Changes are Coming....

It's been a lovely summer and it feels like a very long one. We've had a short break in Kent and a couple of days in London and now my parents and brother are here staying for the week. I've been at work one day a week, and that's been a nice escape and the kids have all had time away at camp and grandparents.

But now I am ready for school to resume and normality to come back. I like a break and a rest, but then I love routine too and I really am craving some quite times to myself without any shouts of mum or moans as they wind each other up and bicker.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record I have realised (again) that I must lose weight and this isn't just something I fancy, it really is something I MUST do. I have developed carpel tunnel syndrome in one hand, I still have pains in my left foot that never go away, my calves ache after too vigorous exercise, I have arthritis in my knee joints and my right thigh goes numb/ has pins and needles if I stand for too long. Add that to asthma and high blood pressure and you can see that I need to do what I can to try and give my body a fair chance at being healthy.

I've been burying my head in the sand for too long and I need to put as much effort into my own health as I do to anything else in my life. Nothing else will give me the quality of life that a healthier body would, so it completely makes sense to invest in that area. It really does seem crazy that I choose to eat too much and the wrong foods, rather than sacrificing a few calories.

Ten Resources that might just Change your Life View

Photo by Ihor Malytskyi on Unsplash

I'm really passionate about self-development and each person becoming the best version of their self. For me, becoming a Christian really changed my world view and was the catalyst for me starting to work on some of my more challenging character traits. 

For around the last 16 years I've been reading books, listening to podcasts, watching TED talks and attending courses that are helping me to shape into a less materialistic and more selfless person.

I thought it was high time that I shared with you some of the resources that have had a profound effect on me. Some are Christian resources, and some are totally not, so you don't have to share my faith to be interested in this list.

1.  Don't Sweat the Small Stuff - Richard Carlson
Back in 2002 I started to listen to some cassettes (yes it was that long ago) in the car on my hours’ drive to work and the wisdom in these recordings really started to help me realise that life is too short to get hung up on the silly things, or small stuff, and realistically it is all small stuff. There are a variety of spin-offs from the original like not sweating the small stuff at work, in your family or with teens.

These short, manageable chapters have titles like - stop blaming others, count to ten, choose being kind or being right and seek first to understand. The thing that always sits with me and has been life changing is Carlson’s lesson about us all living in separate realities and how that plays out. Truly when I first heard this story and learnt the concept it was mind blowing to me. 

The book is currently £3.52 on Amazon. 

Making Positive Changes #R2BC

My Instagram best 9 pictures of 2018

I’m feeling excited about what 2019 holds for me. I feel like it might finally be the year when I make the eating and exercise changes that I need to be healthy and fit for purpose. That might sound a bit odd, as obviously at the moment, I’m fit for many purposes and I don’t for one minute dismiss my abilities. But as a Christian I try to tune into God’s will for me and I’ve felt for a number of years now, he’s been telling me to get ready and be fit for purpose. I am both excited and a little scared to find out what that purpose is.

I joint slimming world on New Years Day and I’ve had my first weigh in on Tuesday night, the result was 5.5lbs off and that's pretty good. This is probably around the thirtieth diet I’ve tried in my life and to date, I’ve not stuck with any or lost substantial amounts of weight but that’s neither here nor there, as this is now and that is all I need to focus on.

In the last few years, many aspects of my health have been diminishing and that is why I can no longer put aside the urgent need to lose some weight and improve my fitness. It’s not easy but I do feel ready and I’ve been pleased with many of the small changes I’ve made.

• In the last few weeks I’ve been going to the gym and swimming regularly.
• I’ve paired back my commitments to allow myself time to exercise and focus on eating, without getting distracted or stressed
• I’ve cleared out all the Christmas goodies and given them away to others who will enjoy them far more than me.
• I’ve been wearing my Fitbit and clocking some some great days steps. 21,729 is the best day yet this year.
• I’ve been eating fruit daily (this is a massive change for me) and remembering to take it out, so I don’t snack on chocolate etc
• I'm not feeling deprived and I’m still enjoying eating, we went to Pizza Hut as a family at the weekend and I enjoyed a little pizza and loads of salad (with none of the unhealthy stuff on the salad cart).
• I took the car in to be fixed on Monday and had to hang around, normally this would mean a McDonald's breakfast, which I adore but I had beans on wholemeal toast at home and then a pear and banana instead. This saved me a massive 33 syns!
• My changes are already starting to influence my family in a positive manner, which I’m thrilled about.
• I’m being mindful to be active. This weekend we are using a voucher for 40% off a meal at Toby but before we do we’re heading up onto the Seven Sisters cliffs for a good walk.

