Breaking the "dry spell"

The busyness of life goes in waves, and this past month has left me with very little time to even think about writing something coherent! I've sat down several times with the purpose of blogging, but then I was interrupted by something and never seemed to find my way back to my laptop........However, today will be different. I will update! Even if it takes me all day to get this typed. :-)

I've been faithful in exercising this past month and eating as healthy as possible. But I've had a few curve balls thrown my direction and I've been challenged to think creatively. For example, I'm working another job position with the Census Bureau and I had two days of training at a library in one of the many little Iowa towns. The first day, I did not pack a lunch because I assumed that I'd be able to find some sort of local restaurant that sold salads or lean meat sandwiches. Well, when I arrived that morning - I found only a small Casey's gas station. Not exactly what I was planning on! At our lunch break, I didn't have time to drive back to find the nearest Subway, so I walked down to Casey's and began looking. Yogurt? Nope. Any kind of fresh vegetables or fruit? Nada. I had to settle on a package of peanuts (protein and fat) a cheese stick (which was a healthy choice) and the most healthy granola bar I could find. I learned my lesson and packed a salad and apple the next day!
The other thing that was challenging during those two days of training was my lack of exercise. I had to leave my house at 6:45am to arrive to training by 8:00am, which didn't allow time for me to exercise before leaving. And then, I had to sit in training for two days! On the first day, I went outside at our first break and found that I could take a quick walk around the block 2 times before break time was up. And I did that at every break for those two days! I don't know what the neighbors thought, seeing me walk around their block multiple times a day. But getting outside and walking helped me to stay awake and focused as I sat through two days of boring training!

Along with silly training, I've also been challenged to "stay the course" even when my schedule didn't allow for exercising a few days. That's going to happen - that's life. But just because I couldn't jump on the treadmill or throw in a DVD doesn't mean that I couldn't get exercise that day. It was no excuse to sit around. It just meant that my exercise needed to be creative! Like last Saturday, when my "exercising" involved driving stakes into the ground and wrapping the wire garden fence around them and running the hand held tiller around the garden and in between the rows of onions. I definitely worked up a sweat! (And was covered in dirt...lol)

Life isn't going to be perfect. Things aren't always going to turn out like we planned. That's why we need to have a plan, do our best to follow it, and learn creative ways to accomplish it when we hit roadblocks. That's a lesson that I've been learning recently. When my plans for my day don't turn out like I want, do I just settle for an "okay day" or do I push myself to find different ways to make it a good day? Do I sit back and give into selfish attitudes and throw self control out the window, or do I make adjustments based on the knowledge I've attained? Would I just grab a bag of chips and a candy bar at Casey's (which did sound good) or spend 10 minutes looking through the store and try to find the most healthy choice?

Small choices add up to big results. And I'd encourage all of you to make the good small choices every day, trust the results to the Lord, and be amazed at what He'll do through you!

Happy to be back! ~Bekah