Find your Inspiration

Find your Inspiration

What inspires you? Is it a sunset, a good book, a success story, or a person you know? How do you find inspiration? Do you search for it, does it come to you in a dream, or does it smack you over the head with  large club in the middle of a Saturday afternoon when you least expect it?

Now mind you, I don’t lack an abundance of inspiring friends or family members. If there is an inspiring tale, I’ve either read it or watched the movie version. But this time it was that Saturday afternoon club-over-the-head that got my attention.

I was at a baby shower for my friend Mary, who is nearly eight months pregnant.  And I’ll be damned if she’s not in better shape than me. Her thighs are half the size of mine, her face is thin and perfect, and when she turns her back to you, she has a perfect hour glass figure – to which one would never suspect she was due to deliver in early March, and of course the cutest baby bump ever.

I heard her tell my sister that she makes an effort to get on the treadmill forty minutes every day.

Then it hit me – BAM – club-over-the-head – there it was…..INSPRIATION!

This gal – only a few years younger than me – works fulltime, likely gets less sleep than I do, and she carves out forty minutes a day to workout.  Sheesh, when I was pregnant the only thing I was dedicated to was four brownie Sundaes a day…..which could be part of my problem now.

After spending the remainder of the baby shower sucking in my gut and realizing – try as I might - you can’t suck in your ass, it dawned on me that I could do this too!  Well, let’s be honest, first I’d have to ditch the laundry list of excuses I use for why I can’t get to the health club. Too busy, work too much, too tired, too busy making excuses……blah, blah, blah…..

So Sunday afternoon I did it, I went to the gym and logged forty minutes on the treadmill. It sort of felt good. Huh….who knew?  Monday morning I did it again. 2.3 miles and 40 minutes logged. Now, I’m not a runner, weak ankles and bad knees (mostly from gaining way too much weight with both of my pregnancies) so I walk, but at a pretty good clip. I even get my arms moving. I’m sure to the casual bystander I look like I’m have a seizure…or swatting at a swarm of angry bees, but none-the-less I’m moving in a positive direction.

Five minutes into my walk this morning a perky blond stepped onto the treadmill to my right.  She did her five minute warm up walk then went into a nice jog. Well I felt completely foolish….I should be running too…..I’m so lame….

Then I was struck by more inspiration. This isn’t a competition. It’s not a race.  I don’t have to keep up with the perky blond; I don’t have to strive to be better than her. The only competition I’m in is with me.  I need to work at being better today than I was yesterday. I can’t let the perfect blond with the supermodel legs and the Playboy Bunny boobs distract me from my goal. My 2.3 miles still burned calories, it got my heart rate up, and there was sweat. Am I pounds lighter and inches thinner….well that would certainly motivate one, but it’s not likely. This is going to be a work in progress. It took 10 years to put thirty extra pounds on this frame; it’s not going away over night. But I feel good about getting back to the gym. Will I ever run on the treadmill? Perhaps in short intervals and maybe as a next step in my goal, but for now I’m just focusing on getting to the gym and not living a sedentary lifestyle all my waking hours.

Now, get out and find your inspiration…..STAT!

The List

So I’ve found in recent weeks that to excel in my endeavors I need to write them down. I make a list of what needs to be done. I’ve found that it’s quite joyful to cross off the completed items, keeping me both motivated and honest. I stay focused and on track with a list.  It reminds me of what needs to be done and offers that instant gratification with the accomplishment of each task.

 I will start this New Year with many a list

           

            A Work List – every day before I clock out at work I make a detailed list of what needs doing the next work day, prioritizing where necessary.

             A Home List – A short list of 2-5 things (depending on the complexity of the task) that I would like to accomplish around the house each day.  Mind you sometimes just accomplishing one thing is a miracle upon itself.

            Personal Daily List - i.e., work out, read, knit, write, use my waterpik, or paint my nails….ect.

            Goal List – Daily
                               Weekly
                               Monthly
                               Yearly

 Some of these goals may change frequently, which is ok, as we grow and achieve, so must our goals grow and change, so that we may soar higher each time.

             Rewards List (my personal favorite) – Make a list of rewards. These are things I want to do or buy when I achieve my goals.

 My advice – Start slow; it takes 21 days to create a habit. Start with one goal – perhaps even your most attainable goal. Take that goal and set time aside every day for seven days strait to give it your full attention. If you are comfortable that you’ve turned this into a good habit add something new to your routine the next week. You will be amazed after 21 short days what you can accomplish.

If you mess up, don’t dwell on it, move on – move forward. There are no failures only lessons learned.

Never give up:  The following people chose not to give up despite rejections or setbacks.

Dr. Seuss – told by 27 different publishers that no one would read such silly stuff.

Stephen King – He suffered through several rejections and crappy jobs before becoming a published author.

J.K. Rowling – 12 publishing houses rejected Harry Potter before being picked up by Bloomsbury.

            Aaron Rodgers – stood in the shadows of Brett Favre for 3 long seasons.

 My last list is 100 things I want to do this year, which some might consider both lofty and preposterous, but who are they to determine what I am capable of accomplishing – for I am the dream-maker, the rule-breaker, the magic-bean-buyer, the high-flyer, the story-teller, the well-wisher, the candle-lighter, and the writer. And I’ll be damned if I let anyone else write my story.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to write my 2012 story, starting with a list.