Where the rubber meets the road!

Today was a challenge.  I am "on the road" and writting from Coral Gables, Florida.  My 16 year old has a meet here this weekend and it has been a little bit of a crazy 24 hours.

We were supposed to fly out of Phoenix at 4pm and land at 10pm.  The meet starts tomorrow at 1pm.  We figured there would be practice on the track in the morning... NOT.  Yesterday morning we found out that the practice time would be today.  There was a 9:50 am flight with open seats, if we got to the airport early, for $50 each, we could get on that flight and he could get some practice time on the track.  I had to get everything done and arranged to leave 6 hours earlier than was planned.  So everything went into overdrive.  Well, the travel went ok.  We got on the flight with a little delay on the tarmack in Phoenix.  When we landed at the airport in Florida, one of Jake's friends texted him that the park was closed all day today.  No practice available!!!  After checking around we went to the host hotel to check in for the event and make sure the track really was closed... it was.  Then we went to our hotel and checked in.  By then it was 8pm and I had eaten a meal replacement bar and snack crackers.  So we went to dinner in the hotel.  By then it was 9pm and I needed to go back to the airport at 10 to pick up my husband (he was on the flight we were originally on).

Here's where the rubber meets the road.  How did my daily disciplines go?  (note: words with * should be read in a princessie whinnie voice)  The reading and reaching out went very well.  What else is there to do on a 4 hour plane flight but read?  And of course, we met many nice people along the way and struck up many conversations.  I was going to talk to Jeff plenty when he landed.  I prayed with my prayer partner as I drove to the airport in the morning.  Payoff plan, I simply have followed what was budgeted for this trip (no upgrades on the rental car).  Although, Tony, the nice gentleman at Budget tried to convience me that I NEEDED* a convertable for the weekend.  At dinner I REALLY* wanted the chicken quesdilla but I had the chicken ceaser salad instead.  It actually was very good.  That brought me to 9pm in the hotel room.  Exercise and audio were hurting and I didn't WANNA*... (cue self talk)  "I WAS* physically TIRED* from lugging my 50# bag around (a wheel broke).  I COULD* count that as exercise.  I'll listen to something on the way to the airport (even though it's only a 20 minute drive). I will have to write about this... (remember I can't lie) OK OK OK SHUT UP LITTLE SELF TALK VOICE*"  I put on my exercise clothes got my MP3 player and went to the fitness center.  After 30 minutes of treadmill and an awesome audio, I felt like I had conquered a major hurdle.  I got everything in today even on the road.  Now it's 1am (florida time) and I needed to type my blog.  Not gonna slip up on that one.  No more excuses after a day like today!  This was a looooooong eighth day!

I'm living on the eighth day, right now!

Heart
check 30 Minute Exercise
check ate fruits or veggies
check followed payoff plan
Soul
check Prayed with prayer partner
check Talked to Jeff
check Reached out to one more
Mind
check listened to audio
check read 10 pages
check blog checklist

Day Three - OW!!!

Day two was fairly easy – got everything done early, felt good, went to bed and slept good etc. etc.

Day three, here’s where the rubber meets the road! First hurdle is doing it on day one, getting started, taking the first step...  Second hurdle keep doing it when you’re sore and don't want to. OMG am I sore!!! Sunday caught up with me today! The Fibromyalgia really kicked back.  I'm so glad I have the two ladies in my abandonment group or I think I would give it up about now. That’s why we write goals down, set a time, speak it, affirm it, be accountable…

As I was doing my 30 minutes exercise, I listened to an audio.  It was about writing affirmations.  JUST what I needed to hear.  Do you think that God provides the lessons we need WHEN we need them or do our brains FINALLY hear the lessons when we're ready?  I think I prefer to believe that God makes our brain ready to hear the lesson when we need it!

Here are the nine guidelines to writing effective affirmations:
1. Start with the words "I am", your subconscious interprets it as a command.
2. It should be in the present tense, as if it's already done.
3. State it in the positive, your subsconscious doesn't hear negative words i.e. no or not.
4. Keep it brief!  We can easily remember advertisement jingles.
5. Make it specific and visual.
6. Include an action word ending with "ing".
7. Include an emotion or feeling word.
8. Make it for yourself and not others.
9. Add "or something better" if your affirmation includes a specific physical item, because you never know what God has in store for you.

