I woke up this morning with a strange determination and an idea. Most mornings I am out of bed by 6(ish) in order to race around getting ready to be at work at 7. The drive to work is a 20 minute one, so if you can do the math right, forcing myself out of bed at 6 becomes a sprint to get ready. This morning, however, I was determined to stay in bed and sleep. Little did I know, my brain would have other ideas. As I laid in bed at 7:45 begging my body to just go back to sleep and enjoy the first day of our week off, I started to think about life.
In a week, I will be 29 years old. For me, this year will be a sobering reminder of the fact my 20's are over. I am moving into a point of life that most people reserve for raising children and growing their careers. While God may have plans to present a man into my life and change my mind about having children, I know that I'm not ready for either. And to be perfectly honest, I can't be sure I want either right now. Shocking right? While most women want the white picket fence with a husband to welcome home at day's end and at least a couple of children to cherish I wonder if I can't make something different happen in my 30's.
I don't feel like I have accomplished much with my 20's. Yes, I graduated college, but with a degree in Fish and Wildlife, my career in that field is all but closed. The young, naive girl I was in high school has grown up and realized that sometimes having that truly unique career may be fun, but it won't pay the bills. I struggled after college to find where I belonged. I moved more times than I care to count on my fingers right now, lived in horrific conditions even at times, and in the end, I landed myself in Columbus working as a Customs Brokerage Agent. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching people's perplexed looks as I rattle off my job title, but this is not where I thought I would be right now.
So where DID I expect to be. Certainly no one sees themselves as a single woman working an office job, still living with a roommate, and looking forward to coming home in the evenings to enjoy their cat's company while watching episodes of TV shows till bed time. Okay, you may insert your crazy cat lady jokes now. No, this is not where I saw myself, but regardless, it is where I am right now. In the last year of my 20's though, I want to change this. I have a year to set a foundation before the big 3 0 hits. In a year, I want to be celebrating my birthday as not only a time to rejoice in what I accomplished in the last year, but to truly be able to say I look forward now to what I will do with my 30's.
I guess it's a good time to remind you that my birthday is next week. Perhaps it has been that looming date that brought upon some of my serious thinking this morning. Today marks the first day of a week away from my usual troubles and stress. A week away from work is a week to start laying some healthy foundations. As I was laying in bed, a thought occurred to me. Is it enough to be just physically healthy? Is it enough to be just be spiritually healthy? Maybe the true definition of health is to be healthy in both these areas. If each one plays and contributes to the other, perhaps the balance I have been searching for depends on me getting myself right with my creator as well as allowing Him into the work I need to do on my physical self. I am sure I am not the first to come to this conclusion, but it is a powerful one to contemplate. Perhaps the key to finding a truly healthy life and living fully alive in my 30's if not only finding time work in cardio, but also finding time to be quiet with God.
So what does this sort of plan look like? It's all well and good to say these things, but how do I put them into practice. Preachers can preach all they want, but unless you see them living what they preach, it means nothing. My actions have to support my words. I know there will be days the excitement is lost. I won't want to do the things I know I should be doing. While the excitement is high right now, how can I promote change that will stick?
I am reminded first of all that I must look at this journey as a marathon and not as a sprint. I won't get their fast, there will be days I don't see the scale line move in the appropriate direction, there are days the thought of picking up my Bible is just not appealing, and there are certainly days I'm going to outright fail in all areas.
My first step this morning was to put on my BodyMedia armband. I will perhaps write an entire blog on what this device does for me, but a short and sweet version is that allows me to track my physical activity during the day so I can appropriately eat the calories to balance the two.
Goal 1: wear BodyMedia every day and night, and remember to track food throughout the day
Goal 2: spend a minimum of 15 minutes with God
Goal 3: find a minimum of 30 minutes to do cardio or strength training
These are three very simple and broad goals, but as I start to keep to them, I foresee new goals piggy backing off of the simples, broad ones.
The power diaries are not a new concept. I have known for a long time that I have the power to change my life. I want to look at my last year of 20 as the makeover year that allowed me to truly change my life in my 30's.
No comments:
Post a Comment