Eating well...Living well

Taking the road less traveled...

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost

Song of the moment: Snowden- Anti-Anti

This has always been my favorite quotation by Robert Frost. Whats weird is that the meaning for me constantly changes, I am completely unsure what the road less traveled looks like. I always used to imagine a dense forest with this bumpy pathetic dirt path that diverged off the main path. When I got older that path became less bright, more scary like one of those horror movies that takes place in the woods and your just waiting for someone to jump out behind the bushes. When I was in love I thought the road to that person and overcoming the obstacles in that relationship were the road less traveled, because in involved work. I am starting to think now though that i cant really imagine what the road looks like, That the road appears as i travel it each day. The road less traveled is not about the path it's self anymore but rather the choices I make along the way. Its always nice to have a destination, but from what I have experienced following this road it is long, not always easy to continue, fun and exciting at times, and to top it all off you never end up where you planned or expected to be. Only now am I just starting to realize that this is ok.

For me the traveled road is all about risk management. It's about not putting myself out there too much. Its about giving up before I even began, Its about safety and security. However, this road never seems to get me to my goals in a timely manner. This is even more true when my goals fall outside of the security net the traveled road offers. While i may feel safe in this place I am not happy about where I am. While taking risks isn't for everyone, I think we live in an age where risk management has overtaken our ability to truly live, we feel we must be everything to everyone, have 2.5 kids, a house, a suitable job, and grow up immediately. This doesn't leave much time to take the road less traveled. While we may not find the house with the white picket fence at the end of this road, the journey we can take and the destination may be enough to justify not having everything you thought you ever wanted.

Motivation

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful."

Song of the moment: Islands- Disarming the car bomb

So yesterday was a really tough workout. we did 75 burpees for time. While this may not seem like a huge deal as a burpee doesn't require the same skill that an o lift requires or even a pull up, i would say that this workout is mentally taxing. It takes a lot of motivation to get through a workout like this because the only thing standing in between you and the end of the workout are 75 burpees. Its daunting and monotonous all at the same time, and to be honest burpees are not the most glamorous movement. However this is the strength of this particular workout. It requires motivation from the very beginning, you have to force yourself to not stop and to keep moving through the next burpee and so on just to finish. While the benefits may not be clear while doing it this workout is all about the attitude and motivation to keep going, nothing more and nothing less. It is not enough of a workout where your entire body will die 20 reps in and its large enough to where you will grow exhausted by the end but its the in between, that drive that keeps you going that pushes you to the finish line.

So I got to thinking what are the areas of life where motivation and a positive attitude push me to the end. Like most things school, work, diet etc.. can be monotonous and tough mentally. However, attitude is 90% of our motivation to move forward without some sort of positive outlook it is very hard to continue to move to take another step and to keep moving forward. Instead I stagnate and choose to ignore or put off things that i know i should have the motivation to do. I'm to tired, hungry, sore, its not the right time, ill do it tomorrow these excuses display just how mentally weak we may be as an individual. When it comes down to it there is never a "right time" to be motivated to do something we don't want to do. We just need to take the plunge and take each step toward our goals or we will never make it. It may seem painful at first but once you wrap your head around the task at hand it becomes easier because you are becoming stronger.

The choice is yours are you willing to put off for tomorrow what you should do today? or can you suck it up and become a stronger person no matter how daunting or boring the task may be?

Rebirth

"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Song of the moment: Grizzly Bear: Ready, Able

Everything changes so fast sometimes it is hard to keep track of what stays the same. This is perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of life, even when change is for the better it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. I have a problem I often get caught up in the bad aspects of change. what i mean by this is too often i focus on the sad aspects of change rather than the positive lessons to be learned.

My change lately came with the loss of a relationship that turned out to be toxic and harmful. Yet for weeks i was in a slump even as new information came to light i thought that i would never be strong enough to take back my life. In this case it was so easy just to fall apart and let go of everything i had worked so hard for. Then i realized something, it was the bigger picture, this was not the end of my life but rather a new beginning, a rebirth, a chance to get back on track, to make new goals and to learn from change.

So here i am on day one of my rebirth, I have chosen to be strong, to not fall apart when it could be so easy to do so because in the end my energy is better off being used in a much more predictive manner.

As of March 8Th 2010 my goals are:
1. To eat clean paleo food, no more sugar or drinking for at least 1 month,( i say a month because this is a realistic manageable goal which can be reevaluated later.) food journaling every day
2. To go to crossfit at least 4 times per week and to try to maintain a 3 day on 1 day off schedule, I want to train for the 2011 crossfit games. this includes keeping track of my workouts.
3. To maintain balance in all areas of my life, spiritually, financially, academically, physically, and socially
4. To celebrate each day and to live life the way i want to live rather than letting others dictate my path.
5. to smile at least once a day and to try a commit one random act of kindness for someone else
6. to graduate :)

well i think that is enough to work on for now. I know none of these goals will be easy yet I know that through each change, i can become a better, stronger person. I am not afraid of a challenge it drives me to obtain the impossible each and every day. I know i am not alone in this journey, my strength comes from god, from my family, and from my friends. Falling apart is not an option and as painful as each step may be I have the courage to fight and become stronger each and every day.