Reflecting

Last year I started this blog with the intention of writing a blog each week.  Life began to happen and I allowed the blog to sit on the back burner.  I desire to be the type of person that leads by example.  As a teacher, I desire to spark in my students the fire to be whatever they dream.  I find myself so many times needing inspiration myself.   I can not tell you how many times I have read my own blog entries and said yes, you can get through this.  Life can be a roller coaster at times.   I have had my share of ups and downs.  This blog was not intended to be a personal journey, but instead a place where inspiration and motivation was plentiful.  I found it difficult to find that within myself.  Choosing to blog is a testament of my declaration that I have something to say.  I dare anyone reading this to follow your heart.  Listen to that voice within you.  If you have a burning desire or if you have been seeking an answer and refuse to hear what your heart is telling you, I challenge you to take a moment, a day; take some time out and reflect.  Find your passion! Rekindle what makes your heart sing.  Happiness begins with you!  Take time to figure out what you need to do to be happy and work towards that end.  Reflect then act!

A Fit Life Video Blog #6 Stop Losing Weight!

How do you tell someone their weight is at an unhealthy state? Why do we tell people who are in the process of losing weight they don't need to lose anymore? Awkward conversations..  Take a look at the video and tell what you think.

 

 

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Check out my Habits of Health E-Newletter for January!
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Habits of Health E-Newsletter

Finding My Way Back

The last 6 months was a whirlwind for me.  I was sinking and didn't realize it.  The summer ended with the death of my mother in law, a trip and the start of a new job.  I neglected writing the blog because I just got so busy.  The start of this school year was the most stressful I have ever experienced.  I was at my wit's end.  Then, October hit and I hit the wall.  It started with the death of two acquaintances.  They died of weight related illnesses.  This was hard for me because I am a health coach and had reached out to one of them in an attempt to help them shed some pounds.  In the background of my mind, however was the pain I was feeling because in May I lost another dear friend to cancer.  I had not spoke to her in the months prior to her death.  I had talked to her Sept early Oct and had been saying I would call her to check on her.  I kept putting it off and it was getting closer to school being out.  So, I began to say that I would wait until school was out and go see her or perhaps, she and I would go to lunch, if she was up to it like we did every year.  I didn't realize she was as sick as she was.  I had made up my mind to call her as soon as school was out.  School was out May 25th.  My friend died on May 25th.  I found out the day before her funeral.  Her husband said he thought someone else had gotten in touch with me.  I am devastated.  Well, needless to say, before Oct was over I lost two more acquaintances, both were murdered. I spiraled into a depression and didn't even realize it.  I knew I was unraveling at the seams, but didn't know what was wrong.  I was stress eating and before it was over had put on 20 pounds in one month.  I was losing it.  My daughter ask me two weeks ago if I were depressed.   I have suffered from bouts of mild depression before and I guess she recognized the pattern.  I said that I didn't think so because overall things were going well in my life.  She pointed out my behavior and how I was stressing over the deaths and how they had affected me.  It was a light bulb moment.  I knew what I must do to combat the hold of depression.  There is no room for depression when you are enveloped in a blanket of praise and thanksgiving.  I am fighting to find my way back and I am down 6 pounds.  I am concentrating on the blessings I have received and the goodness of the Lord.  I am praying for healing and for God to take away the pain.  I am stronger than any desire to nibble and stress eat.  I worked too hard to lose the weight and cannot go back to where I started.  I stepped on the scale one week ago and was heartbroken at the 190.4 that stared up at me.  I wanted to cry, but that was the battle cry that snapped me completely back.  I have wanted to blog, but didn't have the courage to say what I was thinking or feeling.  Healing for me comes with writing.  This is catharsis.  I am finding my way back and will be stronger as a result.  I am sure I will have more moments, more challenges, but I am so happy to know that God is a comforter. I know that I am blessed beyond my wildest imagination and with the best yet to come, I will always find my way back to that place of praise where He resides.

