Thinking Diva

2010 has arrived and so many of us have prepared the usual list of New Years resolutions.  I have never been much for resolutions but I do set goals each year in both my personal and professional life by reflecting on my past year and deciding what changes I want to happen in order to be a happier person.  Each year my first priority always seems to start with my eating habits because diets and challenges all seem to be temporary.  Learning more about nutrition, eating fresh -not processed foods and eating smaller portions is a constant goal.  At 40 something my metabolism is not as it used to be and it is much more challenging to keep my body healthy.  I am excited about finding new ways of staying healthy, I prefer referring to it as “Staying Healthy” rather than wanting to be thin.

When I awoke this morning I though I would make a list of some of the things I have discovered in my life up to this point…here is what I came up with:

*As a woman-feeling healthy, eating right and steady exercise does wonders for self esteem!

*My biggest challenge in life is patience, if I can slow down and enjoy the ride it always has a better outcome.

*Being single can really, really be fun!

*I have no idea how to flirt, actually I stink at it because I was told that by a guy recently.  I need to work on this one.

*Winter sunrises and sun-set are absolutely beautiful!

*I have no idea how to cut wings and pizza out of my diet…or at least to replace them with a healthy alternative.  These two foods are always the first thing that come to mind when I want something really bad!

*The person who invented the chocolate chip cookie was a personal trainer who’s pleasure was seeing the pain of lunges in the eyes of the cookie eater.

*The world needs more love…in every city, state and country, I always feel a bit like a hippie from the 60′s saying that out loud but I do believe it is the most important and underachieved thing in most of our lives.  It is also the one thing that makes us feel the best at any given time when we truly feel it in our hearts.

*I have learned that with age my heart continues to soften and giving something back is becoming more and more important to me.

*That Mr. Deisel is really Mr. Barker and is continuously trying to communicate with his ancestors far away….God help my neighbors, I am working on this issue!

*If you love yourself you have self-confidence, if you have self-confidence you make healthy choices, making healthier choices makes you happier and your life becomes more fulfilling.

*You can not make everyone who comes into your life happy merely by being nice, that some people will always place blame, always be the victim and no matter what you say or do nothing will change their outlook.  With this I have also learned that you must let these people go and pray that they find love within to fix what they believe they don’t have.

*I may not know a thing about men after all!  Over and over we are told that they are very simple creatures of habit….define simple please!

*Life is exactly what we create, creation happens with the way we think. There is no one else to blame in regards to what our lives look like so we need to make our thoughts align with what we want and be accountable.

*I have learned that I have a world of things to be grateful for and I am so, so fortunate for all that I have.

*I have come to realize that I may not have ever really been in love after all.  The thought occurred to me recently while talking to a friend about love and questioning the circumstances of my past relationships.  Do I get so caught up in the excitement of someone showing me attention that I confuse the intimacy and a somewhat codependent time of being together as love.  I am not sure, I have never thought of it in this particular way before.  It is something I am seriously looking at…

*The movie “The Sound of music”? is my all time favorite, and the best love story ever!

*Every human being on this earth wants to be in love and have a partner no matter what they say, it is the most primal part of being human.  What I don’t understand is why is it not occurring more often and why when we all want it, is it so complex and hard to find?

*Coffee doesn’t taste good to me with out all the sugar, it is the one thing that I can’t make healthier and taste good at the same time!

*Working out everyday really helps me to relieve stress and I am learning to love the process more and more.

*I still after 8 years in Nashville hate cold weather…at least when it gets under 40 degrees.

*I love who I am…it has taken 44 years to be able to say it but finally I do, and I look forward to creating more for myself that I will love in the future.

*I believe my purpose here is to continue to find ways to inspire others, my desire is to help, give and continue to discover ways of doing this…it truly brings me happiness.

*Laughter is the one thing that instantly makes us feel good and we all need so much more of it!

I’ve never needed New Years for incentive to change something I needed to change. As I grow older life has become a time of discovery and I have learned to look inside for change rather than having to go outside of myself for incentive.  While doing all of this internal work I have become much happier, I laugh more and I  worry less.  Some goals continue to challenge me, I am still working on increasing my income through my passion, loosing that junk in the trunk and I still have the desire to someday be in a committed relationship. I know that with the work I am doing on ME those things are on the way. The most important thing right know is to enjoy the process, take each day moment by moment and be grateful for all that I have because I know I have a lot!  Sending love out to all of you for the new year…thank you for reading (and please leave a comment if you feel the desire)!

