BB40: What day is it?!

UGH. So the best laid plans...

I fully intended to blog once a week on this journey...I mean, once a week isn't too much to ask, is it? Well apparently it is!

The reality is, life happens. A LOT. Things take a back burner...like blogging.

We've been busy with family, illness (mine is going on 4 weeks!), end of the year projects for school, birthdays (5 in our immediate family in just a 7 week time frame!) and the start of our Select Basketball Team season. It's been CRAZY. But I digress...

Because I have struggled with regular exercise and not eating like I'd like...or rather eating TOO much like I'd LIKE...I haven't weighed in for a couple of weeks. I finally did last night, fully expecting to have gained it all back. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I'm at least holding steady on the weight I've lost. So that's good! I'm definitely NOT where I'd like to be or even where I could be at this point, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint. I have to make decisions DAILY toward better health, sometimes even hourly. But as long as I make more good decisions than bad, I will hit my goal in the end!

In talking with a dear friend the other day, she pointed out that she wanted to be sure to learn in moments of struggle...when God is trying to teach her a life lesson...so that she doesn't have to repeat the lesson in the future. I've found that I've been here before. I've struggled with trying to better my health off and on for years, to get rid of bad habits and make better choices. I'd prefer to learn NOW the lessons I need to, and start making better choices, rather than find myself in this same situation years down the road, wishing I'd started now!

In saying that, I've also realized that I HAVE to make time for myself. It's so easy to let life keep you busy...too busy to take care of yourself. Whether you're a parent, working outside the home, or both...life just gets in the way. Unless you make it a point to set aside time for YOU, then you'll never be at your best to give of yourself to others. I CANNOT be the kind of mom, wife, daughter, sister or friend that I truly want to be if I'm not taking proper care of myself. So I have to make myself a priority if I want to make them a priority.

For me, that means I need to get up before everyone else (other than my hubby) to give myself not only the time I need to read my Bible, stretch, workout, and plan my day, but also just to give myself some quiet alone time. I've found that each time I've done this, my day is more productive, my time is better allocated, and I have more patience in dealing with my children...which is always a good thing!

Being real, being honest WITH MYSELF about the areas in which I struggle, in which I need to grow most, has been the single most freeing thing I've done so far on this journey. Allowing myself to acknowledge that I fail, sometimes daily, but to also realize that I can still keep going...that is priceless. It's so easy to believe that when we fail, even multiple times, that it is useless to try, to keep going. But each day, each moment, we have the option to choose success or failure...to keep going or to give up. It's NOT easy, but it will be so worth it in the end. So I choose success.

Blessings,

BB40: Weeks 6 & 7...the struggle is real

So between either myself or a family member being down with this upper respiratory virus going around...I've gotten behind on nearly everything the last two weeks. When a household is ill, all sorts of stuff seems to fall apart. Our home is no different. Hopefully we will be out of this funk soon. I am the next to last one to get it...Sean is still holding out. Here's to hoping it bypasses him altogether!

That being said, while I haven't been focused on my eating as much while ill, or having much energy...there ARE a number of things we've gotten done! For one thing, we went through all of our dishes. We now have only ONE plate, cup and bowl per person, each a different color, for daily use. Each person is responsible for washing their own plate, bowl or cup after each meal so that it's available for the next meal. If they do not, they don't get to eat at the next meal until they take time to wash it! This has drastically cut down on the the amount of dishes needing washed on a daily basis and IT. IS. LOVELY. When we have company we have two options...we can either use our nice dishes that are a set of simple white dishes, or we can use paper plates. The ones we choose depends on the situation. This change has created a greater sense of responsibility in each child, including the girls!

We also finally managed to go through the girls clothes. THAT was a task! I sat down with them after making sure everything they owned (outside of what they were wearing) was washed. We broke the larger pile into piles of short sleeved shirts, tank tops, long sleeved shirts, shorts, skirts/dresses, pants, pjs and underwear/socks. Then we made a pile for each girl in each category. I started with our oldest daughter and laid out all of her short sleeved tshirts. I kid you not, she had 25!!! I was appalled. I had her pick her top 5 favorites. I also allowed her to keep the ones she had that matched with her sister, outside of those 5. Then repeated with our youngest daughter. So in all, they each kept 8 tshirts. Then we moved on to tank tops. I let them keep 5 total. Then long sleeved, and so on. In each category I attempted to keep no more than 5-8 items (except for underwear/socks). By the time we were done, we had TWO full trash bags of clothes to sell/giveaway. The girls didn't even complain--in fact, they have commented how nice it is to not have so much stuff. Mission accomplished!

Sean and I sat down two nights ago and discussed plans and goals, both short and long term. We truly want to minimize the amount of junk we have. I say "junk" because I've come to realize that if something doesn't add value to your life, if it doesn't bring you joy to have it around, then it truly is JUNK. I'm realizing in this process, that I've held on to things for sentimental reasons, for "I might use/wear this again someday" reasons, and sometimes just for the sake of not wanting to deal with something. NONE of these reasons are valid. I don't need to hang on to every. single. little. thing. So, one by one, I am going through it all. And only keep what I use, need or absolutely love. It has been tremendously freeing!

My time with God is consistent and growing and my prayer lists are lengthening every week. Regular time in the Word truly helps me keep my focus on what is important--and to keep my cool with my children when they are determined to drive me insane! LOL

Overall, I am making progress...slowly, but progress none the less. The thing about change is, it's not instantaneous (as nice as that would be). It takes time. And it's NOT easy. It is a struggle, every single day. And some days, I fail miserably (like the great Oreo fiasco of last week LOL). But as long as my good days outweigh my bad, as long as I have more choices of doing the RIGHT thing than choosing the easy way out, then I win. I'm getting better. I'm becoming stronger and slowly, more disciplined. And as long as I stick with it, I will hit those goals! Here's to perseverance!


Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
                                                                                                                             ~James 1: 4