Saturday, March 1, 2014

Let the daily pausing and reflection begin!

I gotta be honest with all of you. I hesitated to participate in Slice of Life this year. My hesitation stems from a place of concern. I was worried if I was going to be able to "stick with it." Let me explain. In November of last year, I decided to give P90X (the workout challenge) another try. I've done part of this workout challenge before but I can't say that I have completed the 90 days challenge. So, this time, I was determined to cross the finish line. I had many reasons in December for NOT to do this. I was traveling to South America, I was going to be with my family for 20 days eating everything I want and being completely spoiled by my parents. Food is one of our love languages, by the way. BUT....I told myself what Tony Horton (P90X coach trainer) says..."Try your best and forget the rest."

So, with that mindset, I packed the workout DVDs and traveled with them to South America. Out of the 20 days, I worked out 17 days. I was determined to "stick with it" this time. The food remained a challenge but I already made peace with the fact that I could tackle that part in January.
P90X is a 13-week challenge. I'm about to start week 12. Yes. I'm two weeks away from completing and crossing the finish line. I've kept a calendar (those a month-at-a glance ones) to keep track of my progress. I've set monthly goals for me to focus on so that I wouldn't become overwhelmed. So, can you see it now why I was worried about adding one more thing onto my plate? I've been working so hard on "sticking with it" that I don't want anything to jeopardize these efforts.

However, after more careful consideration, I realized that I was acting "about writing daily" like I did in December when I hesitated whether "December" was the right month to start a workout challenge because of my traveling. Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. So, I didn't want to create excuses for not writing. Writing has always been an outlet for me. It's my passport, my stamp of freedom. So my dear friends, like Tony taught me..."I will try my best and forget the rest." I will write every day in March. The writer in me will connect with other writers and we will let WORDS lead the way. Some days my SOL are going to be three words. two words. maybe even just one. But I guaranteed you that just like this workout challenge, I'm sure I will come out "transformed" because of this experience. I look forward to leaving words behind, soaking up your words and let it rumble inside! Happy Writing Journey!

3 comments:

Julie Johnson said...

I am so glad you are on this journey Stella. I look forward to connecting with you via the Challenge. We should probably plan a brunch so we have another topic to write about. I love that you say some days it might just be one or two words. We need to give ourselves permission to do what it takes to reach our goals. Happy slicing!

Carrie Finn said...

I love the approach you've taken to writing - treating it as a challenge and tackling it one day at a time. You drew some great parallels between the PX90 challenge and this slicing challenge. Your brain and soul need writing just as your body needs the rhythm of exercise. I'm looking forward to reading more!

Katherine Sokolowski said...

Yay! Welcome to the challenge, I'm glad you're here. I need to get back on the workout bandwagon, so I'm going to take that lesson from your post. :)