Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Well Being

I’m starting another blog specifically for posting about logging my calories and activities. Here’s the link: joyswellbeing. That way, I won’t clog up this blog with a bunch of boring stuff just to attempt to keep myself accountable. It’s called joyswellbeing right now, but if you have a better name, let me know.

At the end of last semester, all faculty and staff received an e-mail inviting us to participate in The Well Being Way. Here’s a brief description:

What is the Well-Being Way?
Scientific studies show that well-being is the single most important factor influencing long-term health. People who optimize their well-being are more likely to engage in and stay with exercise, eat foods that energize them, sleep better, and do healthy things to continually fuel and refuel their well-being. The WBW engages the participants in a variety of group experiences that when combined with facilitator debriefing enhances well-being, which leads to transformation of one's mind, body, and spirit.

I decided, what the heck, I’ll try it and was picked at random for one of the trial Well Being Way groups. It’s not an exercise program or healthy eating program, it’s more about learning how you feel and how you want to feel to help adjust how you exercise, eat, sleep, and relate to others. This is an eight week program, so you’ll hear updates from time to time about the Well Being Way.

Monday, January 22, 2007

New Day

OK, I hope that this weekend was a wake up call. I realized that none of my clothes are fitting lately. Hmm. Maybe since I haven’t made time for exercise and don’t pay attention to what or how much I eat has something to do with that. Interesting concept. And I’m willing to bet that my inconsistent and wacky sleep habits contribute as well.

So the plan is to go back to counting my calories and logging my activities. This seems to be the only thing that has worked for me. The problem is actually keeping up with this process. I hope to make the effort to accomplish this. Anyone want to help hold me accountable?

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Contentment

So, about a month ago I was terribly afraid of my own thoughts. I said it out loud today for the first time and now I'm going to share here, with some reluctance. My thought was about being content. About a month ago, I astonishingly thought that I might actually be content with my life. You ask why this is so astonishing? Well, it's b/c I can't remember the last time that I thought I could be content. I didn't want to say it out loud b/c if I did, then it couldn't possibly be true, like a jinx or something. For once it seemed I was OK with work and with relationships and with how I was feeling about life in general.

I learned that contentment might not always be good. We aren't content when we are trying new things, b/c they are new. We are stretching our minds and our comfort zones and expanding our knowledge and that doesn't usually mean contentment, it sometimes mean stress. We are content when things are smooth sailing and are comfortable with what's happening in our lives. So maybe it's better for our minds and souls to not be content if it means we are learning and experiencing new things. Maybe things seemed good to me b/c we were winding down the semester at work and I was a little more comfortable talking and sharing with people in my life. I'm not exactly sure what my point is, but this is an interesting perspective on contentment that I learned today. It might take awhile to sink in, but if I'm growing and learning, it's OK to not be content with every aspect of life. Or maybe I should be content with the fact that there is growth in my life. If I do get that glimpse of contentment, does that mean I should change something? OK, I think I'm starting to ramble, so I will stop for now. Comments are greatly desired. ;-)

P.S. Just to clarify, my feeling of contentment was brief and it has passed. I'm trying my best to grow and learn with what life throws my way.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Beauty and the Geek

Now, that's a show I can relate to.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Move Along

“Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through”

When did my life become so dramatic? Is this partially the result of therapy and figuring out more about myself and my life and how I react to things? I’m not saying that the drama is a bad thing. Maybe dramatic isn’t even the right word to explain. Increased life experiences…that’s more like it. In the past six months, my learning curve has been more than steep; it took a sharp turn upward. I know some of this may seem vague and unclear, but I guess I’m not quite ready to reveal everything to the world at this point.

Does drama add a certain spice to life rather than just make it more complicated?

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Chinese New Year

So anyone who didn’t come to the party at Rachel’s, you missed out. We had a grand old time with both Chinese and American friends. Much food, drink, and laughter were had by all. There were some classic Roomie moments. I’d like to share four of them with you.

Alcohol removed wine – Roomie was in charge of buying beer and wine for the party. Rachel and I were cracking up when we looked at the bottles (one red and one white)…they were alcohol removed! Who would want to drink that?

Watika – This is probably the funniest thing I’ve heard in awhile and it still makes me laugh. Unfortunately it won’t mean much to you through a blog…it just won’t have the same effect. Roomie’s pronunciation of vodka is WATIKA. You think it sounds like water or vodka, but it has more syllables…so it takes a bit to figure out what he is saying. LOL.

Crack – Sarah and I were making cheese ball and I explained to Roomie that you put it on crackers. He didn’t know what crackers were, then when I got them out, he said they were cookies. I said that cookies are sweet and crackers are salty. He said, “I wanted to see what crack was.” We told him repeatedly that it was crackers, not crack. Crack is a drug and we are not serving that at the party. CRACKERS. He kept saying crack.

Is your wife at home with the baby? – This wasn’t actually a Roomie moment, so much as it was a friend of Roomie moment. “Frankie” kept going in Roomie’s bedroom to take phone calls from his wife. Earlier, Rachel or someone had said that he had a kid and the wife was home with the kid. I asked him if his wife was home with the baby and had to repeat myself about 4-5 times and I don’t think Frankie or Roomie knew what I was saying at all. Someone said, “the question was too hard, you need to break it down!” So I said, “Do you have a baby?” Sarcasm is lost in translation I think.

Hope yours was Happy!!!