Be Healthy

From MadisonBalance.com

Don't wait until January 1st to start living a healthier life.  There are ways to get fit right now and stay fit through the holiday season.  Creating the good habit is half the battle.

1. Get outside and go!  Fall can be a treat for the senses: the crisp air, pumpkin carving, apple picking and beautiful fall foliage are all around you.  These few months are a great time to exercise outdoors without the sweltering heat or freezing temperatures.  Find a hiking or cycling trail, canoe or kayak.  Remember, working out doesn't have to be a chore.  Have some fun!

2.  Think outside the box.  Has it been your dream to learn to tap dance or box?  There's no time like the present to find a class that works for your schedule.  Classes are starting everywhere in the next few weeks. 

3. Be an active TV watcher.  Watching television doesn't mean you have to be a couch potato.  While you watch you can run in place, do standing lunges, tricep dips off the couch or lift weights.  Commercials are the perfect time to get in a set of push-ups or sit-ups.  You have an average of 20 minutes of commercial time during an hour program to get fit.

4.  Integrate exercise into your life.  Park your car farther away from the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk during your lunch break.  This may be the easiest way to get started on a healthier path.

5.  Rejuvenate.  Fall is the time to rejuvenate your body.  Your time spent doesn't have to always be about physical training.  Good health is also about mind and spirit.  Learn to meditate.  Treat yourself to a massage after a run.  

Thoughts

Today is one of those dreary days. It's raining and it's dark. But I don't mind it. It fits me at this moment. I'm not saying I feel dark or dreary, rather I appreciate the weather. It's calming. It's giving me a little bit of a break.

I bought Lana Del Rey's "Born to Die" album. Playing now is a song called 'Video Games'. I don't exactly know what it's about yet, but I like it. It matches me in this space. Slow and calming. I remember days when I used to lay on my pull out bed in California, put my head phones on and listen to an entire album from beginning to end. No phones, no computers, no tv. Just me and my headphones and my pull out bed. It's funny how you recall certain moments. Moments that you didn't even think were going to be important as you were making them back then. I think I want to lay on my sofa and put on my husband's Beats to listen to this album. I want to get lost.

Life has been good. Interesting lately but good. I've had a recurring thought these past few days that I'm not surprised is on my mind. All paths led and still lead to it. I haven't prayed about it in a while, so perhaps it's time to revisit that conversation with Jehovah.

I wonder what's next in life... I surely don't want it to get boring...

You know what I haven't made as priority? Travel.
France, Italy, England, Australia, Russia, Fiji, Tahiti, Germany, Ireland, Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico.
When will there be time? The 9 to 5 holds me back. I have to wait for paid time off to accrue in order to enjoy the world? Seems so backwards.

Music: Yong and Beautiful - Lana Del Ray

No wonder Kanye proposed to Kim over this song - her favorite song right now.

I've seen the world
Done it all
Had my cake now
Diamonds, brilliant
And Bel Air now
Hot summer nights, mid July
When you and I were forever wild
The crazy days, city lights
The way you'd play with me like a child

Will you still love me
When I'm no longer young and beautiful?
...

I've seen the world, lit it up
As my stage now
....
The way you play for me at your show
And all the ways I got to know
Your pretty face and electric soul

Loving this song. I think I'm obsessed with it and the movie it came from. If you haven't seen 'The Great Gatsby' it's a must.

Growing

I'm in a place right now. My thoughts are flowing. The music in my ears is perfect. I'm overwhelmed with emotion. Sounds like the perfect storm for a blog.

I'm listening to Jon B.'s 'The Ride of Our Lives'. If you read this blog or know me, you know how I feel about this song. It gets me every time. But right before the song came pouring through my head phones, I was thanking my friend for coming to visit me this weekend with her newborn baby and husband. I was telling her over chat that it's very apparent that having a baby changes personalities and character for the better. There's something much calmer and sweeter about her. There was a moment yesterday when we were sitting in my living room with a few other people discussing a stressful situation in someone else's life. My friend had a similar situation that created a lot of pain for her, but as the conversation ensued, she waved her free hand in the air and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, 'it's not even worth it' while holding her daughter in the other. That little gesture while holding her sweet little baby is one that keeps replaying in my mind over and over again. Because of her history and knowing where she came from emotionally, I am simply overwhelmed with the transforming power of a tiny little human being. And of course, that stirs emotion in me.

I'm interested to know what would change in me. What kind of person would I be? What lessons would I learn? What are my most selfish areas of life? Do I go out often to the point where I would feel a change? Would my hair appointments go away or would I work to keep those moments to myself as a part of my me-time? What would no longer be important to me anymore? Probably my tv shows. I'm just looking forward to seeing and learning and figuring out and growing. I'm ready to stop being selfish and to live for someone else. Ya know?