The remodeling of ourself!

DSCN0964Hey there friends! I can’t believe I’ve not posted a blog since January. At that time, I was apologizing for not blogging and lamenting over a lack of inspiration since my brother’s passing. It’s true that I’ve continued to struggle over my brother’s death. But some measure of peace and some answers to long-searched-for questions are beginning to emerge in my life these days.

For years I’ve written columns for newspapers, magazines and websites desiring to offer my readers hope, encouragement, joy, peace of mind. And my blogs had the same goal.

Since I’ve had more questions than answers and inspirations of late, I’ve decided to start sharing them with anyone who reads my blog in the hopes that somebody will share their answers and inspirations with me! And I will of course share any ideas, thoughts, insights that come to me, too!

For one thing, anyone who browses my website who doesn’t know me may wonder what I actually look like. I’ve recently added a couple of new photos to my website that some say look really different from my other pictures taken over the past couple of years. The picture with this blog is me with my lovely daughter the night before her Texas wedding day in March!

Well….You might say I’ve been remodeling myself in the past year!

I began a journey to have less pain in my body and I finally decided this journey had to include less weight and more exercise and activity. I mean after all, legs are made for walking, running, swimming, dancing. Not just sitting at a desk all day!

So yes, I’ve lost over 30 pounds and dropped from a size 12 (sometimes 14) to a size 6 over the course of this past year. I work with a trainer twice a week. I go for walks twice a day. What I eat and when I eat has changed big time from what I ate and when I ate a couple of years ago! Would I like to loose more weight? Yes, I would love to still drop another 10 pounds. But am I happy about the progress I’ve made so far? YES! And do I have less pain? YES!

As my body size got smaller, I decided to let my hair length get longer. My hair hasn’t been as long as it is now since I was probably 12 years old!

And the truth is I would be as white headed as my grandmother was in her 90’s if I didn’t color my hair. In fact, the white was becoming so predominant, my hairdresser had to begin coloring my hair every three weeks. When that wasn’t good enough, she suggested we go with a lighter hair color to better hide my white roots. So for the first time in my life, I became a blonde!

The funny thing is I’m beginning to conclude that blondes really do have more fun! Ha!

My appearance isn’t the only part of me that is being remodeled but I think I’ll wait for another blog to talk more about that!

I will conclude by saying something I know I’ve said before. It’s never too late to make changes or try something new or learn a new skill or discover a new talent or dream new dreams….

So what are you waiting for?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to keep making progress

When people stop learning, stop wanting or trying to learn, or start believing they have nothing to learn, they cease to make progress. Without progress, there is no life, no growth. At the very least, life becomes less interesting.

Perhaps learning is a habit. Like some good habits, such as eating a balanced meal or exercising, we can get lazy or negligent. Our laziness and negligence become bad habits that are difficult to break—but not impossible. I’d like to think that any bad habit could be broken with due diligence and perseverance, and that good habits can be created and maintained in the same way. Gandhi’s words,

“Learn as if you would live forever, live as if you would die tomorrow”

tell us there is always more to learn and we should digest as much as we can each day. It is never too late to comprehend and master something new. The old adage “practice makes perfect” is always true regardless of our age.

Daughters of the world, be wise women.

Approach each day with this question: “What can I learn today?”

You may not know what you want or need to learn, but I believe there are countless options and infinite possibilities when you’re open and ready to discover them.

The above is an excerpt from:

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