Kindsight...

I'm thinking that this one just about says it all.  

Found it on Facebook...where all good things come from!  (Hahaha!)

And I love this new word in my life.

Kindsight.

No more hindsight where I beat myself up about choices that

another version of me made long ago.

(A version who is gone and not ever coming back, by the way.)

But instead...

KINDsight.

Looking back and discovering what I was learning along the way

that brought me to where I am now

and will lead me on the rest of the journey.

Kindsight.

I HIGHLY recommend this way of thinking, friends.

:-)

Selective Editing and Recall...

Have you ever just thought a moment about all the "stuff" that comes into your life from other people?  The things they say...the looks they give..the insinuations they make.  For the most part, I'd have to say that those are positive things, depending upon the people you surround yourself with.  I know that I receive some wonderfully positive and uplifting things from the people in my life.

But there are times that the message isn't positive or helpful at all.  Perhaps the words of a well-meaning, but decidedly curmudgeonly grandfather, that you "really are getting fat and ought to watch your weight" stick in your mind like they do in mine!  No?  They don't come to your mind?  Well, I'm glad for you.  But that particular comment from about 15 years ago is on repeat in my brain.  And sometimes, I just can't get it to stop playing!

Chatting with one of my newer friends this week, this idea came out of our conversation: selective editing and recall can be very, very important tools in our lives.  This was very liberating for me.  This one idea means that I don't have to have my grandfather's words on a recall loop playing round and round in my brain if I don't want to!  That's POWERFUL!  That's FREEING!  That's me deciding WHO and WHAT gets the right to be replayed in my life.

I don't have to replay all the negative crud that people unload on me.  Let me restate that. 

I don't have to keep reliving and replaying negative things in my mind.

Whether it's about me or not, or just about life in general...that kind of negativity is harmful to my life...the one I'm re-creating.  It's not that I don't want to be supportive if people need to tell me tough things.  It's not that at all.  I don't mind when friends...or even strangers...feel the need to unload.  I'm a great listener and sounding board.  I even really appreciate the opportunity most times.  I don't mind hearing honest things about my own life, either...if they're coming from people I love and who I KNOW love me and want what's best for me. 

BUT...I don't have to replay it again and again in my mind.  I can selectively edit and recall!!!  That's powerful. I can choose what I bring to consciousness in my mind. 

And so, Punky (the name I called my grandfather...and he called me...appropriate, huh?!?)...NO MORE!  I know you're gone now...you said those words years ago!  But now, I'm letting go of them.  Selective recall lets me.  And I won't be replaying them anymore in my mind.  I am NOT fat...I know you said it because you were concerned about me...but you should have found another way to express that. You really should have.  And because you didn't, I choose not to continue to remember it and beat myself up with it anymore.

Friends...my encouragement to you is that you do the same!  Choose wisely what you play on the replay loop in your head.  Fill it with wonderful thoughts and ideas...happy, positive, upbeat things about yourself and others.  Remember with joy the amazing things about you. 

And then...let the rest go.

Go ahead...you have my permission to selectively edit and recall!  :-)

Life Invades...

Ever have one of "those" weeks?  I sure have.  This week, in fact.  It began when I woke up Monday morning, unable to swallow around the huge, red tonsils inflamed in the back of my throat. Fighting that all week while holding multiple parent/teacher conferences has made for a tiring, busy week.

My schedule for life, much less the gym, has been interrupted greatly.  In fact, tonight was the first night I got to be in the gym at all this week!  And friends...I have to be honest.  Stepping foot on that treadmill felt like I was finally coming home.

Yes, it was difficult to walk my 2 miles, mostly because it's still a big challenge to breathe in the first place with this clogged up head.  But also, I could tell that I've lost a little bit of my cardio fitness.  That happens when you're away from the gym for a week or better.  But the good thing is that it comes back quickly.  By the end of my walk this evening, I was back in my regular zone.  I was able to grab a few 17 minute miles...not quite my quickest miles, but certainly FAR from my slowest! 

I guess the point I'm making is this:  Life invades your plans.  It just does.  People get sick.  Schedules are changed and interrupted by events.  And you know what?  Once you've made a commitment to things like a healthy diet and regular exercise, getting back to them feels like coming home again. 

At one time in my life, it was so hard to imagine how I was ever going to fit in 5 gym visits every week, how I was going to survive on a limited calorie diet.  Now, skipping those gym visits feels so unnatural! 

If you're there in your journey...where you just can't see how you're ever going to make some of the changes that you know will make you healthier, take heart.  One day, when you want it badly enough, you'll make those changes.  And then you'll understand what I now do...that NOTHING life can throw at you is enough to take you back to your old habits!  Not sickness, not busy-ness, not anything.

Happy Weekend, my friends!  Hope yours is sweet.  I know mine will be!