Big changes require little steps

“That’s what it takes to get what you want. Not big scary leaps once a year. It takes small, but irritating moves every single day.”
― Mel Robbins, Stop Saying You're Fine: Discover a More Powerful You

Who among us isn’t always looking for shortcuts. We want a faster, easier, simpler, more efficient way to do everything—whether getting to work or fixing dinner or paying our bills online. We want to save money, time, energy & effort. Anything that promises to help us reach our goals faster and easier, we’re all over it.

There’s no magic pill for success. Regardless of how hard you work or how lofty your goals or how much stands in the way of achieving them, the most likely obstacle to keep you from reaching them is YOU.

I have a friend who has been trying to lose weight and get into shape for as long as I’ve known her. She has tried every diet plan and pill you can imagine. She isn’t the only one. More money is spent on losing weight every year than nearly anything else. Like much of the rest of the world, my friend has spent the last twenty years in search of that one diet, that one discovery that will expose what has kept her from losing weight and keeping it off. There isn’t one. It isn’t her meal plan or eating schedule or exercise routine or lack of support from family. She is the only one standing in her way. The key to weight loss success—as well as the key to every other kind of success—is to keep doing little things every day and for the rest of her life. Get off the couch and move. Push away from the table before her belly is full. Eat more lean green foods than processed food. And so on and so on.

Writing that won’t sell diet books. It’s depressing. No one wants to hear it. We want an earth-shaking thing that will create all the changes we’re looking for in one fell swoop. That big thing doesn’t exist. Just little things we do over and over to get what we want. We are the only ones in the way of achieving our dreams. Until we learn to stop doing the little things that sabotage our progress, like sleeping in, wasting time on FaceBook, avoiding a part of the job we dread, or giving into distractions, we’ll never get what we want.

If you’re seriously looking to make a change in your life, start implementing little positive habits into your day. Make time for them. Do them regularly and religiously and stick with them even when you aren’t seeing results.

Remember potty training? Argh! Who wants to remember that? If your child was like mine it didn’t happen overnight. It was weeks, and maybe months, of tears and frustration—mostly on my part—and countless mad dashes to the bathroom and the little potty before you finally got it through the baby’s head this was the way it was supposed to work.

Like me, you probably got plenty of well-intentioned advice about how to make the process go smoother. Basically, though, the outcome wasn’t up to you. It was up to the little guy on the seat of honor staring up at you. We kept doing the same little things over and over—watching for subtle clues that somebody had to go, running up and down the hall with a squirming toddler, praising and clapping when things went well, and cleaning up messes when they didn’t. It wasn’t rocket science, and there was no rushing the process no matter how much we wanted to. Just repeating the same task over and over until potty independence was achieved.

Any goal worth achieving works the same way. We’ll get more advice than we want. Some will be good. Much will be a waste of time. But it all goes back to who’s in charge. YOU. Others can help and offer advice, but we’re the one standing in our own way. Cheering ourselves on when things go well and cleaning up messes when they don’t.

Making time to exercise when we don't have the time

I’ve said it. You’ve said it. We’ve all acted on it. We don’t have time to exercise. I’m sure, for you, just like for me, it’s true. We are crazy busy. Between work, kids, writing, errands, running my Scentsy business, housework, and quality time with Hubby…Good grief, I made myself tired just by creating this list.

How in the world are we supposed to eke another hour out of our day for exercise? The answer is, you won’t find the time. You must make the time. Create it. We always make time for what’s important. I spent an hour this morning on the phone with a friend. I have a lot to do today before I head out to work, but somehow I made the time in my schedule to talk to her because it was important to me. I have another friend in the hospital. Between work obligations today, I’ll make a detour to visit her. Not on my docket, but I’ll make the time.

In November I’m devoting three whole days to attend my son’s wedding out of state. Believe me, I don’t have an extra three days lying around. Still, it never occurred to me to tell him I’m too busy to come. Now, if you asked me to babysit your kids for three days I would immediately say I don’t have time. And I wouldn’t be exaggerating. But attending my son’s wedding…I’ll make the time.

We make time for what matters.

