Sickness and Health

I don't get sick very often. In fact, when I do get sick, I complain to Garr and say, "I hate this. I NEVER get sick!". Which is true most of the time. So last week I got sick. I had not eaten enough food which makes me weak anyway and on top of that, our A/C was out and we couldn't get the house cooler than 85 degrees! All of that just did a number on me. Two days later I was feeling about 75% better and kept getting more energy back every day.
So now I am feeling so grateful for my health. I am generally in very good health, no major health problems and that is a blessing. When I get sick it only lasts for a few days (except the kind of sickness that starts with nausea, vomiting, then leads to weight gain, swollen legs, etc and then ends nine months later).
There are days when I struggle to get up and get my workout in. On those days, I think of others who do not have the good health I do. When Christopher Reeve had his accident that paralyzed him, there were many days that I felt so grateful for my legs that work and my arms that work. Those thoughts led me to be grateful for my eyes that see, my ears that hear and my heart that beats strongly every day.
Whatever your health is, good or poor, find something to be grateful for. Find ways to look at the good parts of your body that work properly, that do their jobs the way they should. Find ways to be grateful for your body no matter the shape or ability. Be thankful for the things that you CAN do and don't focus on what you CAN'T do. If you are in good health, go out and exercise to ensure that your health will last longer and you will have the strength to do the things you want to do. To your health!

Love Yourself

Yesterday I briefly mentioned loving yourself. Do you honestly think that you can love yourself if you are not striving for the greatest potential that is within you? No! I mean, come on, everybody has potential and it is yours alone. You have something your best friend doesn’t have. Your neighbor has something you don’t have. But this isn’t about your friend or your neighbor, it is about you. You are not anyone else but yourself - duh! Can you believe I just said that? It’s such a sill thing to say, but it is true. Sometimes people get caught up in what others have or did or are doing and they become paralyzed in their lives because they think they have to be like someone else. It’s not true. You have to love yourself like you love your spouse or your kids or your parents. You are the only person that you have to spend your entire life with - 100% of the time. It’s better to love you and be happy with you than to be around someone you don’t like. Find the qualities about yourself that you like and write them down. Focus on those good qualities. Find a way to enhance them, to share them with others. Then find one thing that you don’t like about yourself that you can change. Not your nose, or other physical quality that would require major surgery! You could change your hair style or color, you could whiten your teeth, you could take an art class, learn to control your temper, stop procrastinating, lose some weight, smile more, pursue a hobby, make a career change, whatever it is that you want to do. Do something that is just you, then do it again and again and you will love yourself!

Choices, you can do it!

Don’t you ever get tired of hearing people try to blame their problems on someone else or something else over which they (think) they have no control? I am tired of it. I was listening to an ad on the radio today with some guy talking about how stress is making Americans fat. It’s the day to day stress, he says, not the big things that come once in awhile. Well, I thought, then why are some people that have stress in their lives thin? I’ll tell you why. It’s because of the CHOICES that a person makes in the midst of stress. I feel stress and I think that if I go out to dinner and eat a huge, fattening meal, or if I consume an entire package of Oreo cookies, that I will feel better. Well, I will for a few minutes, then I will feel lousy and fat and sick to my stomach. Thankfully I have never done that. But is that guy on the radio trying to tell me and all other Americans that if we eat salad, lean meat, fruits, whole grains and other healthy foods, lay off the junk food and exercise that we are STILL going to be obese because of stress? I don’t buy that for one second. If I am stressed, I can choose to go for a walk, listen to relaxing music, clean or organize and are of my house, call a friend, read, write in my journal or many other things that I may enjoy, or do I have to go for the bag of chips or cookies? It is my choice what I eat. It is also my fault and completely (for most people) in my control.
I also heard a woman the other day on TV say that ladies who are overweight just are and they can’t do anything about so just love yourself for who you are and don’t worry because it’s not your fault that you are overweight and their is nothing you can do about it. That is the biggest load of garbage I have ever heard! Notice in the previous paragraph that I said most people. I understand that there are some people that have thyroid issues or other medical obstacles and I am not talking about them. I am talking about those who say they are fat because of their genes, or they are stressed or whatever. You can make a change if you want to. You choose what you put in your mouth. You choose to exercise or not. Life is about choices and those of us who are blessed enough to live in a land that allows us freedom of choice need to take advantage of that opportunity. So make some good choices today. Choose to eat differently, to eat less junk food and more healthy food. Choose to exercise. You can do it. You have done other amazing things in your life. You have things that were difficult. You were scared or nervous or worried before. When? Write it down. What did you do that was hard, but you did it anyway? Now, how did you feel after you accomplished it? Write it down. Tell somebody. They will be proud of you. Then make any health changes that you have been wanting to make. Just do it. You will feel awesome! Good luck!