motivation

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. -Lou Holtz

i think i need this inscribed on my forehead so that i see it every time i look in the mirror......i feel like i spend so much time doing so many different things that what really affects how successful i am at any particular thing is my attitude towards it.  i am confident in my abilities - i know i get things done and there is no doubt that i can accomplish what i set out to do....i am motivated (for the most part) all the time!!  sometimes i'm just not happy about it.....and that is my biggest challenge....i fight an internal battle almost daily to stay positive - or  at least make the attempt.....and it makes me crazy that its so hard.

i walked into my spin class tonight to teach and ran into a wonderful lady whom i met thru lacrosse.  she is one of those people that always seems to be upbeat and helpful....so when we started talking she said that instead of her husband doing anything for her for valentines day, she asked him to LET HER do something good for her heart instead - and she came to take her first spin class ever....and i couldn't help but think WHAT A GREAT WAY to look at it.....she has spent 20 years putting her kids first - and now that she is on the verge of having both of her boys gone, she has finally looked up at herself and realized shes much heavier than she is happy with and her health is not what it should be.....sound familiar to anyone???

now i know she wouldnt change all the things she has done for her kids over the years to be 20 pounds lighter....but she recognizes that she never took the time for herself.....and now she needs to.....rather than be upset about it, or depressed - she is embracing it - and her attitude about it is what is going to make her successful.....and i'm glad i ran into her tonight....because i needed to hear it....AGAIN

 It's never too late to become what you might have been. -George Elliot

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE......NEVER - we need to stop waiting for the next stage or next step.....another silly marykay cliche that always stuck with me - the lights are never all green on the highway at the same time......its never going to be a perfect time FOR ANYTHING.....its how we view the stop signs and red lights that either prevent us from moving forward or just make us take a momentary pause.  sometimes that momentary pause lasts a lot longer than we originally intend, but its the getting back on the highway that's important.....life sidetracks us - we put things on hold that are important to us - and often for very good reasons.....its just AS IMPORTANT that we pick them back up.....it's NEVER TOO LATE :)

i know i talk about softball alot -but its another one of those things that really applies.....really to everything for me - i grew up playing - its the one thing that my whole family has always done - i grew up watching my parents play with my aunts and uncles and family friends- and we have almost always had a fun family team.....i stopped playing for about 7 years when my sister and i literally peed our pants laughing at how BAD i was misjudging balls when i was pregnant with jake....so i just figured that was the end of that.....and i stopped playing!  and i missed it, but i was crazy busy and life went on......i eventually got back to the place where i could play a friendly game with the family team on an occasional weekend....and it just grew from there.....i've picked it up and put it down several times over the course of my life - but it is something that is always there for me....and its something i'm glad i have....its never too late

soccer is another one of those things....now i hadn't played soccer since i was like 5 - but yet again my sister dragged me kicking and screaming into another crazy athletic adventure....and  I LOVE IT!!  i started playing soccer at THIRTY SEVEN!!  it's never too late

and then there is the writing.....not that i am particularly great at it - but i love it.....apparently i needed some real motivation - and while i am so sad at the cause, i am incredibly grateful that i was motivated to write - something i have always wanted to do but never made time for.....so at 40, its yet another thing that i found was never too late to start!!

it IS all about attitude - i love softball and soccer and writing, apparently.....so i tend to have a good attitude about them for the most part.....now i need to figure out how to turn that good attitude towards other things like WORK and the GYM.....things that i USED to have a good attitude about.....and then somehow lost.....how does that happen???  and where do i go to get it back? 

i'm hoping that if i keep working thru it OUT LOUD so to speak, it will be better....by sharing it and putting it out there, i'm letting it GO....making room for more positive.....

i hope today i took a step in the right direction.....we officially got our STEEL LILLIES FUND off the ground- and on tiff's birthday.....so that's a great start....and donna reminded me once again at the gym that fitness is a lifelong journey - i may not be at the top of my game, but i'm definitely still in it!!

so today is another day that life is good :)  hows that for sunshine ??