What are you waiting for?

Good Morning! I just glanced down at the camera on my computer and noticed that it is already September 25^th. Goodness, time just seems to pass so quickly these days. That wasn’t always the case. In my former state of existence, the days just seemed to drag on and on, primarily because life was the same thing day-in-day out.  I’d wake up as exhausted as I went to bed; take potent pain medicine in the hopes that it would take the edge off and help my body to stop hurting enough to get dressed for work; eat a 1500 calorie or more breakfast; go to work; come home; eat and go to bed. One day turned into the next and each one was basically filled with the same: pain, sadness, food, more pain, sadness, food.  Life was really the pits….and yet…. I hid it well; even my colleagues and loved ones never really knew the reality.

My life is very different these days. I’m still an early riser, but now I get up a couple of hours earlier that before, and my mornings are not spent sitting in the darkness trying to muster the strength to move, but rather, I rise now to think, reflect, write, answer e-mail, blog, do some household things, walk, ride my bike, pull weeds, (have I mentioned that I hate that it’s DARK until nearly time to leave for work?) and a whole lot of other stuff. Evenings and weekends are much different as well. Today after work, I’ll be sharing my story with a community group at the local hospital. A few years ago I would have been lying in my bed with a bag of potato chips and a 2-liter bottle of soda, praying that I wouldn’t die during the night because no one would find me for a few days. My life is very busy now…but I am so incredibly blessed and grateful beyond words.

None of these changes in my life would have happened had I not made that decision that I no longer wanted to live in my previous existence. Part of me never really imagined that life COULD be different, and therefore, I kept denying any responsibility I had in my situation. It was easier that way. As difficult as it was to function, it was still easier to just accept that it was “just the way it is” than to take the steps necessary to change.  And so….I kept putting it off. I could come up with every excuse in the book, especially regarding TIME. Conversations in my head went something like this:  “Well, yeah, I guess I should maybe try to lose weight. Maybe I will give it a try, even though it will be IMPOSSIBLE without some miracle pill or surgery, but I guess I could try….but not now…Halloween is coming up and I’ll just blow it anyway with all the candy everywhere. I’ll wait until after then…but oh, then it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas… I’ll wait until the first of the year.”  The New Year would come and go and I’d have to wait to finish all the Christmas cookies and goodies that had accumulated. After all, it would be a sin to waste them.  Oh wait, is the Valentine’s candy out already? And so forth.  Day after day would come and go; excuse after excuse; month after month; and I was getting heavier and heavier. 

Perhaps you are in this situation right now. You’re reading this and thinking, “Yes, I really do want to change my life. I want to feel better. I want to quit smoking or drinking. I want to lose weight or quit being so angry, bitter, negative, or just plain old miserable. Yeah, one of these days, I’ll start….but….not now, it’s almost Halloween; not now, I’m so busy at work or just started a college class; not now, I’m not feeling so well (or I’m caring for someone else); not now….I’m…….”   I’ve been there, my friends. I’ve used the same excuses and rationalizations, and look where it got me? 

Today… is the PERFECT DAY….to begin your journey.  Today….is the perfect day to renew your commitment to your current journey.  Many of us will be celebrating Christmas three months from today.  Do you realize that if you began your journey today that you could very likely lose 10 pounds by then?  You could be 3 months sober or smoke-free. You could be feeling stronger, breathing easier, more peaceful, joyful, and feeling better about yourself. But only….if you start today….or continue today with the plan you’re following.  Don’t put it off. Don’t wait until tomorrow or next week or Halloween or the New Year. Today is your day.

Remember, the state of your life is only partly the result of your circumstances and the things that happen “to you.”  Change what you can; cope with what you can’t the best way you can.  I know you can do it!!! 

Have a wonderful day!!!