Exercise needs to matter. We all know the results of a sedentary lifestyle. Forget vanity—though, who am I kidding, that is a big consideration. What about getting out of a chair? I see people younger than me struggle to do that simple motion we all do several times a day. If getting out of a chair is a tough, how will we manage a flight of stairs or a long hallway or chasing butterflies with a child or walking the dog? Even if you aren’t training for a decathlon we have lives to live. I don’t want to be the grandma on the porch. I want to be the grandma in the yard chasing the butterflies or pushing a swing or skipping rocks across the creek. If I happen to still look good in a pair of Capris and cute strappy sandals, well, that’s just a bonus.

Don’t try to find the time. Make the time. Every day. Because it matters. You matter.

It’s not that hard to fit exercise into your day. My favorite way is while watching TV. You can get a heart pumping fifteen-minute workout between commercial breaks. Starting at one break, close the chip bag, get off the couch, and do 50 jumping jacks, 40 squats, 30 burpees, 20 pushups, and 10 lunges on each leg. By the start of the next commercial break you will have gone through this routine twice.

If that wasn’t enough for you, spend the next 15 minutes doing 100 crunches, 3 sets of 12 reps each of bicep curls, overhead presses, and tricep dips. You don't even need to use weights in the beginning. You can add or delete anything you choose and increase reps when you're ready. It’s your workout. Just keep your heart rate up and have fun. By the time your TV program is over, you’ve completed your workout and feel a lot better than if you had stayed on the couch munching Doritos.

As with any workout routine of any type or any intensity, consult your doctor first. Make it fun. Make it a priority. You’re worth it. Your future health is worth it. Your vanity is worth it. Your family and loved ones are worth it.

Comment below on your favorite or most ingenious ways you make time for exercise in your already crammed daily schedule.

I'm more important than you

It’s hard to celebrate the Lord’s Day when there is war and rioting in the streets. No matter your age, your race, your politics, where you live, or how much money you make, we’ve all been affected by the events of the last few months. And regardless of your politics or the side you’re on, it all boils down to selfishness.

We love ourselves and hate the other guy. We see our point of view and refuse to listen to what someone else has to say. We want what we want and couldn’t care less about who we hurt to get it.

All day long on the news I keep hearing people say, “They just want to do their job and go home to their families.” Do you think the people declaring war on other Americans care one whit about that? They don’t care about little children who had their parents stolen from them over the last few weeks. They don’t care about spouses and sisters and friends who will never see their loved ones again. They only care about their wants and everyone else can just…well, you know.

Sadly, the rest of us are not so different. We may not use guns or trucks filled with explosives to get our way. Our methods are much more subtle—manipulation, control, lies and innuendo. Yet it all boils down to the same thing, selfishness.

We believe our needs and wants are more important than anyone else’s. We lie and stab friends in the back and spread rumors and even pout to get our way. Whatever it takes to come out on top. The sad thing is we are never happy. Getting our way through selfish means never accomplishes our goals. Oh, we may get what we want for a moment. We may smirk and think we really put something over on them. Or, we deserve better and they had it coming anyway.

But then where are we? We are just as unhappy and bitter as we were before. Probably more so. Selfishness never brings happiness or satisfaction. It only breeds bitterness and self-righteousness and eventually a lonely life since we’ve alienated everyone we thought was important to us.

If only we could put another person’s needs above our own, if only we could see them the way Jesus sees them, if only we truly loved the way Jesus loves, it would never enter our minds to take someone else’s value or property or liberty or their life.

I pray we can see we hurt ourselves the most when we put our needs first. We lose so much and gain so little. Lord, forgive us for our hateful acts. Our selfish deeds. Our thoughtless hurting of someone else who you bled and died for. Open our eyes. Show us how you want us to love those around us. Show us how much happier we would be if we put our selfish deeds aside--or our snarky remarks and petty jealousies or catty posts on Facebook--and thought of someone else first for a change.

Motivation to Burn

At the first of the year I joined an exercise group on FaceBook to challenge and motivate each other as we worked toward our individual fitness goals. With the help of the group I lost 12 pounds in three months & didn't suffer nearly as much as I thought I would. Now we're seven months into 2016 and I see myself falling right back into my old, unhealthy habits.

Snacking before bed. Hitting the buffet line instead of making healthy, reasonable choices while dining out. Eating mindlessly instead of charting everything I put into my body. Falling off the wagon at the first sign of success is probably why most of us lose & gain the same twenty pounds over and over again over our lifetime.

