Stupid Gym, Stupid Reasons Not To Go

I went to the gym today.  I had to outsmart myself to get there.  I never watched Stargate Atlantis when it was on television and have been buying the seasons one at a time on Itunes and watching it on my laptop.  Love that show!  And today I realized DUH I could watch it on my Ipod while I'm on the elliptical at the gym.
Stupid gym.  I've wanted to go for months and have only been going once a month. For various stupid reasons....

• I didn't want to be one of those New Year's resolutionists everyone complains about at the gym, crowding the place for the first few weeks of the year.  Really?  That was really a reason I didn't go to the gym?  Because of something someone wrote in an article or a blog?  Stupid reason. 
• I didn't want to go because we had over a foot of snow and driving was a bitch at the very least, hazardous at most.  Ok, good reason. 
• I didn't want to go because I'm fat.  Really, that was one of my reasons not to go to the gym and exercise.  In my defense, do you know that place is wall-to-wall mirrors?  I really regretted my decision to wear hot pink horizontal stripes today. 

So, I went.  I tried out the new "watching TV episodes on the Ipod while ellipticalling."  Awesome!  Much better than watching the sports that are on all the TV's in the gym.  By the way, that's just one more thing that makes me feel like I don't belong at the gym... sports on almost every TV.  I'm not a sportsfan, I'm just a fat chick trying to shed her fat-suit.

So now I've got a battle plan for the gym.

1. Load up the Ipod with more Stargate Atlantis.  Buy the next season and only watch it at the gym.
2. Choose an elliptical further from the wall o' mirrors next time. 
3. And no more stripes.

We're All So Pretty!

I was at a happy hour recently, a celebration for a friend and co-worker who had been promoted and would be moving to a different office. After an inconsequential, silly, pleasant conversation about three of us having green eyes, I announced “We’re all so pretty!” and waited for my companions to acknowledge this. It sounds silly, I know, and far from humble. But it is part of my plan to change the world, one moment at a time. I like to dream big!

A moment can creep up on you (okay, on me) where all I see are my imperfections, abandoned projects, and shortcomings. The trick, I think, is to accept my shortcomings as part of who I am, as things that can be changed. I am not perfect. I am a work in progress. My flaws are opportunities for growth, future steps to take as I follow the map to the better me. Each day, each moment is a chance to make a better choice, to take better care of myself, to show more love and kindness to myself and to the people around me.

No one is perfect. And so many people struggle with issues related to self-esteem and self-image, are overly critical of themselves, and have moments where they do not see the positive and the possibilities. So I put random positives out there: “We’re all so pretty!” and wait for the light bulbs to come on.

This morning my muscles are sore from yesterday's weight-lifting and I'm glad. It will remind me all day of a decision I made to improve my health. So now I’m going to finish my coffee, have a homemade fruit-smoothie, and head off to work. Have a fab day.