Having to start all over is NO fun!

It is coming up on New Years Eve 2013. Now for most people that is a time to reflect on the year that is passing and also a time to look forward to what the coming year has in store. It is a time millions of people all over the world make New Years Resolutions. If we are all honest most New Years Resolutions last for a relatively short period of time. There is the occasional resolution that makes it a little longer that most. Last year I made a promise to myself that I was going to work towards a healthier me. It wasn't that much different from resolutions I had made each and every year for the past 20 plus years. The difference being I did not make a resolution to lose weight. I had done that every year before and every year before I had failed. Last year I made the resolution to work towards a healthier me. Well I can honestly tell you that I have accomplished that resolution! I am very proud of all the hard work and dedication I have put into making this resolution a reality. I am FAR, FAR away from where I want to be. I know though that by the choices I have made over the past year I can just keep moving forward into 2014.

I have made great strides during the past year. Little changes amount to good things. The weekend after Thanksgiving I came done with the stomach flu. The timing of this bug was very stressful. It was exactly one week before my daughters wedding!!!!!! It made the rounds to everyone in my house. Thankfully we were all fine by the wedding. The wedding was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. It was PERFECT. When I first started my blog I spoke of how I wanted to feel comfortable on her wedding day. I can tell you that I felt very good on her wedding day. I felt comfortable in my dress and comfortable taking pictures. This alone is a big deal for me. After the wedding I new I had to get back to my schedule. It was a bit altered with wedding preparations and then getting hit with that awful bug. I went to my training on the Monday after the wedding. My trainer had come up with a new plan for me as I have the Half Marathon coming up in January. I was ready to get on this new plan. I was happy. I went to the gym the following day feeling good, feeling happy. Then it happened……. I woke up on Wednesday morning and I could hardly move. Not in pain from the gym but I was SICK! AGAIN!!! This time it was a respiratory illness. I had a high fever, body aches, chills, cough, you name it and I had it. I thought I would surely feel better the following day. No such luck! This went on for over a week and a half and then I knew I had to go to the Doctor. Well my Doctor had me in his office every day for a week. I received a steroid shot and an antibiotic shot everyday plus he put me on oral antibiotics. He told me I was a very, very sick girl. GREAT!! I will be honest here, I was more than freaking out a bit. I couldn't stop thinking about the Marathon. I have trained for months towards this goal. When you stop you can not just start back up where you left off, it doesn't work that way. Especially for someone that is 49 years old and really fairly new to working out. My mind was really doing a number on me. My Doctor knows of my plans and we spoke about it. He told me that I am not going to rebound quickly because I was so sick. He told me that I will be short of breath for awhile and the cough will linger most likely. He also stressed to me that I can not push myself to hard due to the lungs just not wanting to cooperate. He asked me what is the worst thing that can happen at the Marathon???? I thought about it for a minute and said, a couple things. I won't be able to finish and my family will be there to see me fail. He looked at me and said, " Listen you are not going to fail. You need to just alter your thoughts. Even if you walk EVERY SINGLE STEP of this marathon you are accomplishing something that you would NEVER have been able to do last year at this time. Period! There is nothing wrong with that. You have to put your health first. Worrying about the things you can't do right now are only causing you more stress. You need to just take it one day at a time and do ONLY what your body can do. You need to be proud of how far you have come over this past year.  Most people can not walk 13.1 miles easily." I agreed with him. I left his office reflecting back on his words to me.

In Life everything doesn't always work out the way we want it to. There are roadblocks and detours along the way. There are struggles with all kinds of things. I had to look at this as a detour. So life just threw me a curve in the road. I could either let this detour stop me or just slow me down a bit. It was my choice. So I decided that I just needed to alter my thoughts and get right back up and try again.

I think it fits right in with the upcoming New Year. Starting over. That is what I will do. I will look back on this past year with a feeling of pride. I will look back at the changes I have made in my life and feel good about them. I think back to the 5k I participated in. That is something I definitely could not have done last year. I will look ahead to the coming year will anticipation. The year is like a blank canvas for me to paint however I chose. Making small changes in my everyday life can amount to big changes health wise.

I hope the New Year holds great things for everyone. Health, happiness and love. That is really what life is all about. Enjoy each and everyday. Happy New Year!