Filling the Health Meter FULL

When embarking on this HealthFULL Journey I really was thinking from the physical aspect. My thoughts were along the lines of the hope to discover a hidden passion for excercise and the desire to nourish my body instead of just stuffing it. And though mild versions of this have occurred, I am downright shocked how much health in the other aspects are being improved. What I mean is the exciting things that have occurred in my life so far on this very interesting journey with a lot of twists that I didn't expect. When I named this blog I started with the Healthful journey and the name was taken. So I played on the words because I really liked the thought of improving my health and not just focusing on the weight and getting skinny. That's when it came to me that I wanted my life to be FULL of Health. And I do appreciate the ease of acronyms and the cutesie-cheesy factor as well. I am a cheesy kind of gal :) So that is how Fully Understanding Life by Living was established. Do you remember the expression, "Be careful what you wish for. . .because you might just get it!" Well I have had my wishes granted in spades. My Mental Health has improved as I have started to study for school. When on my own I guarantee I was not picking up textbooks to improve my knowledge of statistics and to be able to define the null hypothesis vs. alternative hypothesis....yada yada yada. I do well with a litte push. It is interesting that sometimes after studying for awhile, to then take a break and just walk away. After a quick breather, return and pick up the book once again and realized I have actually learned something. I know it's silly but sometimes it makes me smile as I get giddy reading the text and realize I understand what I am actually reading. My financial health is improving as I returned to a second job that I missed terribly (this also probably helped mental and emotional health as well - I get to be creative and interact more). My emotional health has greatly been on the rise. As I seek out Healthier opportunities and just being more open to life I have enjoyed a variety of activities that pull me away from my natural hermit ways. I am becoming involved with several charity events (looking for more ;) and that kind of participation boosts the heart. Meeting new people is always good and interesting. And the whole reason I thought of this topic is that my spiritual health is improving. My hubby and I have been on exciting search for a long time. When I performed with a traveling theatre ministry group I always appreciated the opportunity to perform at so many churches and to worship in different settings with people from a variety of denominations. I would define myself as a Christian and wanted this chance to share this freedom with my hubby as we explored the different churches of our area. We found this process both exciting and a little bit wearing. Because at some point you just want to say, Ahhh it's good to be home. I am so excited to share with y' all that we have found our church home and became official members almost two weeks ago. I feel we joined at the perfect time because our sermon series right now is about the fruits of the spirit. I am definitely looking to improve my fruit intake and knowledge and here it is nicely packaged in a sermon :) Last week's was about Joy and the pastor made an interesting comparison about the difference between happy and joy. Happy is about circumstances and depending on what event or interaction occurs in your daily life will affect your happiness. But Joy is what resounds within your being. Before this HealthFULL Journey I liked to think of myself as a happy person but now I can tell you I am becoming a joyful person. May your HealthFULL Journey bless you in all aspects of your own life in a complete 360 degree kind of way. 'Til we meet again. . .

