One Day, I'm Going To...

Now I know that when you say that you're going to do something 'One Day', you truly mean it.

One Day, I'm going to start losing weight.
One Day, I'm going to get control of my financial situation.
One Day, I'm going to reconnect with my family.
One Day, I'm going to own my own gift wrapping company.
One Day, I'm going to clean out the garage.

We all have something that we want to do 'One Day'. Most of the things we want are VERY realistic. Will they take hard work? Heck yes. Will they take some sacrifice? You betcha. Will some of it make you uncomfortable? No doubt.

What I'm here to tell you is that it is ALL possible. I'm not trying to being cliche here, I'm being REALISTIC. Excuses are excuses. If you want to keep telling yourself these excuses, then you're only hurting yourself. 

I used to simultaneously love and hate those people who had "before and after" pictures. They found a drive inside of them to get their act together. While it made me think it was possible for me to do it, I was so quick to make excuses for myself. The biggest excuse I gave myself was "I can't afford to eat healthy." Well, let me tell you something: My boyfriend and I have spent the last 5 months working on lessening our expenses. Tightening our budget. We stopped going out for dinner. We stopped going out for drinks with friends. We stopped going to the movies. We stopped buying clothes. We stopped, We stopped, We stopped. 

Was it hard work? Heck Yes.
Were there sacrifices? You betcha.
Were there some uncomfortable times? No doubt.

Was it worth it? More than I could ever describe.
We've since learned how to budget better and be able to do all the things that we had ended up sacrificing. We don't do it as often, but it has made each dinner out, each drinks with friends and each article of clothing that much more special. By cutting back, we really gained more appreciation for everything.

So whether it is losing weight, getting better at budgeting, reconnecting with your family, starting your dream business or cleaning out the garage: YOU. CAN. DO IT.
It may not be pretty, it may not be comfortable but it is TOTALLY POSSIBLE.

I'm 'Under Construction'

I've been trying to find a way to write this down that would make sense to other people.
I think I might have figured it out. Let's give this a try...

You know when someone decides to build a building, there are many steps to go through.
Finding the right place, the right people. Drawing up plans, getting everything in place. Digging, filling the foundation. Finally - Now finally they get to start building the walls. You can see something happening.
Up until those walls, all you've seen is construction. You've been delayed. The road has been less than smooth and you thought nothing would EVER get built.

I'm finally building the walls.

The foundation is the hardest, most important part. The part where you feel like it's not working. It's bumpy, its ugly, it feels like you're being delayed. Trust me though - It just makes building the walls that much more rewarding.

It's still hard work, but I get to SEE the results. FEEL the results. Get compliments on the results. It is an all around good feeling.

When this building is finished I will go through to building a new one. We're never done learning, and building who we are.

On a semi-related note...


I watched this video: The Last Lecture. I can't suggest to you with any more enthusiam that you should also watch this video. Boy does Randy Pausch dish out some amazing wisdom.
One piece is, “Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”