2012 - a year gone by....

Last year I wrote a blog post about keeping New Years Resolutions and setting the bar lower to enable us to actually keep them.  (You can read it here if you wish)  I even went so far as to blog my two resolutions that I had made to put them out there for the world to see.  I just went back and re-read my post and sadly....I only kept one of them.  I ran the 5K race, in fact I ran two of them, something that I never would have thought possible over a year ago.  The second resolution to lose the 25lbs and reach my goal weight, not so much....but I didn't gain anything!!  So that has to count for something right??

I feel like I had a fairly successful year last year, I had a new positive mental attitude and it worked for me.  I re-learned to ice skate (something I had always been afraid of!) and while I will never be doing pirouettes or jumps out there I can now play tag with the kids and actually catch them.  I found I just needed to stop worrying about falling and tell myself I could do it.  I mean whats the worst that could have happened, I could break a leg or smash my face and sever an artery - been there done that, I survived.

I started volunteering and ended up doing a lot more than I ever anticipated for the organization, made a lot of new friends and even got to attend a film festival party.  I gained a whole new side to the family when my brother and his family moved here and we all survived living under one roof for a few months, 8 of us if you include the kids, without killing each other...in fact I think we can all be relieved that we survived that experience really well.

The year was not without its challenges, we had some major upheavals and I am grateful that we came out on top, stronger and hopefully wiser than before, and perhaps able to deal with whatever life throws at us next with a bit more confidence.

So what lies ahead for 2013, I have no clue, however I intend to run another 5K this year, I have one planned to do in April and by the fall I would like to do a 10K. I am going to get to my goal weight this year!, no excuses!  I saw a post the other day that motivated me, it read, "You can have results or excuses" and I realized its time to stop with the excuses and get the results I want!  
I am also going to make sure that this year I am grateful, I am going to celebrate lifes small  victories, I am going to be happy for all the good things that I do have, family, home, people who love me and yes even the monster dog. (I am in fact very grateful that she seems to finally be house trained and is no longer eating shoes!)

I think 2013 is going to be a good year!

 

It's all about perspective

I know I don't do many serious blog posts, it's not in my nature to be serious and solemn for too long. I tend to diffuse awkward situations with humor and sarcasm. In fact, I initially hesitated to post this as it is about a dear friend, and I was not sure if she would want this out there. I solved my dilemma by emailing it to her first and explaining it. In turn she emailed me thanking me, and saying it would make a lovely blog post. Her email made me cry (and those of you who know me, know I don't cry!) it also made me realize that sometimes the best thing we can do is to just let others know that they are loved and that we are thinking of them.

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I have a friend who posted these quotes as her Facebook status yesterday.

"In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful but the
gratefulness that makes us happy. -Albert Clarke

Happiness is not something that we simply hug to ourselves. If we do then we smother it! Happiness is increased by giving it away to others! The recognition of how precious being alive is should fuel our gratitude and cause us to create happiness and blessings for others, thereby increasing our own. If we find ourselves unhappy perhaps that is an indication that we are holding onto ourselves a bit too tightly? -Journey2Kona2019"

Inspirational?....Sure, people put up quotes like this from time to time, but what hit home with me was that this particular friend has been dealt a rough hand. She is about 10 years younger than me and yet she is living in pain, taking a cocktail of drugs to get her through the day so that she can still be the loving Momma to her three little ones, all while hoping that the drugs don't ruin her body more and that her disease does not progress further or faster. But here she is looking at the happy side of life, not wallowing in self pity, not crying and yelling at the world. She is one of the kindest most selfless people I know, if anyone deserves a break it's her. I can tell she is tired and worn down, and I know I have failed at being the type of friend she would be to me if our roles were reversed and for that I apologize. I should have been doing more, so so much more.

I am not going to name any names here, a few of you may know who I am talking about. My main aim with this post is to say I know we don't tell you enough how much you are appreciated, how much you are loved and how much we admire you. You made me realize that how we choose to look at our lives, how we choose to live them, and how happy we are is all up to us, it's all about perspective.

 Thank you.