a moment to refocusonlife ~ Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I've waited all year to say those words. I adore Christmas time. It truly is my favorite holiday. 

For me, it used to be all about the gifts. I guess it's age, but now it's more about spending time with my beautuful family and friends, seeing my kid's joy of ripping open their gifts, and the meals. 

Mark & Lauren 12/21/2013

I've discussed it before, but the buffet style meals are a huge problem for me. If I sit down at a table with a fixed portion of food, I'm fine, but if there's an endless supply of good food at my fingertips, I can barely contain myself. It's a weakness that I have NO idea how to overcome.

That coupled with the fact that I live in constant fear of regaining the weight I lost and this time of the year stresses me out at times. 

But, I choose to focus on one hour at a time. I truly am a food addict. If there's one thing I know about addiction, it's that addiction can be controlled, but never cured. I live with that knowledge, so I make choices every day knowing that I may relapse. 

Me & Christian 12/21/2013

Last night at a Christmas party (Saturday 12/21), I relapsed. I ate my weight in food that I haven't eaten in months. That was last night. I choose to move forward today and live with the knowledge that I've made a huge mistake, but I also choose to start over today. 

So, just for today, I will eat like my disease (diabetes) mandates. I say just for today, but if I have to live hour by hour or minute by minute, then I will! 

Yes, it's Christmas, but unless I want to rehoe a row I've already been down, I will choose vegetables over cookies today. 

Alright everyone...here it comes: Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanza! Happy Hannakuh! I hope you all have an amazing holiday season! 

a moment to refocusonlife ~ stress

Hey Everyone! 

I'm really sorry about my delay in writing  a blog entry...I have no excuse except for a lack of time. 

What is it about this time of the year that causes so much stress? For me it's always centered around finding the perfect gift, spending too much money, and of course, I love to take time off at the holidays, so I push myself to do more in the days leading up to my vacation time. 

This year has been especially stressful for me. Normally, I post things on Facebook, check in, and tweet my every thought. Some people criticize me by suggesting that I am an "over sharer", but I enjoy the interaction with all my friends out there. But, this past week, something happened that I haven't mentioned in any status updates, tweets, instagrams, or pins...

My computer crashed. Yep, you heard me, my very expensive, awesome, wonderful, "I loved you more than life" MacBook Pro crashed. 

I know how this works. I grew up with a Dad as a mechanic. My car was always the last on the block to get fixed. There's another saying--"the cobblers kids have no shoes". Ain't it just the truth? 

Lauren sleeping. It has nothing to do with the post...
I just can't stand how stinkin' cute it is...

However, in my defense, my sweet, now soulless, Mac gave me no indication that he was suffering from a burnout. But last Friday he just didn't show up for work. And, his sudden irradical behavior has thrown me for a loop. A bigggg loop. 

The good news, this IT God right here...(yep, I'm talking about myself) I kept not one, but a minimum of two backups with other cloud based subscriptions that kept me sane over the past week. If anyone wants to know the solutions I use, let me know and I'll a share, but for now, let me just state that I haven't lost a single letter of data. But, that doesn't mean I'm not without my struggles. 

Those struggles have caused me stress. So much so, in fact, I felt like tonight was my breaking point. I needed a moment. I needed a bowl of ice cream with whipped cream and caramel sauce. And a sausage ball...or 2. And a break. So, I took a break. 

I don't think there's a moral to this story, but maybe somewhere there is....if I were guessing, I would state that you should take it from your friendly IT guy....make sure you back everything up. Make sure you have a plan. And for goodness sake, keep some ice cream handy.

I'll be back on Monday. I plan to take the weekend off. I promise to impart some wisdom at that time...or maybe I will just ramble again...

Either way, until then...keep reaching for the stars (no, that isn't right...)

Until then, don't forget to take a minute to refocusonlife. 

Bye now...

a moment to refocusonlife - SMARTA*S

Happy Morning y'all!

Last week I promised I'd be back this week, so here I am! On 5/28/2013, I wrote about SMART goals that I had learned about from a class I was taking. You can read that post by clicking HERE.

On Facebook, Twitter, and by email, I follow a number of other blogs to be able to educate myself everyday. I enjoy the power of knowledge. Nothing is better than learning new techniques and relearning old techniques. Heidi Powell, (I've spoken about her Husband Chris Powell before), recently wrote a blog about SMART goals and I thought it was cool I had written about it before. Her blog has some interesting information and the SMART goal entry can be found by clicking HERE.

So, let's recap:
S: specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Realistic
T: Time Bound

I decided that there were some things missing, so I added my own ideas to the SMART Goals as follows:

A: Aspiring
S: Selfless
S: Stength

ASPIRING: We should always be aspiring to reach our goals. No matter what, no matter where, no matter how, if you're even minutely aspiring to reach your goal, the goal is always in sight!

SMART words to live by...

SELFLESS: Since it's the giving season, let's all try to be just a little more selfless. Heck, if each of us would just spend a little more time being a little more selfless and giving of ourselves, the world would be such a better place! Give back to your community. Give to the homeless. Give to a charitable organization. Volunteer. Aspire to be selfless and you're goals will feel so much easier to reach. It truly is about the entire package, and not just our physical appearance.

STRENGTH: Everyone needs a little more strength in their lives. The strength to get thru another tough day. The strength to say, "no, I'm not going to eat that cake!" The strength to make a hard decision.

With that said, I hope each and every one of you will spend a few minutes and come up with your SMARTA*
S goal. Enjoy the day and remember to take a minute to refocusonlife.