While doing a little studying and soul searching, I found this article from 2012 that is still relevant today. At least it is for me. It's all about making healthy choices a routine in our lives...as routine as say, sleeping and breathing. It's how to stay motivated & stick with a plan. And most of all, to have fun.

As a bubbly instructor in one of my exercise routines loves to say, "If it's not fun you won't do it."

Truer words have never been spoken. Getting in shape, staying in shape & adopting a healthy lifestyle should be who we are, not something we do when we feel guilty or are preparing for a beach vacation or college reunion.

Check out the original post for the motivation to find a exercise routine you'll stick with.

Make a Dent where you are Sent

I really liked this statement I heard on the radio yesterday. “Make a dent where you are sent.” I can’t credit the comment since I don’t know who was talking and I lost the station before he finished making his point. But we can understand what he was getting at. Leave an impression. Let the world know you were here.

You probably know someone who never got to be what they wanted. Their dreams of a family or college degree or dream job never came to fruition. Maybe you’re that person. Maybe you feel like you’ve messed up royally and made mistakes that can’t be undone. You may ask; “How can God use me when I’m not where I was supposed to be at this point in my life?”

Isn’t technology amazing? Don’t you love those Google images where you can see the whole planet in real time? The images that zoom in on one continent, then a country, then a state or territory and finally your city, your neighborhood, your street, and all the way to your front door. Sitting on our own stoop it’s easy to forget the magnitude of those world images. We see our roof, our treetops, our sidewalk, our teeny, insignificant skyline, and they close us in. So do our problems.

Our eyes tend to see the worst in a situation. Our vision is very narrow. We can’t see down the road. We can’t imagine how our current rotten situation can ever be used for good.

We’ll never see our lives or our world the way God does. But it’s important to remember that he can. He is God. We are not. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Those mistakes we made, those cruel words we hurled at a loved one, the decisions we wish we could remake—God can use it all to impact our world. We can’t imagine how, but he can and he will once we get out of the way.

Make a dent where you’re sent today. Don’t think what you do it too small or too unimportant. You can impact someone today. Leave an imprint that you were here.

Anna's Army

I spent my holiday weekend selling books at the Festival of the Bells in Hillsboro, Ohio. Nice festival close to my house and church so I was able to catch up with a lot of people I know and a lot of longtime readers. Always a good way to spend a long weekend. I also got to know Justin Reno of Anna’s Army. If you’re not from the area you have probably never heard of Anna’s Army. I didn’t know much myself except everyone in the county has an Anna’s Army bumper sticker on their car or wear Anna’s Army shirts to Kroger’s.

Justin was the only guy in our booth so the rest of us vendors took advantage of him, ie: asking him to move heavy tables or reach high stuff. Over the course of the weekend, his story and the story of Anna’s Army came out, as it does everywhere he goes.

Justin and his wife Andi lost their daughter, Anna, 8 years ago to Cystic Fibrosis when she was 8. Anna was diagnosed with CF at age 3 months. I was practically in tears every time Justin told someone part of her story. During a slow time between customers, I told him as much. He smiled and said that wasn’t why he shared his story. Sharing for him was therapeutic. Justin isn’t a writer so he wears his story on his arms. He got his first tattoo as therapy on the first anniversary of Anna’s death. After that, on each anniversary of her death and on her birthday in June, he would add another chapter to Anna’s story with another tattoo. Now her story goes around and up both arms, with each addition telling another chapter of the amazing life this little girl led.

In the beginning, the tattoos were meant to help Justin deal with his grief. It didn’t take long, though, before he realized they were serving a purpose he hadn’t seen coming. Strangers would come up to him and comment on the tattoos, whether to tell him they hated tattoos or they loved the artwork. In either case, Justin was able to begin a dialog about Anna and Cystic Fibrosis and how the tattoos helped him through his grief. Talking with these strangers has been the greatest therapy he never saw coming.

Justin and Andi created a non-profit charitable organization 10 years ago to raise awareness of CF and other chronic conditions. Since then, the charity has donated over $100,000 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Eight years after Anna’s death, the charity continues to raise money for those in the community suffering from chronic—and usually fatal—conditions The community had been so helpful to Anna and the Reno family, they want to give something back. In 2009 the Highland County Commissioners declared the 3rd Friday in April to be Anna’s Army Day from now on. Like Andi Reno always says: Together anything is possible.