may cost so decide how valuable this goal is to you. It doesnât have to be expensive and you might not find them all today but start. Go to Day 2 to get that started.
Next up: Assess progress
Day 3 of the journey:
The Beautiful thing about life is that you are making it up as you go. If you paint a picture there it is. It wasnât there and now it is. So look at your goal that way. Itâs a landscape full of possibility. The journey to this goal will amaze you. Itâs transforming you all day long.
Now, that youâre observing your goal. Is there life in your goal? Is there something meaningful attached to this goal? Who does it benefit? A goal will die if it doesnât add value to you, family, friends, people. Set the right goals not because someone is setting it for you but because itâs been calling you for a greater purpose than yourself.
âA dream isnât big enough if it only involves you.â Saw this somewhere else. Whoever said it, youâre a genius!
After accomplishing your goal day to day does it make you want to uplift others? If it does, then itâs a good one. Does it make you happy? Then share happiness. Does it make you more productive? Does it make you more organized?
You get the point. Donât keep it, share it. Your goal will come to life everyday.
And have fun! Ignite that fire! You have things to accomplish; you might as well get excited! This is the time to talk to the right people, use the right resources and feed your passion. The more passionate you get about a goal the more youâll touch it and pick it up. So be inspired and talk about it even when people seem to not care. Some wonât and some will discourage you. Accept that and move on. But You care and you care about others so go get inspired and share.
Remember: you know what to tell that negative committee…
Next up:
What resources?
Day 2 of my journey
The world is either setting goals, revising goals or wishing there was one more day off. If you havenât touched your goal today, itâs ok. This could be December 31, 2018 but youâre reading this so itâs still ok. I encourage you to take one finger and touch your goal. Yes. Put this phone down and touch it. Did you touch it? Ok, now pick that thing up. Maybe itâs a planner or a something in your garage or a jumping jack, 1 push-up, putting on your running shoes, eating one leaf of spinach or something. Lol
No really I mean it. Touch your goal. If you spend time close to your goal you are one step closer to doing it. Now write that thing down, make that call, and watch HOW momentum will carry you. Just one thing, now the next thing. only have 5 minutes? Come back later and touch it again. And remember, tell the negative committee that brings you down in your head , to sit down and… you know.
Maybe itâs not as glorious as you hoped, but Congratulations, you did it! Now you just to do it again. And thatâs how discipline or goal crushing happens. Revisit it again and again. Itâs really simple. I think Iâve complicated things thinking discipline is something that just is. But it isnât.
Now dealing with the pain of doing this over and over. No results? Hmmmm, are you sure youâre looking from the right angle? Consult with someone. Thatâs the next step. Find someone who has been doing this thing. Read about it; preferably a book that helps you focus on that topic alone. You probably already know this but youâre reading this because you want to reach this untouched goal. Google search âgoalsâ and youâll see the world is doing this. Goal setting is healthy. It starts by touching it.
I hope you feel empowered to add more weight to your lifting, organizing the pantry, calling that person, eating the things that give you good energy and so on. Whatever it is, itâs your goal, you set it, no one else.
Next up:
Iâm too amazing! Now what?
The beauty of the Olympics is so complex yet so simple. There are beautiful and talented people all over the globe. I am so proud to see so many body types, colors, and personalities representing different places in the world. We get to see on a world stage what the human being can accomplish. There is no easy answer in our current environment but the Olympics shows us the value of people from everywhere. I love it! The Olympics has undone the tension I’ve been feeling over the last few months.
I love every story I have read. Messages of struggle, odds, encouragement, victory and hope. Let’s be hopeful people.
Back again!
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