I was recently running, nothing unusual. As I was running, I noticed something on the ground. It was right where my heel should land in stride, but I pushed out further to avoid squishing it's life out from him. It wasn't until I barely missed, that I realized it was a hornet. I hoped it wouldn't pop up quickly and sting me so I said, "Please show me mercy, as I have you."
But as I continued on, my mind was brought to a new point: What if I was meant to kill that hornet? Humans are given free will. Whether you're a Christian or not, you can know that your actions are your own. Nobody is pulling the strings. The difference lies in the reason behind our choices, usually. And no, this isn't necessarily a God post, but it also cannot be. So follow me on this journey through my heart and mind. God did not force me to go and run at the exact time that I did. He didn't force me into the path that I chose to run. I was allowed to awaken when I did and run. But what if he did have that hornet on the ground at just that time knowing my stride length, the path I would take, every little detail? What if he knew something bad would happen if that hornet was left alive and made sure he dropped to the ground when I would be the conquering hero to destroy it, but I chose to give it mercy? Heavy thoughts for a morning run. I think this happens more often than we would like to admit. We long to be the good guy. We want to do what is right. But we don't always know what is right or wrong. Keeping the hornet alive is the right thing to do to honor God's creations. But what if that hornet flew up and stung a child? What if that hornet sent a human into anaphylactic shock? They are alone in their yard when they get stung, not knowing they are allergic, and go into the house alone only to die. I could've prevented it if I would have just stomped that nasty hornet out of existence! Or not. Maybe I did the right thing after all. We see this when it comes to the beggar on the street. If we give them money, they could go get a meal. Or they can use the money for drugs or alcohol. It's then a debate of whether or not we should give them money. For many of us, we try to pray over it and listen for the voice of God or a nudge on our hearts. Sometimes we offer to get them food instead of giving money. Some of us give money and pray that they will use it well or say we did our job to provide. But we really don't know. We could have enabled a habit or stifled hunger. It's out of our control. How often do we do this in everyday situations? (Prepare for the bus, Charlie.) My husband does this often. He loves to "help" me. Usually his help ends up causing some sort of problem- it wasn't done well, I have to redo it, it needed to be done after something else or before something else. You know how it works. Spouses seem to have a magical way of screwing up nice gestures. We do this as parents. We help our kids or don't immediately help to teach a life lesson, or some other thing. Did it hurt them in the immediate? Did it hurt in the long run? We don't know. We won't know until time passes. I'm not sure I have a solution for the hornet effect (previously the butterfly effect, but nobody steps on butterflies unless they're psychotic). It's just something that has made me think. Perhaps we should all think about our actions more.
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We live in an age where self care is considered not only a norm, but a necessity. I've struggled with this idea for a very long time. No matter how much I see the benefit, I feel selfish. Why should I get the chance to sit in a tub for an hour? Why would I spend money on getting my hair or nails done? Sure, I take care of the kids. I take care of the majority of household chores. I lesson plan, make fitness plans, keep the budget, and on and on. But so do a lot of people. What kind of care do I need?
I look at the people who regularly do self care and I am filled with so many questions. Some of these questions are: How do you have this much money? Is your life that stressful? What is it that you do? All of those questions have less to do with the people I look at, and more to do with me. It isn't about how much they make, it's about where my heart is while I see them enjoying themselves. I don't know them. I don't know if they work three jobs to pay the bills and have a little extra on the side. I don't know if people give them gift cards. I don't know if they're horribly in debt and just continually bleeding and don't know how to make it stop. And you know what? I don't have to know. It's none of my business. But after seeing so many people take the plunge of self care, I started to wonder. Why do we need self care? Society has us doing so much, we have anxiety and depression. We're worn out from being all the things for all the people. We wear hat after hat. It's exhausting. And we try to recover with an hour here and an hour there. That hour feels like heaven. Then we pick up our phones again and see that we missed an important call, or our kids need something, or some other trivial thing that America has taught us should be important. I can't bring myself to a regular indulgence of self care due to guilt. Take a bath? But I'm leaving my kids who just want to spend time with me. Go out alone? But my husband works, he needs alone time too. But I'm beginning to make some changes. I don't call it self care, I just do it because I can. A sugar scrub in the shower once a week is refreshing. A massage every so often, needed. Doing my nails and hiding in the bathroom when I should be writing a book? Hey, the nails will look nice while I'm signing other books. The biggest problem with self care is not the concept or the price (though, come on - some of it is crazy expensive). The problem is that our lives are so off-kiltered that we need to schedule times to refresh ourselves. We need to learn balance and boundaries. Those two items should be the foundation of your self care. Without them, it's just a band aid on a bullet hole. Stop trying to play keeping up with the Joneses. Stop letting work walk all over you. Don't let others guilt you. Be a human. Fully human. Find quiet. Find peace. Then go get your nails done. It's been a while since I've done a little something fitness related for you, and I feel like this is a good time. After all, it's summer. And everyone is hoping for that beach bod to show up one morning.
I'd like to go ahead and give my continual reminder - Just because it worked for someone you know, does not mean it will work for you! I will always share my case in point to back this up. When the keto diet was hitting hard and fast, I had clients thinking about going that route. I'm not a nutritionist, nor a dietician, but I have common sense and a background in studying all of this. However, because I am me, I decided to put myself at risk for the sake of science. I went low carb. (Scary, I know.) Within four days I gained quite a bit of weight. I was sluggish. I couldn't get through a workout. I quit after a week. I went back to eating as I felt and lost the weight. I gained energy. Why? Why didn't it work? Should I have stuck with the diet for another four weeks? Maybe. But I wouldn't be able to workout if I did. I had to make the choice that was right for me. I grew up on sugar. I grew up on processed foods. I grew up going balls to the walls in fitness, but ate like a drunk/high college student studying for finals. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted. I didn't count calories. I drank more Mountain Dew than I can imagine. And I was fit enough. So now, as an adult, my body does better with sugars than it does fat. My body is ok with Auntie Little Debbie coming by and stocking the cabinets. That's me. I know myself. It's your job to get to know yourself as well. But here is a little piece of the puzzle that maybe you aren't looking at as well. Fat burn. I know I've posted about target zones for cardio, but what about strength? Did you get confused? How is strength related to fat burn? Science has shown us that bodies with more muscular tissue burn more fat. So why is it that when someone makes that crucial decision to get in better shape, they start with cardio? Is this you? The process usually starts with walking or going to a gym. It increases to biking/cycling classes/aerobics, the elliptical, treadmill, and rowing machines. And usually there is a loss. Weight or inches might drop from a person. And then they're stuck. So then they start eating "healthier" and dropping calories. Well, more weight and inches are lost. Then the wall gets hit again. Strength training is usually the third and final option. It should be the first. Strength training will help to burn calories at rest. Muscle will help to burn fat. Muscles will gain endurance to take you on the walks, bike rides, and runs. Strength training helps balance blood sugars. The key to success is in the strength training. I know many women don't want to hear that. They don't want to get "bulky". Fun fact, unless you're taking testosterone, you won't get bulky. And I know men get excited by the strength training, push those weights around. But there will be a balance. You need the strength training. You need cardiovascular work. You need flexibility training. All of these things work together. Let's get training! |
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May 2023
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