I finally realize that we get what we give, no matter what- if we allow ourselves to love everyone, to give to others, to live without expectation and to believe that everything is perfect no matter what the outcome life becomes magically abundant. If you don’t believe it is possible it never will be, if you know anything is possible it all will be and if you are sitting on the fence what do you have to lose…

2009, it is finally here, thank God!  I have set the resolutions in motion and so far I am doing pretty good.  Like so many others, on the top of the list is to get healthy, eat better and lose some weight.  I have always been one to work out regularly so that is not a problem area for me but the eating healthy is another thing.  I have stepped up the cardio a bit, changed the weight training regiment and cleaned out the fridge and pantry of the bad stuff and replaced it with good, healthy food (ok there are still a few bad things in there but I am feeling strong).  The first few days were pretty easy but now I am starting to crave some of the really bad foods that I had no problem eating when I was in my 20′s.  I confess pizza and wings, especially during football season are my toughest things to give up.

Other things on the list for this year include working harder on marketing, spending more time creating art, being more patient with life and other things, being grateful every single day-even on the bad ones, learning to trust again and getting back into the dating game (that will take a bit longer), getting outdoors more this summer, blah, blah, blah.  The bottom line is being a better person, giving something back and feeling good about who I am.

So with all that here are a few things I have realized coming into the new year….

• if you are trying to cut back on coffee don’t meet a friend at a coffee shop
• if you are feeling weak with bad food urges don’t watch the food or travel network…especially the man vs. food show
• eating more protein makes you toot..or is that all the fresh veggies?
• soy milk is actually not that bad but tofu sucks, and so do those veggie burgers, but if you like them I have a whole box from costco you are welcome to have
• I heard on some radio show the other day that cucumbers lift a woman’s libido…to hell with the cucumbers try being single and not dating for 10 months ( I will address this in the next blog…)
• don’t go to a mexican restaurant if you don’t want to eat the chips or drink margaritas…at least not if you are weak like me in those areas
• never, ever put message oil on your skin right after a bath…trust me on this one
• if I were truly a starving artist I would be able to fit into those skinny jeans…you know the ones we all have in the closet
• those who say sex is over rated have obviously never had great sex
• one wrong letter in a word when sending a text on an iphone can really change the entire meaning of what you are trying to say…example you ask: “this exercise bike is licking my ass” when what I meant to say was “this exercise bike is kicking my ass,” keep laughing Amy!
• puppies like to chew things…that includes dirty underwear so be sure to keep them out of reach
• I enjoy being behind the camera not in front of it
• it is really hard to work out with a puppy in the room (but easy to laugh)
• the movie “The Notebook” will make you cry every time you watch it, and when you’ve been single for a long time any romance will make you cry
• wine tasting = wino’s….most of the time
• there is no such thing as portion control when you pop a bag of microwave popcorn  at home by yourself
• if a dog barfs you have approximately 11 seconds to take care of it or he will do it for you
• wrinkles really suck and no cream seems to help…but drinking a few glasses of wine before looking in the mirror does seem to make the person looking back at you better looking
• no matter how many years fall between you and your divorce, there are times you still breakdown, weather it’s the memories of the good times, the bad or just the reality that you made a vow under God for life and failed.
• those new Braun electric toothbrushes ROCK!!
• irritation sets in quick when the remote doesn’t work
• I don’t care what anyone say’s…COLD weather sucks!  I would rather be sitting in a hammock in the sun reading a book than sitting in my bed with 3 layers of clothes trying to stay warm…NES hiking the fuel cost on my electric bill hasn’t helped things!
• puppy breath soon turns into poopy breath
• in a split second your life as you know it can change into something you never thought before, be grateful for what you have, cherish every minute, love everyone and believe that there is still lot of good around you…without a positive outlook, even through the darkness, we don’t have a prayer finding happiness.  With it we can live our dreams, I truly believe that!

So puppy is not much of a puppy any longer….you would think with the size of those ears he would hear the word NO!!

My new buddy...Deisel

That’s all for now but please share your realizations, I am sure you have a few!