ME!

ME!
Holding my "before" favorite shirt after losing 125 pounds on my journey to better health.

Sunday, August 8, 2021

Seesaw

 Have you ever played on a playground toy called a seesaw(teeter-totter)?  I remember as a child in school at recess my friend and I would love to be on the seesaw. On occasion one or the other of us would jump off and it would cause a loud shriek and a squabble between us for the rest of the day.  It was so fun to have the challenge of sitting on it and seeing if we could be perfectly balanced.  Both of us felt like we were floating on air and we would just sit there for the longest time.  It was tricky to remain balanced. It took adjustments and shifting on both of our parts to have that perfect control.  Our healthy living can be looked at as a giant seesaw.  I know that when my seesaw crashes to the bottom I usually give out a few shrieks and always have a pity party. Then I dust myself off and mentally try to refocus myself on what is important and that is my health.  Physical health but also mental health. I know the proper steps to help me with both of them but sometimes it just seems like I don't care.  Have you had this crash on your seesaw?   When my friend would jump off and send me crashing down I would be so upset at her but always by the end of the day we were once again planning on running to be the ones that got the seesaw at recess the next day. There was only 1 and it was always busy. So, here I am 68 years old and I'm not giving myself the same forgiveness that I gave my friend.  I have just allowed myself to crash down and sit in my poor me party.  The hopeful thing is that I have had ENOUGH!! I have done somethings this week to help me to raise up my seesaw into a more balanced position. One end being my physical health and the other end my mental health.  I have planned to get at least 30 mins of good physical exercise in some form. I like to walk, I like to swim, I like to dance, and I like to hike so those are things I am looking at.  I am going to work on losing some weight. I have a weight goal that I feel good at and it is not as thin as I was a couple of years ago but its a good place for me.  I have signed up for ICL which is Institute for Continued Learning where I can take classes in person or on Zoom at the University that I live across the street from (I won't have a parking problem just walk!) I am doing adult paint by numbers and they are not easy. I am reaching out to friends that I have lost contact with and we chat right now through messages but plan to get together when life settles down. I am slowly trying to balance my seesaw! I wish I had the help my friend and I would get when the boys decided to tease us and they would get in the middle and hold it so neither one of us could get down!!  Oh the screaming we would do!!! The louder we squealed and screamed the more determined they were to see how long they could keep us there.....  I know there is going to be squealing and screaming as I try to keep my healthy journey seesaw balanced but as I look back at my younger self..... that was the part that made it fun!

Is your seesaw balanced?  Maybe now would be a good time to decided what you need to do to improve you healthy journey! 

4 comments:

  1. Thank you. I was just laying down feeling sorry for myself when I saw your post. I really needed this encouragement to do the things for myself that I know I need to keep my SeeSaw of a life balanced. I appreciate all your messages and they come at just the right time for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know about the laying down feeling sorry for myself party. One thing a day is what I am focusing on. Something different that helps me to get into balance. Hang in there.

      Delete
  2. I had reached a point in my life that I was just going to accept that I'm out of shape and leave it at that, but darn it...I WANT ME BACK!! I've lived on a seesaw for over 3 years now, and it's time I let that thing hit me in the butt and move on. I hope I can follow your example and do at least 30 minutes of activity a day. I'm not that much younger than you, but you look great and I want to look as good as you when I reach that age, too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do the best you can and be patient with yourself. There is so much we can do to just improve our movement. It is the mind I have to fight to make me do it. I always feel better when I exercise so I don't know why I make it such a chore. You can do it!

    ReplyDelete