So I think I did pretty well with my "sign-off" affirmation.  "I'm living on the eighth day, right now!"  Although at the time I wrote it, I didn't think of it as an affirmation but as the days have gone by it's what I've hung onto and been playing in my head to keep going.  "living on the eighth day, living on the eighth day, living on the eighth day..."  Sort of like the Little Engine that could, "I think I can, I think I can".  I felt like I needed a powerful way to close my blogs and I really liked Dr. Chet's sign off of "What are you willing to do today?"  It came to me as I blogged the excerpt of the "eighth day".  (See Ball-Peen Hammer Moment)  It gave me the visual of doing it now, not waiting another day!  It also gave me a sense of living on borrowed time since there isn't REALLY an eighth day.  Let's break it down as an effective affirmation, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8 DONE!  I am missing a feeling word, number 7, but it does have an exclamation and it is getting to be a very emotional mantra for me.  Finally, it isn't a physical item so it doesn't have number 9.  What would be "better than" an eighth day?  A ninth day?

Tomorrow I will discuss how I came up with my "soul" daily disciplines.  Until then...

I'm living on the eighth day, right now!

Heart
check 30 Minute Exercise
check ate fruits or veggies
check followed payoff plan
Soul
check Prayed with prayer partner
check Talked to Jeff
check Reached out to one more
Mind
check listened to audio
check read 10 pages
check blog checklist

Day One Down - 364 To Go

Well, here is my checklist for today! I am proud to say it is all done! Sort of, I still have to read 10 pages but I always read before going to sleep so that one is no problem. I did read 10 pages last night so I'm going to check it. I have to say the rest weren't as easy but as the proverbs say, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step."

I did my official weigh in: 160 pounds YUK!!! How did that happen? I know The Slight Edge at work, one unhealthy bite at a time is how it happened. I joined the 30 pound club at http://www.drchet.com/. So far so good... I was on a roll.

Ok here comes the excuse part...

Today is not only Sunday it is also the last day that Jeff was home. For those who don't know, my husband, Jeff, works as a contractor in Long Beach, CA. We live in Phoenix, AZ. It's a long commute. Anyway, he was home from December 24th until today. That in saying the morning was not my typical schedule. I would usually pray with my prayer partner first thing, followed by exercise while listening to audio, followed by a phone call to Jeff. Well, that's what I always "plan" to do. For the last five months I have only gotten in the two phone calls on a consistent basis (and still not daily at that). Possibly another reason for the 160, no exercise? Could be. Anyway, by the time I took Jeff to the airport, I only had two checklist items done. Talk to Jeff and reach one more. The reach one more was kind of stretching it though, I met my son's friend, Brooke as I drove them to the mall. I haven't "met" her before and we "did" have a conversation. Ok that one will have to be a little better tomorrow.

So back to the story...

I'm back at home, by myself and feeling tired. Cue self talk...

"Maybe I should just take a nap, it had already gotten dark, and I couldn't use my gazelle (which is outside). I'll just start fresh tomorrow. NO!!! TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY!!! Where is this going if I don't even start on my first day? Get your butt up Paula and do it."

I rode my bike on its trainer in the garage. I'm proud to say I even maintained an 80% heart rate. My legs now feel like rubber but I DID IT. I also listened to an audio. (A very appropriate one about pounding away at a goal like a battering ram on a castle wall) Then I ate a bunch of veggies and bowl of chili for dinner. I'm proud to say it was ONE SMALL bowl of chili. This was a challenge in itself because my husband made some KILLER chili. The kind you just want to gorge yourself on, but I didn't. Then I sat down, ran a new Quicken payoff plan report and did my checklist. Done, done and done!!! Yeah me!
I'm living on the eighth day, right now!
Heart
check 30 Minute Exercise
check ate fruits or veggies
check followed payoff plan
Soul
check Prayed with prayer partner
check Talked to Jeff
check Reached out to one more
Mind
check listened to audio
check read 10 pages
check blog checklist