Still Here

The last few months have been hard.  I guess it started with the death of a good friend in May, followed by the death of my mother in law, traveling, a new teaching position, the lead position and then 4 deaths in October cuppled with 3 other part time endeavors.  I am still here and still leaning and depending on God to see me through.  I have faced stress unimaginable and I am dealing with all that I have to with alll that is within me.  Stay tuned for more inspiration and motivation soon.  I am still standing!

Some Where Over the Rainbow

Somewhere over the rainbow..... I smile and thank the Lord every time I see a rainbow in the sky or I see a rainbow that someone captured and posted on Facebook.  Genesis 9: 15-16 gives reference to the bow in the cloud and how it will be a a reminder of the covenant of God between Him and his people.  God reminds of of his promise with the sign of the rainbow.  Every time I see one, I remember how God loves me and cares for me.  I am reminded that the desires of my heart will come to fruition.  I am more determined to move my life into alignment with his Word, so that I may enjoy the benefits of his promise. I see hope. Whatever my circumstances are today, I know I will have my breakthrough.  It also gives me a sense of peace.  I live a fairly stress free life knowing that I have learned how to turn all things in my life over to the Lord.  The rainbow is a symbol that reminds me that I an protected, covered and redeemed! 

(Thanks Keith J. for sharing this photo.  It inspired me.)

Don’t Give Up the Fight

Don’t give up the fight for the things that make you strive to do more, be better, live better or achieve the goal that seems to keep eluding you.  I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of my daughter and her job search.  Equipped with a master’s degree and the appropriate skills, she is a final candidate for a position that she can visualize herself in.  I woke up with a prayer on my heart and I had to get up and write down what I was thinking after I prayed.  This message is for her, myself and anyone who is thinking that the fight is getting the best of them.

Everything that God has for you is there for you to receive.  At times it seems like you are not moving in the direction you desire.  Or perhaps, you feel things are just not happening for you as you planned.  It is hard to keep the faith and keep the momentum of fighting for what you want in life when everyone around you seems to be receiving their blessing without the fervent prayer, without honoring God and without acknowledgement of where the blessings are coming from.  Hold on anyway!  Continue to thank God for the opportunities that you have encountered thus far.  Thank Him for the unseen blessing.  Continue to make that connection with your destination.  We all desire something right now.  We are in need of something to happen in our lives at the present moment.  The fight seems to be more than we can handle today.  We are looking for a breakthrough and require a shower of God’s grace upon our endeavors to let us know that the labor we have given is not in vain.  Why does “it” seem not to be happening for us?  What more do I need to do?  How long do I have to live in this state before there is elevation of my situation?  I’ve been in the storm far too long and I need a life line to rescue me.   The fight has been long and hard and I feel myself waning in the midst of the battle.  I say to you, Don’t Give Up the Fight!

It is not in our time that things will happen or turn around.  Your breakthrough may not come in the form you think it will come.  Be faithful over the few things is the thought that comes from the parable of the servants and the talents (His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Matthew 25: 21 & 23) The reward is great for those who are steadfast.

You may be tired, but you not out for the count.  You’re tired, but you are still standing. Isaiah 40: 30-31 tells us that “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."  There is strength in you that you may not even be aware existed.  But, you say you still need a breakthrough that is tangible.

Look for a breakthrough that may be in other areas of your life.  This breakthrough may be necessary in order for you to appreciate and maintain the desire that you are praying for. Patience attained where it didn’t exist in your life prior to the fight.  Follow through and stick to-it-ness where you might have given up and not realized what you were working toward.  Acknowledge the breakthrough.  Realizing that there is a fight left in you is a breakthrough within itself.  Being thankful and not resentful of your present circumstances is a breakthrough.  As we conquer the small battles, we move closer to the destination God planned for our lives.  With every battle, we fight, we get stronger and closer to the outcome of the plan He has for us.   He is preparing us.  (I hear Daryl Coley singing in my head.) Don’t give up the fight.  Each battle has a purpose in preparing us for the next blessing on the list God has ready for us to receive.

Daryl Coley He's Preparing Me