It feels like I’ve made a good start. Now to keep it up!

I’m linking this post up with Becky at Lakes Single Mum for Reasons to be Cheerful as this new positive mindset and approach is making me very cheerful indeed!

Giving Myself Permission...

I've lost my blogging way at the moment. If I'm honest it's been gone for some time and I've been trying to persevere and keep on going but I'm really not sure what I'm up to. My mojo for it has gone, perhaps it is just on holiday or maybe it is a boat that has sailed its final voyage. I don't know right now but I do know I'm out of love with blogging and it just feels like a chore. Not good, right?

The off feelings started late last year with a scary trolling episode that really sent me off kilter and my love for blogging has not returned since. It's evident as I've not accepted any paid work yet this financial year (and I now realise we are a quarter of the way into the year) and I even missed BritMums Live in June, which is my go-to blogging event each year.

I've also realised this guilt I feel when I'm not writing is not helping anyone. It's is just a millstone round my neck dragging me down. I don't feel completely ready to give it all up yet, it has been way too big a part of my life for the last eight years and I think God's hand is in this and He will use my writing somehow but for now it is time for a bit of a break.

Getting the New Year off to a good start

I feel like Christmas is a distant memory now and I'm happy the new year is here; there is still that feeling of expectation and new beginnings. Like anything can happen as it is a fresh canvas awaiting me to draw the picture of 2016.

To be honest I came into the new year without too much thought of what the year ahead would hold and what goals I should be thinking about. I'm really not into New Year's resolutions and I just assume they will be broken, so I stopped making them some years back but I do believe it's good to have a focus and change is the only constant.

Better Health 

Over the last couple of weeks I've spent quite a bit of time in prayer and quiet contemplation of what I should be doing this year and a few focus areas have made them self apparent to me. First off I really need to get a grip on my health. I've been on too many diets in the last thirty odd years since I started to try to lose some weight. The evidence from those last three decades tells me that diets do not work for me, I now realise what I need is small, gradual changes. So I am working on changes a couple of things each month and making them habits for life. It is going to be slow and I'm sure at times boring but it is so necessary and if I can establish all the better behaviours as my norms then the weight cannot fail to fall off and my health improve.

My picture:His words - refining

Do you ever get the feeling that the Kingdom of Heaven is near?  Since moving here last summer I certainly do, this feels like a really thin place and that is wonderful for experiencing God and hearing from Him but it also seems to be that you are incredibly open to spiritual attack and efforts from the dark side to try and wear you down.

There are so many challenges about living here and I know that reading my everyday blog you would never know that as I always seem upbeat but the truth is I am upbeat, I'm really positive for the future and I believe that being here will have an amazing effect on me and my family as a whole.

This week the Lord has reminded me that He is the refiner and He will throw off my sinful ways and make me new and just how He wants me to be.  This is both exciting and scary at the same time.

At lunch this week a lovely new friend told em that a silversmith must sit and watch his silver as it is in the furnace refining for the only way he knows when it is just ready is when he can see his reflection in the metal.  Wow, how much that struck me, God watches us as He refines us and then when He sees Himself reflected back from us He knows His work is done!

And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Malachi 3:3

Fancy joining in?
As with other weeks if you would like to join me in using your picture and His words to share how God has spoken to you recently then do a post and leave me a link in the comments and I'll add it into the body of this post so you get some linky love and people can come visit.

 May our Lord be with you. Mich x

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Can I change you?

What do you think?  Can one person change another? They can certainly affect your behaviour or influence you but can they fundamentally change you?

No, I don't think so.  I expect many of us with partners can think of traits our other halves display that drive us bonkers and we would prefer them to be different. Take for example the issue of our dishwasher,  my husband is pretty good and he will tidy and load the dishwasher.  These are good things.  He will also empty the dishwasher but will he put one hundred percent of the clean items back in their rightful homes?  Err no. So why Not?  I asked him one day and it turns out that as a child he regularly did the drying of the dishes but he was always ask to stack them neatly on the side and his Mum would place everything away and that has subconsciously stuck with him.