One thing that I'm having to come to terms with is that this is MY journey.  I can't drag all my friends along just because I've decided that I'm ready to make a change.  I had naively hoped this would be the case - that because I'm ready, they should all be ready to join me.  Silly me!  I have to do this for myself and since I really thrive in an interactive and supportive environment, I'm going to keep participating in my 30 day challenge group - already have a couple of folks that want to do the 90 day challenge with me.

This should be an individual journey.  The only way we will be successful is if we believe in what we're doing with our whole hearts.  And, as one friend told me, the mind has to be ready for the body to be willing.  Words of wisdom there.  But it doesn't have to be an individual journey in terms of support.  You have to surround yourself with others that are already living a healthy lifestyle or making the changes that you want to make in your life.  You just have to be ready.  Reach out and touch someone; join a meet up walking group, workout with a friend; get support through whatever fitness program you're starting.  Shoot!  I'll support you!!  But when you're ready and tired of being tired, figuratively and literally, make it happen.  Just know that for most of us, it's a very slow and gradual process.  It's about the small changes you are making to make yourself a more healthy and whole person.  Do this for you.  Do this for your family.  Do this to set a positive example for your children.  Just do it!

I was just talking to someone who was complaining about being exhausted and when I asked why they were so tired, the commented that they were doing too much to make everyone else's life easier but not theirs.  We all work so hard and have so many responsibilities that sap our energy.  We have to remember if we falter, everything falls.  If we don't take care of ourselves and we get sick, everything will slip - sometimes you just have to say no.  I know I struggled so hard with this, but eventually, I was a lot stronger for being able to say it and guess what? The world kept on going.  People learned to do things for themselves.  Oh, don't get me wrong.  I ruffled a LOT of feathers initially and a LOT of people were mad at me, but after a very short period of time, things re-adjusted and I felt a lot better.  It's not that I'm not here for family and friends, I just don't try to do everything.  If its something I want to do and I can, the answer is yes.  If it's something someone really needs and I can do it, the answer is yes.  If it's something that I don't want to do or will have to really shuffle things around to try to make it happen, I have to say no.  My mental health has benefitted tremendously!

One last comment:  I finally took my "before" pictures.  Really eye opening and painful to actually see them  live and in color.  I look at myself everyday in the mirror but when looking at pictures, you tend to see all those bumps and bulges that somehow you don't notice as you're breezing past the mirror.  The thing is though, after looking at them and some of the before and after pictures I just saw on youtube, I'm now more motivated than ever.   I'm excited to see what I will look and feel like at the checkpoint intervals that I've established.  All I can say is, it's ON and I'm so excited.

I am going to get up the nerve to post these pix on my blog but it's really hard to put yourself out there like that.  Failure cannot be an option though so I can't make that my excuse.  Ok.  My commitment is by  November 1st (day 1 of the Power90 journey), the pictures will be up.