Are You Prepared?

"Preparation is not suddenly accomplished, it is a process steadily maintained."

-Oswald Chambers

Are you preparing for an upcoming event in your life? Are you training for an important task or taking steps toward improving an area of your life that needs work now?

Stop for a minute & think about where you are with your health, fitness, faith, family, relationships, and overall life balance. Where would you like to be? Are you happy with the way these things are going? If you are, that's great, but you're not done! You can't just check it off your list and consider it "completed." You have to constantly prepare for tomorrow by thinking of these things every single day. Even a task well done or a milestone met is not The End. It is the start of a new beginning.

Achieved your goal weight? AWESOME! Don't forget that it takes work to maintain!

Did you make it through your first 10K race? WAY TO GO! Stay active! Sign up for another!

Has your child has successfully left the nest? WONDERFUL! Continue being a great parent to them, even when they're living on their own.

Are you happily married? This too takes maintenance...how can you be the best spouse you can be?

Are you preparing for tomorrow? Next year? Your 65th birthday? Beyond this life?

Teamwork

This morning Danny did open heart surgery on a pig...I can't even imagine. He explained that the students anesthetize the animal, then open up the chest to study the heart and it's pathways. I think it's a miracle that a living, breathing animal, or human, can actually remain alive during a procedure like this. I am anxious to hear about what a pumping heart looks like in your hand.

Danny always brings home some pretty interesting stories about school. Medical terminology is like another language. I'm sure he dumbs it way down when he explains the things he's learning about. I am ok with that. It used to bother me a little, that I couldn't carry on an intelligent conversation with him about chemical & physiological effects of the blah blah blah while he was taking Gross Anatomy. I come home talking about how happy I am with the big turnout in my spin class, the compliments I get on my music or the workout, or how I felt seeing the spark and enthusiasm from the college girl with a lifelong battle with obesity giving it her all to keep her New Year's Resolution to get healthy, and how I got to help her understand the equipment and the program I put her on. I wouldn't trade that for anything!

We live completely different lives outside of our home during the day. You can't compare my job to his, because they are so completely different. My feeling on the subject is that if you like what you are doing, and you are getting paid for it, more power to you!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations, you are successful in your work. Even better, I have a husband who feels the same way! We may have different purposes in life, but regardless we are both on Team Harris and what a gift: we act like it!

Do you find yourself comparing your status to others? So often women (and I'm sure men do this too) compare themselves to others. When stripped down to the core...is anyone really better than you? Are you any better than the person next door? NO! We are all on the same team. All of us are making our way through life heading towards the same ending. How you get there is between you and God.

One of my very favorite authors, Kristin Armstrong, makes a wonderful point. This excerpt from one of her books is something that happens everyday in our society and helped me realize that we should do a little less comparing and a little more sharing about the joys and trials of life.

"There is something about women that permits us to vie for a better impression of and for ourselves by belittling someone else. It rages through the gossip and social strata of adolescence and should by all means end when we "grow up," but somehow it does not end, it only mutates. Think about it.

Some women might excel in the workplace and someone else is quick to call her a witch or worse. Someone is pretty and someone is not; they are both equally cursed. Someone who's skinny is obsessive; someone who's curvy has let herself go. Someone has a baby and we make judgements about her choice between natural childbirth and using an epidural. Someone breastfeeds and someone gives formula, and somehow it is everybody's place to comment. Someone stays at home to take care of her kids and she is second-rate intellectually, or she get the 'it must be nice' routine. Someone else works outside the home and she is second-rate maternally or a slave to materialism. Even if we have no idea what motivates either choice or what makes it possible.

We judge if someone has a nanny. We judge the poor person who never gets out much. We judge other people's relationships, even if our own are crumbling. We judge other people's parenting, even when we are all hanging on by a thread and we are all far from expert. Someone who speaks her mind is grating; someone who doesn't is a wimp. Someone with a successful husband is a kept woman; someone who struggles is a poor thing. Someone who never exercises is lazy; someone who does take time for herself is decadent. Someone who hides her feelings is cold; someone who is authentic gets picked apart. We judge who has what job, who is busier, who has more stress, who has it "rougher." The funny thing is no one ever wins-because we are all on the same team."

How things could change if only we acted like it! I challenge you to lead by example...and leave the judging up to God.

What are your Resolutions for 2012?

Dorothy had it right, "There's no place like home!" We are back in Jackson after a much needed holiday trip to see family and friends. Going back to Georgia at Christmas gave me a feeling of comfort, but also a bit of sadness, since most of my family has moved farther out now. It's never exactly the same as in my memories. I don't even know the whereabouts of several friends I used to call, home phone numbers memorized by heart, to meet for a last-minute game of tennis in the neighborhood, or a cup of coffee that would turn into an afternoon of shopping, seeing a movie, and even a sleepover. One resolution I have made is to be a better friend this year. I want to see how my old buds are doing these days. If you are lucky enough to have a precious friendship, cherish it.

Instead of hanging around Mom and Dad's in our PJ's for another week & eating them out of house and home, we decided to get a jump start on the new year by hitting some of our resolutions head on. Getting back to God, getting in shape, getting ahead in school, and getting training underway are a few of our goals. Setting specific goals to reach is the best way for me to stay on track with my resolutions. For example, I want to read x number of chapters in my Bible each day, I want to spend 30 minutes jogging every other morning, I want to study 2 chapters of biochemistry every night, etc. If you need a little help finding a starting point for what you want to accomplish in 2012, here are some questions you may want to ask yourself:

-What are the 5 things you value most in life?

-What are the 3 most important goals to you right now (what pops into your head first?)

-If you won the lottery today, what would you do?

-If you knew you had 6 months left to live, what would you do?

-What is one thing you always wanted to try or do, but were too afraid to do it?

Your answers may be similar. Are you doing things TODAY to bring you closer to these answers? Do something everyday that MOVES you towards a better YOU. Do what you enjoy and be active OFTEN! I am here to help you reach your health and fitness goals! Let me know how I can help you get moving in 2012! Personal training (one-on-one or small group bootcamps) are a great way to stay accountable to your goals!