Blessings and More

I’m sitting in our comfortable living room on a morning where the winds will be over 75 mph along with the temperatures being 75. I can only pray the roof on the house holds together, we’re safe driving to get Addison from school (some cancelled school for the day), and safe until we return home later from dinner at the VFW Post. The kids have final exams this week and get out of school early.

Oh, I remember waiting for Christmas Break during school. It was a most opportune time to get the school uniform skirt dry cleaned. Yes, they were wool, box pleated skirts. By the time Christmas came, there were no pleats left in the back of the skirt. Seriously. They were all sat out of the fabric. A day at the cleaners, and those pleats were sharp as knives again. It took so little to make me happy. Still does.

Today is for decorating. Being at Mom’s yesterday made me realize how much I truly love the decorations of Christmas. I have procrastinated, getting other commitments out of the way. Now is the time. I’m collecting things to bake some goodies, too. But not too many. It’s back to eating healthy for an extended period of time again. I decided to simply enjoy the season this year. Enjoying means the food, too. I believe it was made to enjoy, not overindulge. I believe by allowing yourself now and again, you’ll be more successful in the long run. And I’ll be starting squats again. Maybe today. No pressure.

Our House. Yours?

With moving boxes upstairs and downstairs, I didn’t realize I hadn’t finished this. Wow. I hope you are in a safe place with the storms moving through the midwest. Tornadoes in some places in Nebraska, moving towards northeast. Stay safe, friends, we’ll see each other tomorrow.

Looking for Answers in New Places

Sometimes, old answers aren’t the right ones. If you do something a certain way because you’ve always done it that way before, don’t be surprised when the results are the same. We need to be brave and look for new ways to do things. Yes, it can be very uncomfortable, can’t it?

Finding different solutions to old problems and having positive results is life changing. We may feel some guilt because we abandoned the way of our parents and others, and they may criticize us for not remembering where we came from. We are at the point where we remember perfectly well where we came from. We are choosing to look for a solution, a new way of doing things. We want things to work where we have seen them fail before. When we’re successful, it makes people who settle for the old ways are upset. Gosh, you may make them look at themselves and evaluate their life and things that are not working.

It can be isolating to be the one who tries a new way of thinking, living, and solving problems. It can also be freeing, discovering your own way. Your own answers. Your own truth. It can lead you to a whole new life, new friends, and a positive outlook that sets you on a path of discovery, creativity, and a fulfilling life. Living a Great Story should be the goal of all of us.

We owe it to ourselves to be our best version of ourselves. We do that with personal growth, experiencing life on our own terms, and contributing to our surrounding communities. Getting out of our own head helps us to overcome our difficulties, heal our heartaches, and be good citizens of our earth. Thinking before reacting is new territory for us. It takes practice, over and over again. The ineffective habits we had before leave us the more we do new things, in new ways. It’s very satisfying. Try it, you’ll like it!

Sorry to be so short today, just kind of distracted. Hope you have a beautiful day and see you tomorrow.

Feelings are really Habits?

What do you think about this meme? I suppose it is true, and I’m going to change some starting tomorrow.

It’s the first of September, and I’m going to commit to doing Keto with the passion I first had. The determination that helped me lose 30 pounds and keep it off, even though I’ve cheated quite a bit since the first of this year. I think I need to give it one last time, then try my hardest to break through this plateau.

So what am I going to do? I’m going to vow to spend the whole month of September doing these things:

Having no sugar.

Having no alcohol.

Having no bread.

Riding my recumbent bike 22 minutes per day.

Doing 71 squats a day to total 2,220.

Do 22 Wall Push Ups a day.

22 minutes a day, 2200 squats a day, 22 wall push ups a day will remind me of the 22 veterans a day who commit suicide due to PTSD. Organizations I volunteer with are very cognizent of this. I vow to be also, so I can help them and the Veterans.

The past summer has been so good with the fundraising efforts of VFW Post 2503 for the help of Veterans with PTSD. I want to help. I want to help other organizations help. We will persevere. It’s what is needed to change those statistics from 22 until none.

This is brief and to the point tonight because it’s been a long day. Spent it with Mom at her house, and I’m glad to have done it. It’s funny, she doesn’t have wi-fi, so I couldn’t do anything blog/computer/or VFW Post related. You miss it when it’s not available.

Have a good evening tonight, and a pleasant day tomorrow. I’ll be spending the day with Mom again tomorrow, so know we’ll talk a little in between. All is well, have a great day, and remember; you are making the world a better place with however you help and volunteer. See you tomorrow!

If Nothing Changes, Nothing Changes

Whatever habit we need to change, if we don’t change it, nothing will change. We have to put in the work. Henry Van Dyke said, “As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge.”

If we want to lose weight, we need to cut calories and increase activity. No shortcuts. Yes, it’s hard. The Babe and I started Keto in October, 2020. We’ve lost 25 pounds each, and we’re happy with that amount so far. To reach the end goal, however, we need to get back to the habits we changed and implement them once again. We had a great weekend with some splurges included, and are ready to get back to work again.

If I want to write and publish books, I need to enact some different habits as well. All things considered, I need to build in some time to let my back rest during the day, so I can work longer at the computer. It’s hard to work around a disability, but I have to figure something out. I have books inside of me that need to be published and shared.

We have to be ready to risk the comfort of old ways for the prospect of a new tomorrow. The new tomorrow can be having a healthier body and extended life. The new tomorrow can be contributing to the happiness of others by writing entertaining books. The new tomorrow can also be modifying any part of your life that causes you distress; such as an addiction or unhealthy habit.

Often, the addicted person thinks they are in control of their world. That thinking is always wrong; they are not in control, nothing could be further from the truth. They are under the control of their addiction. Denial is at it’s best when addiction, enabling, or justification is happening. If we don’t challenge those bad habits, justifications, or enablers, we’re stuck. We’ll never get beyond the discomfort in our lives. Our negative behaviors continue. We find no hope. We mope that we’re unhappy.

We don’t sense we need changes in life unless we get very uncomfortable. We go through the same old motions day after day. We can’t produce anything else. Until we decide to change. We need to commit to lose the weight, stop drinking or doing drugs, quit smoking, let your kids accept the consequences of their actions, learn something new, do something we’ve always wanted to do.

Change. It’s usually for the good. Whether we want to at first or not. It’s so worth it. Good things are ahead. You will find more folks like you. You never guessed there were so many. Reach out, you’ll find them. You can learn and grow together. Life has so much to offer. Making the most of it feels so much better than being stuck in a rut. There is life after addiction, after kids, after the job. What do you want to do for the next twenty years of your life? Change what you need to, keep what works. Your life will change for the better.

Thank you for reading tonight. The morning was full of doctor appointments for the Babe; he’s fine, they were just annual checks on the carotid artery surgery from two years ago. All is good. Sometimes it’s a little scary, and we’re nothing but grateful things are good. We will see each other earlier tomorrow. Be Safe out there!