For 2 months, I've been off balance, out of control, out of breath. In November I got a new job and a new occupational focus. With the whirlwind job change, I stopped working on my health issues, stopped going to exercise class, stopped going to physical therapy. As a result, my Parkinson's is worse, and my overall health has deteriorated. I've had a respiratory bug since before Christmas, and I can't seem to shake it. We've eaten out too often because I didn't have time to plan. We're always scrambling, always behind, never in control. I couldn't seem to find solid ground again.
Until yesterday. After much contemplation, I had an epiphany that changed my outlook. I realized that nothing is any different than it ever was. I'm not lost; I just stepped off the highway for a minute.
God's plan for my life hasn't shifted. My physical condition hasn't changed, and the protocol to increase my mobility is still the same. Words are still my canvas, writing is still my future. My faith, my family, my health, and my work still define the borders of my world.
With that realization came a couple of questions: What does that mean? What's the practical application?
I guess, for me, that means:
1) I'll control my destiny instead of responding to my circumstances. Victims respond. Winners make a plan and follow it. It's pretty much that simple. When winners stop controlling their world and start reacting to it, they become victims.
2) My health will again get top billing. I know what it takes to feel better, and I'm willing to do it. That includes returning to the Life Wellness Center, re-joining exercise class, and correcting poor eating habits. Our excessive eating out is taking a toll on us physically and financially, and I can make it stop with just a little planning (at the end of this post, I'll share my plan).
3) My relationship with God is central to everything else. It's the foundation for my life, so I'll protect and nurture it above everything else. That means I'll start on a devotional plan, and set aside the same time every morning to get reacquainted with God
Reflection is good, but I don't want to do too much of it. I want to spend my time looking forward, not backward. The past is somewhere I've already been, so it's comfortable (and it's certainly not as scary as my future!). But I don't care. I still choose to go forward.
Now, about my plan for eating in and eating healthier for dinner: I found a website/e-cookbook that has healthy recipes, mostly gluten-free and dairy-free, that go from freezer to crockpot. It's at newleafwellness.biz (be sure to get the .biz part right). I just took about 4 hours this weekend to put together 14 meals. I can handle that.
My plan for lunch is a combination of leftovers and mason jar salads for both my husband and me. My 4-hour cooking sprint also included making up 5 mason jar taco salads (layer in mason jar: salsa, plain yogurt, black beans, cooked taco meat, cheese and lettuce, in that order; seal, refrigerate, and store for up to a week).
The food part is only one piece of getting back on track, but it's the one I can put my hands on, and see, and taste. It represents one little victory for 2016.
And that's good enough for today.
My plan for lunch is a combination of leftovers and mason jar salads for both my husband and me. My 4-hour cooking sprint also included making up 5 mason jar taco salads (layer in mason jar: salsa, plain yogurt, black beans, cooked taco meat, cheese and lettuce, in that order; seal, refrigerate, and store for up to a week).
The food part is only one piece of getting back on track, but it's the one I can put my hands on, and see, and taste. It represents one little victory for 2016.
And that's good enough for today.
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