Balance...

Angie...balancing!

I've spoken to you a lot about Angie.  No...not me!  (Although admittedly, since I AM the subject of this blog, I do talk about myself a lot!)  The other Angie...my physical therapist...and one of my best friends.  That's her over there in that picture...the one who's balancing on her partner's hands.  Amazing, isn't it?  You think it's impressive in a picture, you ought to see it in person!  Normal people just can't do these things!



I've been thinking about something that we've talked a lot about lately...balance.  This is another one of those key life lessons I need to grasp more fully as I take this journey to the New Angie.  I've lived much of my life out of balance for a long time, and that's at least part of the reason that I allowed my body to get to the place where it was...328 pounds, arthritic knees, and in almost constant pain.

Being out of balance causes pain...physical, emotional, spiritual...you name it!  Because I walked with a limp and favored one side of my body, I injured the other.  When I'm out of balance emotionally, I am snippy and impatient.  And being out of balance spiritually has caused me to serve out of habit instead of passion. Part of finding a new pattern of living will most definitely involve finding a way to maintain balance in all of the different parts of my life.

She does these all over the world! AWESOME!!

I'm still learning what balance looks like for me.  Tonight would be a good example of it, though.  I've been away from home since Wednesday afternoon learning and doing some cool things with some great teachers.  My last REAL workout was on Wednesday morning before I left.  I worked out a bit while I was at James Madison's house...but there wasn't a gym...there wasn't a pool...all I could really do was walk.  There were some good hills...so I did have to work a bit harder to walk there versus the treadmill, but I don't feel like I got a great cardio workout since my last swim on Wednesday morning. When I woke up this morning, I was planning on getting back to the gym tonight now that I'm home.  But I'm not going.  And I'm not really sad about that, nor am I offering up "excuses".

You see, I'm exhausted.  I worked really hard at this workshop and I slept very poorly (those colonial people needed softer beds...they may have lived longer!).  Also, I missed my family while I was gone the past 4 days. So tonight, I'm spending time with my husband and going to bed early.  Because I need that kind of balance in my life right now.  My new life can't be all about working out, no matter how much good working out is for me and how much I need it.  Balance tonight means I need to rest and reconnect, not workout.  There will be time for that tomorrow.  And rest assured, I will be there in the gym at some point tomorrow working my tail off!

Angie will tell you, I still have a LOT to learn about balance.  Fortunately for me, she's a master at it.  I've got a great role model to follow!  What kind of balance do you most need to learn in your life?  Keep these pictures of Angie in mind while you work toward it...she's inspiring, isn't she?!?!