Take Away 8- Resolve and Restraint

I ate far too much day before yesterday. It started early in the morning when a friend at work brought an oatmeal breakfast muffin she wanted me to try. I had already eaten breakfast but I ate it anyway and it started a runaway train of eating the whole day that I could not stop. I was miserable by the time I got home that night.  When I arrived at work yesterday, I resolved to show some discipline and I felt so much better.

TAKE AWAY: Resolve and Restraint (R&R)

Just get back on track when you fall off. It pays off! 

Take Away 7 - What If and So What

My husband told me yesterday he started following this blog. He said, "what if you don't have a take away to write about?"  I told him I'd just write exactly that. But only once.  I thought about it a lot yesterday. You see, I'm always thinking. The day I don't have a take away is the day I'm not present and accounted for.  Not today.

So, my peeps are coming to visit us today! My dad and Nancy will be here when I get home from work. They will be heading south shortly so we are going to pretend it's Thanksgiving. 

TAKE AWAY: WHAT IF

• What if we don't have pumpkin pie for dessert; so what?
• What if I don't worry about getting the china out of the cupboard; so what?
• What if my house isn't spotless; so what?
• What if the lawn doesn't get mowed today; so what? 

Seriously, who cares?

 

Take Away 6 - Dining Together

When I'm working, the lunch hour is my favorite time of day. It's something to look forward to, and it's a landmark in the day, so to speak, that splits the work-time in half, making it bearable to be away from home. At my new job, we only take 30 minutes but it is so enjoyable. About 6 or 7 women in our group gather around a small table to share lunch. Invariably, we talk about each other's fabulous lunches and venture into other topics. There has hardly been a day gone by that someone hasn't brought a favorite box of crackers or a container of hummus or something new they found on the shelf at the store to share. I love that!

TAKE AWAY:

A group that dines together shines together.

Take Away 5 - Responsibility

I have a few regrets in my life. Not all of them can I post on a blog but one of them haunted me most of yesterday.  I once knew a woman who was very ill.  She made calls for help and sometimes I showed up but not always. She eventually died by her own hand. After her funeral, I vowed to take better care of my relationships with people. While I don't feel responsible for her death, I do feel responsible for blowing her off sometimes. Today, I feel responsible for showing up when I'm aware of important events in other people's lives. "Important" can have about a million definitions. It is not for me to decide what important means to you.

TAKE AWAY: 

Be there for others even when sometimes it is inconvenient or 

uncomfortable.  We need each other.

Take Away 4 - Thunderstruck

I've only been up 2.5 hours and I've got a take away.  Can I go back to bed now?

I am back to walking on the treadmill every morning now that I'm back to work and time is short.  I cannot walk on it unless I have my iPod turned way up. It drowns out the voice giving me every excuse why I should not get on the treadmill.  My very first song on my playlist is "Thunderstruck" from the AC/DC Live album. I love the sound of the thunder, the sound of the crowd going wild and the awesome driving beat.  I'm about 2 minutes into the song when the endorphins hit and I have been Thunderstruck.  WOO HOO!! And I turn it up!!

TAKE AWAY: Find out what gets you thunderstruck!

Take Away 3 - Gloomy Days

I have never been so happy to wake up to gray skies and wind. I have so many things to do around the house: laundry, shopping, cooking dinner for the rest of the week.  We're not home much when the weather is good so a lot of stuff gets put the wayside.

TAKE AWAY:  Gloomy days can be a good thing.

 

Take Away 2 - Stamina

We got up very early to hit the road at 5:30 a.m., traveling by car 20 miles to see the Prosser Balloon Rally. It was worth getting up early and I enjoyed it as much as the first time I ever saw a balloon go up. They let you out on the field so you can watch the whole process starting from the rolling out of the huge balloons to putting hot air in them and then you can talk to the people in the basket before they go up. There were at least 30 balloons today.

When we got home, we decided to get on the motorcycles because tomorrow it's supposed to rain and our number of riding days is dwindling fast. We left at 10:00 a.m. and got home about 6:00 p.m.  It was a 300 mile day. This was my 3rd three hundred mile day this summer. I didn't even feel tired when we got home.

TAKE AWAY:

I have way more stamina than I think I do. The trick is to not think about what a long day it is going to be ... think about how much fun you can pack into it! 

P.S. I got stung on the face by a yellow jacket while riding today. It hurt like crazy. If that wasn't bad enough, I got stung again as I was parking my bike in the garage when we got home. The bee had apparently gone up my sleeve and hitched a ride home with me.

Take Away 1 - A Blog is Born

Thanks to my friend over at My Healthy Eating Challenge, who gave me the idea for this 365 Day Project, it starts today.  My challenge is find a take away every single day for the next year.  

What is a take away?  My definition is that it's an idea, thought, or principle one learns throughout the day that will be useful from that point on. I learned about "take aways" a long time ago from a seminar speaker.  The speaker said that in every seminar she gave, she hoped the participants got at least 3 "take aways" from the day. I have remembered that lesson for a long time and have used it to try to get at least something from every experience, whether it's a good or bad take away. I believe I have an opportunity to learn something new every single day ... something to take away from my experiences.  So ... this blog is born.

Take Away #1

Don't complain about my life.

No matter how tired I am or how full my life seems to be, there is always someone in my path who is busier and has more responsbility. Take for instance, my new co-worker/friend. She is a single mom raising 5 children, working a full time job and taking 3 classes and she still has time to put make-up on in the morning. I have never once heard her say she is tired. I asked her recently how she does it and she said, "I don't have a choice."  I am inspired.  Her tenacity and good attitude have helped me adjust to my new working hours. I will be forever grateful to her.