Marching for babies 2010

Well this week has been full of interesting events. I will try to describe them one at a time. Let's start with the March for Babies earning funds for the March of Dimes. My niece was born very pre-term at 24 weeks. She is a fighter and as a family we have been blessed by how well her development and health have progressed. Because of the miracles our family has witnessed I wanted to combine my HealthFULL journey with a couple of causes close to my heart. My next event is less than three weeks away The Relay for Life earning funds for American Cancer society and if you are interested in donating you can visit http://main.acsevents.org/goto/SuzySullivan . So back to the March for Babies. I enlisted some family volunteers to be my walking buddies and fundraising partner. I am so excited to share that my eldest niece and I reached our goal of five hundred dollars for the team. Thanks to my partner's determination, generosity of our sponsors, and tons of prayer. It felt so good to start our walk with a little extra bounce in our step. I didn't hit my goal last year when I walked for my office's team and it saddened me. But then that probably helped make this year's success a little sweeter. I feel like we actually fulfilled a promise. That was an incredible feeling to know we honored our commitment all the while helping an organization work to lessen other families' anxieties and despair. The day of the walk was not weather that gets your blood pumping for a day in the great outdoors. I went to pick up my team shirt beautifully designed by my fabulous niece and her super creative mom. I brought my eldest niece to the event and then my brother's family was to follow. The event upon arrival was drizzly, sparse, and crowded with umbrellas. But if you looked closer at the walkers who decided to tough the event out regardless of rain were smiling, giggling, and enthusiastic. My niece leaned in to me and whispered "Wouldn't it be cool if the minute the walk began the sun would pop out, begin to shine, and the rain would instantly stop!" I agreed that would be super cool. We checked out team's tents (in hopes of a little cover, we were not one of the umbrella wielding people). We people watched and dog watched, there certainly were a lot of cute babies and gorgeous dogs to entertain us. The rest of her family arrived and we got ready to start our 4.6 mile walk that for the last two years has been advertised as six miles. I think it is to give us walkers extra hope and that added sense of relief. When are about to hit four miles and think oh wow we still have two more to go, wait is that the finish line? We are almost done, YAY!!!! But that is only my theory. Families and office teams shouted a loud "GO BABIES" and off we went. And you know what, not a single drop of rain:) Let me tell you that certainly was super cool! We didn't have a shining sun but no rain was nice. We are almost out of the parking lot and beginning our journey when we hit equipment malfunction. Oh no, the stroller lost a wheel. Really? We aren't even officially on the road and the stroller bites the dust. However this is a durable buggy and our team "star" (mascot sounds rude) was safe and sound. So we continued our jaunt as if all was well. The stroller was still working but I do think the steering was a little rough. So here our team gets the blood pumping, the energy flowing, and the rhythm to our marching. However I should tell you our team ranged from ten months to adult. The younger range was not as enthused at the beginning. We hadn't hit the half mile mark and two of the youngsters echoed are we almost there? Kids, gotta love 'em :) Although near the end my thoughts were echoing their spoken words. How much farther? Are we almost done? I am tired of walking! Everyone was a trooper and this walk was way different than last years. Which reminded me that my HealthFULL Journey is changing my outlook, my daily life, and my health. Last year I dreaded the event because of fear. I really didn't know if I could complete the walk of six miles. And would I end up flat on my face? (Which I did last year! I am so not the picture of grace. I biffed on one of those road reflectors. I wasn't paying attention and my foot caught in wrong and WHAM hit the ground. Of course I have electronics galore in my pockets not knowing how long the walk would take and what distractions I could bring like a music player, camera, and phone. To tell you how hard I landed I broke my disposable plastic water bottle that they give out on the walk. Do you know how hard you have to throw one of those things to break it? Pretty hard! And of course I am with co-workers, so I play it off like "Ha ha I just fell isn't that crazy? No I am fine just checking during a thorough road inspection. Ha ha!" Of course the trolley that picks up stragglers saw and double checked on my well being. A bruised ego is much worse than a scraped knee, which I also received." Those fears ate me up last year. But this year I woke up super early for the event like a kid ready for the first day of school. I joked with my nieces and nephews and joined in some of their sprints along the march. Me - sprinting for kicks and giggles. Crazy! Last year after the event I stopped by a grocery store to pick up junk food as a well-deserved reward for the day's hard work (a tray of brownies and a full bag of potato chips) and a frothy coffee drink. Writing that now makes my stomach churn. I still have a long way on my HealthFULL Journey until I FULLy Understand Life by Living but I also need to acknowledge I have made progress. I didn't dread this event not knowing if I could finish. I didn't fall (thank you WII Fit for teaching me a little bit about balance). I enjoyed the company and chatted and laughed instead of just hyper focused on when is this event going to be done. I stopped no where after the event to pick up my "deserved" junk food (though I did enjoy a big bowl of the same potato chips, at least it wasn't the bag:) And then I relaxed the rest of the day and ended with a well deserved slumber:) Well-more needed than the junk food. So yesterday was a taste of accomplishing goals and that hard work is always rewarded. May your own HealthFULL Journey allow you the opportunity to reflect, succeed, and hunger for more. 'Til we meet again. . .

