Encouragement out of Discouragement

This morning was my first weekly weigh in. Instead of rewarding me for putting forth a decent effort to move more in the last week, the scale decided to inform me that it would be moving in the opposite direction I am desiring. What do you say when that happens...3 pounds up, 26 to go? -3 pounds down, 26 to go?

Oh well, it is what it is, I guess (I hate that phrase, but it fits my purpose here).

It was, though, the first time that I've felt this unhealthy while doing my best to take steps to get healthier...which is an entirely different feeling than having body image issues, which I have had since I was in middle school and I still struggle with from time to time.

So I took my frustration with me to the weekly bible study that I lead. I was originally going to walk to bible study this morning, but the snooze button got hit one too many times and...well, you get the picture. The first response I got was "well, then, let's walk tomorrow" and the second was "remember, you're doing good work, but muscle formation sometimes takes the scale in the direction you don't want it to go...your heart and your body are healthier, even if the scale doesn't say that" I was SO grateful for these words from my bible study cohorts and it made me realize just how close people can get when they study scripture together just about every week over the course of 2.5 years. We went from a group of folks who only talked scripture to folks who talk more about each others lives than we do about our text for the week. It's fellowship and family and church happening in a coffee shop on Mass St on Thursday mornings.

I left bible study feeling much better about myself and my fitness goals than when I walked into the coffee shop. I felt encouragement to get over the disappointment that the scale handed me this morning and keep doing what I'm doing, because it feels good to get out, breathe fresh air in my lungs and get my body moving. I have a lot more energy because of it...especially on a day like today when the temperatures will top out somewhere in the mid 60's (this is January, right? because it feels like we pulled a Monty Python and skipped winter going directly into spring).

Then I found out that the Lawrence Civic Choir, which I'm hoping to be able to rejoin, will be singing one of the most bad ass classical pieces EVER...that's right friends, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. I'm SO excited for that!! I've missed singing with the choir so I'm glad a possibility has arisen for the one meeting that kept me from being in the choir to be moved so I can use the gift that God gave me on a more regular basis.

And that's what made me realize that I've been letting myself miss out on a lot of the things in life that I love. Singing, nature, making friends. So I've added a goal to my current list...take more time to enjoy life's simple joys. Yes, things are looking good for 2012.