Hey Ladies-
I had a decent day and caught up with a lot of work. I feel much more sane and much more healthy. The remainder of my week is very busy though so I'm hoping my momentum and stamina last until Friday afternoon.
Onto my discussion about the "21 Suggestions for Success" by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. As you remember, I'm going to try and relate each suggestion to our lifestyle changes. Here goes nothing...
1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
Marry someone that loves you for who you are. Marry someone that doesn't try to change you. Many people believe they must look a certain way to attract the opposite sex. I admit I think about this belief a lot, especially now when I'm trying to date again. I associate my need to lose weight with my desire to find a wonderful man. Will I find a wonderful guy that accepts me at this size? We all know that a man truly loves you for your personality, intelligence, and parts of your appearance. It's foolish to say that attraction has nothing to do with it but it shouldn't encompass the entire relationship, marriage, etc.
Sadly I do hear that couples become unhappy with each other after years of marriage because appearances do tend to change. Both the husband and wife may gain weight, become a little droopy, etc. I think the focus on physical appearance can even plague people married for a long period of time unfortunately. It's sad that some people can truly become miserable because the forget about the friendship, personality quirks, humor, and other attributes found within their mate.
It drives me nuts that I think I have to be skinnier to find a great guy. I need to fix that line of thinking.
2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.
Yes it's important to have a career you enjoy and love. I'm not going down that tangent though. We've already established that losing weight and creating healthy habits takes a lot of time, therefore it takes a lot of WORK. I'm twisting this suggestion in order to create a reminder that we need to use methods of exercise that we enjoy in order to pursuit our goals. Yes, running 10 mile a day on a treadmill will certainly help us burn calories but I don't see any of us thoroughly enjoying that form of exercise. I personally wish I could find a tennis partner because I know I'd play regularly, enjoy the activity, and I'd really value the time devoted to exercise.
That being said, I wish I enjoyed running more. I do like the feeling I get when I'm done running but I have to admit the feelings before and during aren't always pleasant. I also wish I enjoyed weight lifting more too because I know it's important to participate in that regularly. My diet isn't helping my bone density so I need some weight lifting to help out in that area.
3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
Hmm...this one is tricky. But after pondering, I realized this can relate to the support we need to give one another as we continue to strive towards weight loss and healthy changes. We obviously need help along the way in various ways. Exercise partners, verbal encouragement through a blog, rewards, etc are very important. But basically we really need to encourage and cheer each other on because we all know that the right words at the right time can really perk us up and improve our motivation.
I finished two books by Jodi Picoult recently. "My Sister's Keeper" is very good. I had a hard time putting it down. I also read "Keeping Faith". It is also good but it didn't hold my attention as well as "My Sister's Keeper". "My Sister's Keeper" is about a child that is sick of being "harvested" whenever her sister sister needs bone marrow or other necessary tissues. It really makes you think...especially me since I'm parent.
"Keeping Faith" is about a family torn apart due to divorce. The child starts to act funny and develops an imaginary friend. She starts addressing this friend as God which confuses people because the family is Jewish but not very religious at all. The girl has never seen a bible or gone to church/temple yet she can recite Bible verses. She develops a stigmata and things get pretty crazy. The father decides to fight for custody because he believes the mother is hurting the daughter or causing the daughter to hurt herself. I guess I was naive because I wasn't expecting something that religious despite the title.
I will be starting another book of Jodi's called "Harvesting the Heart". Apparently a woman deals with her mother's abandonment as she starts her family. I plan on reading the seventh book in the "Left Behind" series first though. Who knew I could enjoy a religious series so much!
This blog is long enough....over and out.
2 comments:
Wow, what a comeback with a great blog! I agree with you on the 3 points you made in your blog. I too have noticed that as men and women age that partners can become unhappy with the physical appearance of eachother. It's fact, as we age we droop, and put on a few pounds. That's why it is so very important to base a relationship on qualities that don't tend to fade with time such as a persons character. Barring any major catastrophic events, our personalities and core traits tend to stay with us once they're formed. This fact is also what makes me so nervous about the reappearance of young couples marrying and having kids pronto. I have changed so much since I was 20. I honestly don't think I could be happy with someone that I would have been happy with at that age.
Also, you're correct in the assumption that I would not be happy running 10 miles a day. I love the thought of it but I just don't think that it would ever be my cup of tea. I am more a manual labor kind of girl to be honest. I would love to live on a farm where I had to shovel dirt, mend fences, slop pigs etc. for my physical activity...along with recreational sports, as opposed to working out. I don't mind working out but it's not exactly fun.
Yes, I agree that we need to give to one another during this struggle. I feel like we need to get back into encouraging and also a little butt kicking when things go south. I know that we were really good at it and we need to just put the energy into taking care of one another again!
I'm glad you enjoyed your books. I feel like I should write about the books that I read in the blog seems how you and LeAnn always share suggestions! Maybe I'll write about what I'm reading in my next blog!
It's good you were finally able to get your thoughts written in the blog. I can somewhat attest to the first tip about marriage. I think Jason and my relationship has definitely changed through these past years. It'll be six years next month that we've been together and I don't think I can say we're going to stay together forever. I KNOW I have changed since high school, which I think Jason is realizing more and more. He has changed to but not to the same degree as I have. He was twenty-five when we started dating so he had pretty much discovered himself by that time and had no reason for large changes in his life. I really can't say what's going to happen between us because now I am forming new values and goals because of where I am in my life . . . if he can't or is unwilling to match or follow those I am not sure we would be compatible anymore. It's really an odd place that we're in.
Anyway, I totally agree about the running. I love the high I have afterward but the during is tough stuff. Besides tennis and volleyball I don't really look at physical activity as fun. I think if I can get in a routine and routinely give my body those highs, it gets easier to do those physical activities voluntarily. I want to make myself go to the wellness center after school each day. However, I cannot get over the obstacle that when the school day is over . . . all I want to do is go home, rest, relax, and cook supper. I'm not sure how to tackle that.
I told you that Jodi Picoult(?) is one of those authors I am afraid to read. I spoke to one of my students today and she is reading "Nineteen Minutes" by J. P. which I understand is the school shooting one. She seems to really like the author so yea. I'm 3/4ths through "To Kill a Mockingbird" and I'm liking it so that book review will come down the road. I'm SO glad that I can fit in pleasure reading during my student teaching. However, there will come a time when I'll need to buckle down and get my requirements done for student teaching (October = no free time).
Post a Comment