reinventing myself

friday april 2, 2010

in my last post i was all over springtime and reinventing...what a great subject for this blog. how my life is in the process of reinventing itself, no- make that how i am in the process of reinventing what i can, and that includes accepting what cannot be changed. but more on that at a later date.

relaxing this afternoon with a diet coke and an on demand premium channel, i discovered the sweet movie...julie and julia...now this is definately something sweetie [for those of who dont know, that's always how i refer to my significant other] didnt want to see, branding it a chick flick. chick flick ? perhaps. who am i to judge on chick flick vs. man movie...even i enjoy a good action man movie now and again. anyway, i digress.

while watching the movie, a stream of subjects zoomed through my brain at warp speed and i had to quickly capture them on paper, in the middle of a julie-meltdown...if you've seen the movie, you know what i'm talking about. i came up with a list of random topics.{teaching, facebook, exercise,writing- plus more} if i were to draw you a venn diagram of them , their intersecting area would be :reinventing:...and so it seems, this is the core of this journey.

and i start with the hardest, most obvious reinvention of me: on march 8th 2010 i paid for a year long gym membership. {me, yes me, who for almost half a century has pleaded a severe allergy to exercise, one that almost requires the ever present epi pen} oh not to one of those high falutin gyms where all the bodies already comee with 15% or less body fat and the trainers took the same teaching course as my army drill sergeants. oh no, i opted for a much gentler, much quieter, less judgemental, more independent gym, designed for women only. and the great thing is on my preview visit, they all looked like me. there is much comfort in similar body types all sweatin together. so how's it going ? glad you asked. it's been three weeks...oh does seem like longer. i haven't missed a workout, a great leap of self-discipline for me. oh sometimes, i might not make it on a "regular" day, but then i drag my butt to the gym the very next day. the only day i have missed so far was to attend a professional development workshop that will be a subject itself in the days to come. i have lost 5.75 lbs., can now run the length of the school playground with my students and not be winded, climbed three flights of stairs this past week without having to stop and pant or feel tired. when i do my post work out stretches, i now can reach my toes in certain positions and grab my ankles in others. small achievements, but we all learned to run by taking baby steps. i go three times a week, including one night after i get home from school. something i would never have thought i would do. altogether it takes me an hour, to drive there, work out , and drive home. three hours a week. all for me. and i'm loving it.it's almost zen like for me. stress level down, spine straighter, self-confidence and self-esteem way higher. oh, i have 11 months to go. stay tuned.

that's enough for this post...i can go on and on...but if you are like me, there's the tyranny of the urgent screaming in your face about now. and there is a secret to dealing with that, yes, i promise to whisper that secret in your ear one of these days.

my flip flops slapped away today as i freely went about my errands, jacketless. glorious !

blessed be.