My Journey Part One

We all tend to judge things by successes and failures. But true success is measured by our failures. Let me explain. If someone never fails then that means they never tried. Don't be afraid to fail. A successful person isn't someone who has never failed. They are someone who NEVER GIVES UP!

You might be wondering WHAT "success" I want to talk to you about today. After all, I do run a successful kid care and preschool and have for MANY years. I've been married to the same wonderful man for over thirty-three years. I have given birth to four children and raised two of them to adulthood and the other two are about to embark on that journey, one in a year and the other in three. Those are all things a lot of people would count as successes. I know I do. But those aren't the ones I am here to talk about today.

Today is for a different type of success. One that is just as challenging and rewarding as the ones mentioned above. But this one is a personal journey that is just about ME. This is about my fitness success. Those who know me understand that when I say FITNESS I am talking about more than exercise. Fitness is exercise, diet, our mental fitness and our spiritual fitness. Sometimes those get off balanced and we have one on track but the others fall to the way side. Balance is important when it comes to fitness.

In order to tell you about where I am today on my fitness journey, I need to give you some background on where I started. I was born in the mid 60's. I was not a chubby child, in fact in some of my pictures I look kind of like a stick before hitting puberty. I was an extremely active little girl. I was always outside running around, riding my bike, climbing trees or playing on the swing set. In the summer I was ALWAYS at the public pool. My grandparents spent a lot of time on the golf course so I was doing that, too. I've looked back to try to figure out when that changed and why. It may have been because school got more involved and harder. It could be because I spent more time watching TV. It may have been because puberty changed my attitude and I just got lazy. We were required to do sports and PE in school instead of recess and that may have made it seem less "fun". I'm not sure what the commercials were back then but they COULD have been the beginning on the body image issues that plague us still today.

I grew up in a time that the new aerobic fade came around. Fitness Centers for women were popping up in the late 70's in our small city.. I don't know if women always worried about their weight or if it didn't matter as much because they worked hard around their homes to take care of their families and didn't have time to think about it. But I remember that my grandmother was unhappy with her size 14 clothes and struggled to lose any weight until she got in her mid 70's and 80's and the weight just wouldn't stay on her body. I was not a thin girl after I reached puberty but I wasn't really big, either. But I FELT like I was. It bothered me that I wasn't as small as I "thought" I should be. I can tell you right now that those thoughts were very harmful to my self worth and it has caused me many challenges over my lifetime. I don't remember if I had other people say things to me about weight or if I saw things in movies, TV shows or read it in books. But somewhere, somehow, I got the idea that I was FAT. But when I look back at pictures of myself during those years...I was NOT fat. I was NOT overweight. I was NOT unattractive. I have read my old diaries from my teen years and I was dieting and trying to lose weight ALL.THE.TIME. The more weight I put on the more diets I tried. I lived a yo-yo life with my weight.

My journey just got harder and more complicated as I got out of high school and got married followed by children. Check back for Part Two of the story.

Helping Transform Lives One Day At A Time

Age Does Not Define You

I've always known that age is just a number. I was raised by my grandparents. They were in their early 50's when I was born, yes, around mine and my husbands ages. I lived with them from the time I left the hospital until I got married. I watched them do things that most people don't think OLD people do. My grandfather worked on cars until he was in his 70's, not as much as when he was younger but he was still quite capable. I watched them take up golf in their 50's and never stopped playing as long as they lived. I watched my grandmother learn how to snow ski when she was in her 70's. She played golf in the Senior Olympics every year after she turned 80. She always got a gold metal because there wasn't anyone else in her age group! She was amazing. She even played in it a few short months before being diagnosed with colon cancer at age 90. She was a strong woman at any age. The number didn't matter. My aunt was just like her mom. She was super active and stayed that way her whole life. She died not long ago of natural causes, in her sleep. It was just time for her to go. 

The other night I was driving to pick up my youngest from dance class. On the radio they were doing calls about peoples moms. One lady was talking about her mom and said she was 63 and a very fragile and sweet lady. Now, there is NOTHING wrong with what she said. But what struck me is I will be 63 in less than 13 years. How do I want my children to describe me? Not as fragile. I am working very hard to change my activity, my food and the products we use so they are safer. 

