Taking this Journey Gracefully

Good Sunday afternoon to everyone.  As usual, I hope this day has been filled with laughter, worship, fun, family and most of all,  L-O-V-E!  Today was Church day for us and was a big day for Emily as she started Confirmation classes this morning and tomorrow will begin 6th GRADE...unbelievable!!! 

So today has been filled with Church, lunch with my girls and then off to the Y-M-C-A...for 35 minutes on the bike ( a little over 5 miles), 20 minutes in the pool and a little whirlpool time.
While working out, I am aware that my brain still believes that my body is athletic but my actual physical body strongly disagrees.  What I mean is that while I am working out...I am in that mindset to push through the discomfort, to go a few extra minutes, or laps...but my body...well she is a little slow on the uptake!!!  Don't get me wrong though...I am really grateful that I am able to recall what is was like to work hard within the context of sport/physical activity...but I am clear it is going to be a while before the body catches up to the brain... baby steps I guess.  My brain is just going to have to be patient!

 Patience, a virtue that I have not mastered...which leads me to another thought I have been having...As I have said several times already, this is going to be a long process...that is why I called it a Journey in the title..I vision this as some long trek across country...months of travel through different places and different experiences...expect in the back of my head I hear my own voice saying..."Are we there yet"...ha!  Strangely, I really don't want to rush it!  I was inspired to choose this way of accomplishing this goal for a reason.  I think of the Olympics and again that the event that inspired me only happens every 4 years and takes years upon years to prepare for...to achieve.  There are obviously quicker options for weight loss these days...Medicines, lap band, gastric bypass...etc...but I chose This Way with intent...I want to take this Journey and I want to do it Gracefully. 

I looked up the definition of Grace and found the following definition on the freedictionary.com:  Grace: Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.
OK...clearly this is not the grace of which I speak...effortless beauty, charm of movement OR proportion are not my strong suits!!  However; I found the following definition in Webster's:  a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God.  "Grace can be defined as the love and mercy given to us by God because God wants us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it" (www.umc.org). 
I want this Journey to be "Graceful"...to be about all of the Gifts I have received that are God given, to take care of those gifts and to re-gift all those blessings wherever I can!!  So...though I will not be wearing toe shoes, a tutu and dancing the most stunning version of Swan Lake you have ever seen...I do hope that I am able to take this Journey and make it look as Graceful as possible. 

I had some fun pics to share with you guys today...but technical difficulties kept me from posting.  Will add them another day. 

A little fun news:  I will be coaching Emily's volleyball team (Church league play) and am looking so forward to it!!

Blessings for today: Every minute of the DAY!

Tomorrow is DAY 10...Let's get fired up and ready for another week of exercise, healthy food, laughing our butts off and weight loss galore!!!! 

Only 355 days left...the quest continues to reach my weight goal and PLAY Volleyball...Thanks to Kerri and Misty for continued inspiration and thanks to Lori P (one of my best buddies from HHS) for another shot of inspiration!!!  Journey 120-"Mawa" Inspired!!!!!