Hitting the pause button at the beginning of October may have been the best decision I’ve made since starting Chapter 3. At the time, a string of destructive hurricanes followed by the horrific Las Vegas massacre had dimmed my creativity. Feeling pretty down from it all, I not only stopped blogging, I minimized the amount time I spent watching the news and keeping up with the outside world. I greatly reduced my involvement on social media. I walked more; I read more. We still had visitors and plenty of social interaction so I didn’t withdraw completely. But I certainly took a big step back.
There was one thing I did abandon entirely – planning. I literally had no goals for October. Or if I did, I never opened my planner to look at them. I simply woke up each morning and did what needed to be done. Well, to be completely honest, on most days I did only what I felt like doing of what needed to be done. Not once this past month did I make a to-do list. It was as close to living in the moment as I ever remember. Continue reading “Two Strangers Just Rescued Me from Months of Wasted Effort”
From the beginning, I was adamant that fishing was not my thing. Despite repeated attempts by my six-year-old grandson to entice me to join in his new passion, I was steadfast in my refusal to even pick up a rod. I’m sure Caleb thought it odd, since I’d always been such a willing sidekick to every adventure he cooked up; all he had to do was mention it, and I was game. But not this time; not fishing. I encouraged him to seek involvement from others, as I was sitting this one out. 
My skepticism kicked in as soon as I heard Beachbody’s latest super trainer, Chris Downing, promise I’d get leaner, faster and stronger in three weeks. But as he rambled through his spiel, his enthusiasm seemed refreshingly genuine and once he flashed that infectious smile my resistance softened. I was in. Now that I’ve finished Shift Shop, I’ll admit this trainer and his breakthrough “ramp-up” method was worth my time. I say that even though my performance tanked on day fifteen, of the 21-day program. Reflecting on my experience objectively, I can see the problem wasn’t so much with the program, at least not technically; it was that this old lady simply needed a longer ramp. 
One of those silly Facebook quizzes popped up on my news feed last night claiming it could predict my favorite TV show based on my personality. I had never given much thought to why I liked the shows I did, but it didn’t seem too far-fetched that personality could play a role. It also might explain why Tim and I have found so few shows that appeal to both of us.