I would love for my children, and anyone else, to say I am strong, happy, and lots of fun. I am sure I could come up with a few more things I would like but you get the "picture", pun intended. I found THIS picture online yesterday and it went right along with what I was feeling about that radio show. I am NOT going to be a "little old lady", although, yes, I am very short compared to my children. And I tease them that I feel like a little old lady standing next to them. But I've had strong examples growing up. There is no reason I shouldn't strive to be just as active and strong as they were. In this way, I am carrying on the legacy they started. My children are very into fitness and being healthy and strong. They will teach their children to do the same. THAT is what I want. THAT is what I am working towards. 

How about you? Is that a goal for you? To live your entire life? Yes, I worded that correctly. Because I want to live as long as I am alive. I don't want to just exist. Let's work on it together and get in the best shape of our lives. Doesn't matter your age, it's just a number. Don't let your age define you. Define your life with action. 

Helping transform lives one day at a time. 

Memories Monday - # 2 - Fathers - Part 1

When I think of "fathers" not just one person comes to my mind or one quality. I didn't grow up in a traditional home, per say, so that is off a bit. I never think about my birth father because he never had a part in my life. I think of my grandfather/adopted dad, my husband and my Heavenly Abba Father.

I was adopted by my maternal grandparents so my grandpa became my father in every other sense of the word "father". He was a quiet man who loved to work on cars, play golf, go deer hunting, play Domino's (Moon and/or 42) and watch "Gunsmoke" on TV while he napped in the chair. My grandmother sang in the church choir so on Sunday mornings before I turned into a teenager and sat with my friends because I was "too cool to sit with a parent" you would find me right next to my grandfather on the fourth pew from the front. On Friday mornings my grandmother would play a round of golf with her friends and he would take me to Burger Chef for a fish sandwich before heading to the golf course for his turn to play with his golfing buddies. When I was really little, about 5 or 6, I can remember his cleaning a deer in the garage. It was a dirt floor garage; we lived out near the fair grounds. I used to watch him and have long talks with him while he was working in there. I don't really remember about what but I can remember enjoying just hanging out where ever he was. He was the one that walked me down the isle when I got married. That was over 24 years ago and he went to be with the Lord in 1992, 8 1/2 months before my son Nick was born. He was a great father and a great man with many talents. He did not get the chance to know any of my children because he had a stroke when my oldest child was very little. I miss him very much and wish he could have known them. I know that he would have enjoyed my boys and my girls would have had him wrapped around their little fingers. June 19 was his birthday! Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Parts two and three to come.

Until next time...blessings to you.

Memories Monday #2 My Grandmama

When I think about memories one person comes to mind more than others, my grandmother, Iona Offield. She wasn't just my grandmother, she was my MOM. I was three days old when I went to live with my grandparents. They officially adopted me when I was in the first grade. I got to grow up with all of my cousins and other family members still a part of my life, except for my birth parents and two siblings from those parents (who were adopted out to two other families when they were 3 and 2. I was the oldest.). But I know God had a hand in where I grew up and who I grew up with. I have known many godly women over the years and some of them are so dear to my heart. But the person that has had the most impact on my eternal well being is my grandmother. I affectionately called her "Grandmama". I did try to call her mom for a while after they adopted me but one of my aunts couldn't deal with that. Imagine a grown women getting upset at a 7 year old for calling her mom "mom". That stopped that pretty fast. I figured it must be wrong if Aunt Reta was angry at me for it. I didn't realize at the time that she had other things that made her act that way.

I watched my grandmother serve on many committees at church and in the community. She was in WMU at church and she did outreach within our church to members in our little town. She worked with the American Cancer Society. I know she did many more things but what I remember more than anything that she had her Bible at her bedside table and would read it every night. I saw her reading God's Word and heard her praying daily. No, she wasn't perfect, but she was a work in progress and I could tell she was doing what she could to let God do that work in her.

She didn't have the easiest life one can live. But she left a legacy for all who knew her. And many knew her and most that did loved her dearly. She had 4 daughters (one died shortly after birth). They gave her 13 grandchildren. There are 45 great-grandchildren. After she went home to be with the Lord there were 2 great-great-grandchildren born.

Until next time...blessings to you.