Outside in the Yard

Nothing like the sun shining, cool breeze, and no bugs. Today was a beautiful spring day and it was time to tackle the yard. Our backyard resembled a jungle mess; grass ten inches tall, weeds growing wild, and the seedlings of what I believe is called rubber gum trees. All I know is that when we sent our puppy outside to do her business we didn't know if we would see her again. Well I guarantee we will now. It is an oasis, or at least a pretty suburban backyard. I am gonna share that I skipped the Wii Fit today but definitely still got in my workout! It felt great to be out in the yard, working on this beautiful spring day. My hubby mowed the grass and weedwacked. I picked up the rake to gather those stupid cock a burr seedlings. And my hubby cleaned out the gutters. Oh can I feel the burn, a good burn, but a burn nonetheless. The tired muscles run down my thighs and through my arms, especially the forearms and my blisters on the palms of the hand remind me that I definitely worked hard in my work out today. It was therapeutic. I am not seeing the results on the scale as I hope but today showed me I am accomplishing something on this HealthFull Journey that can't be measured in numbers. I was getting yardwork completed. Last year these seedlings littered my yard and I picked up the rake then with very little results. I spent less than ten minutes gathering three small.....minuscule piles. And then because I was too tired (and winded) I left the piles just sitting there outside and do you know when I went back to pick them up. ....I didn't and let the wind destroy my little progress. But today I raked up five substantial piles that translated to ten filled garbage bags. That's right! Not only did I rake the WHOLE backyard I actually picked up the mess. That is huge measurable progress. And after that work I still had energy. Of course my muscles were screaming Uncle! and/or Mercy! but I felt exhilarated. I finished something! And the results were amazing, the backyard looked good and my spirit was lighter. As I pulled up weeds and scratched my yard with rake I realized how much I have ignored my own needs. It is easy to skip a weed, ignore the blemishes, and one leads into another. Much like weight, one pound doesn't change the whole outlook, so what if we add two more, three more, and then when you do start to notice the extra bulge here, and the extra bulge there...things have gotten out of hand it feels like it is too late. It is too hard to fix. It isn't worth the effort if the pounds/weeds are going to find their way back. It is too overwhelming. Where do I begin when the ending seems impossible. And the list rambles on and on. But like the yard, we just have to start somewhere. . .anywhere on the HealthFULL Journey to kickstart this journey and see where we end up.Like the weeds I need to kick out the unwanted pounds. Thanks for protecting what needed protection but it is time to let the unruly weeds go and allowing the healthy growth to have a chance. When we don't pay attention that is precisely when we get attacked, but if we stay alert and pay attention we can travel in stride and enjoy the Journey. Stay alert and keep the weeds away. If you weren't paying attention and a few weeds took root in your life, get to weeding and enjoy your HealthFULL Journey. 'Til we meet again. . . .

Simple, consistent, and Accountable

So I have a couple of funny things to share. First, I wrote the Dear John letter to the gym before I (we or really my hubby called as I am easily swayed on the phone and probably would have agreed to buy into the gym's franchise instead of dropping our membership :) So when Cor called they gave him the good run-around. Don't call us we don't handle the billing, call the billing they say to call the gym, and around we go. We finally get a hold of the correct people (billing department) and my husband firmly states we want to drop our membership. The woman other end politely tells him we already dropped you from our books. What?!? Did the gym really just break up with us, and kind of coldly I might add. They're hiding behind the fact that our contract ended, but really? It was an awful break-up, they claim they broke up first, but you read my Dear John to Gym. For the record I initiated the break-up. Anyway that thought made me laugh. We want to drop our membership, and their response "Oh, you can't because we already dropped you :)" Whatever! So my other funny story. The only one to play an April Fool's joke on me yesterday (April 1st) was the Wii Fit. Oh yes I booted up the system and the Wii Board Character who greets you and then weighs you every time was dressed in a patriotic spangly cap. The character says "Oh no I can't find the Wii Board, there must be a malfunction, and then giggles. That's right the cartoon giggled at me. And then heartily said, April Fool's. This program cracks me up. Now that the gym is no longer a part of my routine (but then was it ever part of my routine? Sure, I would get some good runs together, but the problem was it never stuck in my routine.) What am I going to do for exercise? Well, I am going to keep things simple, consistent, and accountable. Instead of shelling out money to force myself into awkward commitments, I am going to do things that are already accessible. Like what? Great question! I am using the Wii Fit on a daily basis ( mornings lately). Now that the weather is nice, maybe I can get my hubby to pick up a racket as we have tennis courts down the block. Taking my darling puppy for a walk. And my accountability is that I tend to be more motivated at doing things for other people then for myself. To keep motivated while getting in better shape is that I have decided to participate in two different charity events. Both causes are quite close to my heart as they have affected my family and too many of my friends. In three weeks and a day (April 24, 2010) I will be walking six miles (the site says but last year it was only four miles, same location) for March of Dimes for my littlest niece who was born almost four months premature and is doing fantastic at nine months (will be ten by the walk). To keep me motivated on the actual walk will be my oldest niece and I am so excited for the event. The other event is the Relay for Life in six weeks (May 14 - 15, 2010) organized by the American Cancer Society. My hubby and I plan to walk in honor of both of our moms who are cancer survivors and both have been cancer-free for 5+ years, Praise God! We also walk in memory of our friends' parents because too many friends have had to say good-bye to their parents at way too young of age. I truly feel that both of these charities are worthwhile and am proud to help them raise money to continue the great work that they are doing. If you would like to donate to either cause I would be so appreciative and grateful of your generosity. (You probably will have to copy and paste the web addresses). If you would like to donate to the March of Dimes please visit the website: www.marchforbabies.org/SuzySullivan If you would like to donate to the American Cancer Society please visit the website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/SuzySullivan My HealthFULL Journey has led me to such great opportunities. I hope your Journey is blessing you with surprises and opportunities. Fully Understanding Life by Living is helping me to open my eyes, count my blessings, and enjoy the ride. 'Til we meet again. . .