The End of the Month

Almost Quit Before I Got Started

I had decided at the beginning of January that I would make February the month that I concentrated on affirming that one of my life’s goals is to become more energetic, fit, strong, and healthy. Then later in January I fell from a ladder and injured my knee so I started wondering whether I would be able to exercise like I wanted. Then at the beginning of February, in addition to the injury, I caught a cold. Because of all this, I confess that almost quit before I even got started.

But rather than quitting, I decided to press on and not let the excuses keep me from doing what I knew was in my best interests. I continued doing what I knew I needed to do to be energetic, fit, strong, and healthy even though I did not feel like it.

Amazing things Happened When I Didn’t Quit

At the beginning of the month I slept as much as I needed to fight the cold. Rather than feeling sorry for myself and eating junk food when I wasn’t feeling well, I ate hot nutritious soup and a lot of fruit. Even though I had a knee injury, I exercised as much as I could exercising my upper body. I took supplements for my injured joint. As the cold symptoms subsided, I felt my energy return. My energy did not just return, but I felt better than I had in months. With the help of the supplements, my knee has been improving. I find that I am able to walk over a mile now without pain. In addition, the back pain that I had previously experienced also has become nonexistent.

In the middle of the month we had a huge snow storm that slowed down my ability to get out and walk for a few days. Rather than using that as an excuse not to exercise, I did exercises inside particularly using my five pound weights to build my upper body strength.

I have not focused on losing weight or obsessing over food, but I have lost an additional five pounds over the course of this month. I look better, and most of all, I feel better without the excess weight.

The Healthy Habits Will Continue

Just because this is the end of February, and I will not be posting on this subject any longer does not mean that I will not continue the healthy habits that I have established. All I have done during this month is establish, affirm, and focus on  the healthy habits that I intend to continue for a lifetime

Learning to Major in the Basics

I am learning more and more that the basics must serve as the ground work in any endeavor that I pursue. In the long run, there are no shortcuts. Whether I am looking to be organized, productive,as was the affirmation for January  or to be energetic, fit, strong and healthy this month, there are certain ground rules that I need to follow to be the success that I know that I can be. Majoring in the Basics may not be the Eye-catching headline. that Lose Fifty Pounds in Five Weeks would offer, but it is a whole lot more realistic and honest. It really does work. There really are no shortcuts.

The Focus in March

My affirmation in March will be I am a charismatic individual. This does not mean that I am an egocentric individual. It means that anyone that I am around feels comfortable around me. They know that I understand them, and that I offer them friendship.

I have already started to see some of the areas where I  threaten others.Even though I am an introverted person,  I confess that I tend to act like a know-it-all. but it is a defense mechanism against my shyness.  I use it as a weapon against people who I feel threaten my self confidence. So one of the things I will be working on this month is that I will practice being more kind than right. The idea is to step into the other person’s shoes and look at our conversation from their side.

When out and about, because I am an introvert, I tend to hide behind my extroverted friends when meeting new people. My goal this month includes getting out and around other people, people that I don’t know. On the 9th 10th and 11th I am going to Branson with my daughter and I plan on practicing meeting people. In addition, in March I intend to begin going to several different churches in the area to reconnect with people that I know and to meet new people.

I also want to connect with more people on line and learn to help others connect with more people online. March is shaping to become a very challenging month for me.

Cygnet Brown has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. Her upcoming book A Coward’s Solace will be available soon. Click here for more information about Cygnet Brown and her books.