Dropping major pounds and keeping it off

I would like to challenge the idea that losing a large amounts of weight is about 10% exercise and 90% nutrition. Though this is idea can get you far and it can alter negative behaviors, and certainly create huge changes.

However, I believe that losing a large amount of weight (and keeping it off) is more about: 10% exercise, 40% nutrition, 50% facing what you've been avoiding. This is what is commonly branded as behavior modification and/or change; but I want to take it farther and delve deeper into the specifics.

Regarding disease in this matter. Disease complicates, but it does not stop these efforts.

~ It is a cumulative affect not and immediate result. ~

10% Exercise
Simply getting up and reducing your sedentary lifestyle can work wonders. Then image what could happen if you added purposefully exercise bouts via specific cardiovascular  efforts, strength efforts, flexibility challenges, or all of the above.

Humans are amazing and most of us only use 10% or our brains. What would have if we really devoted 10%  of our efforts to fitness - it is amazing what changes this can bring. Simply making plans to be slightly more active during the day in some way would go very far to making some big changes.

40% Nutrition
If you put crappy fuel into a performance vehicle, in a very short time the performance vehicle would start to run like a rusty Volvo from the 60's with broken windshield wipers. Likewise, if you eat poorly or imbalanced you break, swell, barely inching forward, with very little ability to assist others around you - let alone yourself.

The absolute biggest issue I see in this area as a fitness professional is inadequate hydration, crazy high sugar intake, and sodium intake that is off the charts.

50% Facing What You've Been Avoiding
Addiction: Obsessions.
Anger: Grudge.
Betrayal.
Fear (selfishness).
Habit.
Laziness (a.k.a, disbelief).
Trauma.
Memories of what "used to be".
Being motivational hampered by too much futuristic thinking.

The root of many of the problems I see clients (and myself) facing, seem to stem from one of the following:
Lack of perceived social acceptance.
Lack of commitment or motivation = no follow through.
Poor or unrealistic goal making.
Pride.
Persistent negative self talk.
Unexplored and unresolved issues.
Not using support resources.

Now, of course there are many serious medical issues that some of this doesn't apply to. However, the greatest of all interruptions that I have professionally seen on this topic, have not been from major health issues. I strongly encourage those in the pursuit of serious weight-loss, to also companion their efforts with a mental health professional, support group, or a highly supportive confidant, while perusing such "weighty" matters.

Let It Be

Have you ever had to wait for something that couldn't be hurried along? Did the waiting require sitting in complete discomfort of the unknown? Did the waiting require unrelenting prayer?

At moments did you find yourself scrambling for any amount of control in absolutely anything, because what mattered most was well beyond controllable?

When in this state, do you hold your breath frequently? Clench or grind your teeth maybe? 

How about your stomach, is it in knots and the entire world seems to keep turning while you're somehow stuck in a state of pensive stasis?

Are you filled with anxiety, panic, or being so overwhelmed about the future that you can't live in the present.
                                  
I've found that I frequently have to surrender, in order to move beyond this state of mind and physical stress that it can cause. It is very difficult to do.

I have to stop forcing and seeking control. I have to surrender to what is and fight myself from creating a negative interpretative spin. 

Instead, I have to search and seek for the simplest and most non-ego based answer and then surrender to it.

I find that when I am in this state of internal struggle, I often think of The Beatles song, "Let It Be" or Now We are Free from the Gladiator soundtrack.

We are stronger and more capable than we think we are.

What helps you when in this place?

Just... WOW!

Jump squat to airborne heisman to swing kick to run-stance squat switch pick-up, whew! Big inhale, exhale - and then I cried. It was a cry of joy and triumph.

This experience was about five years ago. I cried because it was a bit over a year prior that I couldn't even step down from a curb without the help of my husband. Now, I do super skaters and single leg wall squats. 

A little over five years ago I vowed that somehow I would get to meet this man. A Tony Horton hug and hand shake was the goal and today I got both! 

I'd show up for my P90X workouts and dream of meeting Tony. Now it is a reality. Anything is possible. Sometimes it requires modification, planning, and a great deal of patience. 

Above all it requires a relentless desire and then action. This is how dreams come true.

I am not perfect. I don't need to be. But that doesn't mean I can't kick a little trash and meet some goals along the way. Dream big! Dream very, very big. Make a plan and then do it.

Living in Faith and Courage

Someone asked me recently, "what made it possible to change from living in fear to living in faith and courage?" This is an extremely good question.

When I was living in fear, I was allowing myself to be ruled by self doubt, which was fueled by false perceptions. These false perceptions were not limited to just myself, but the world, as well as my role within it. I had truly believed that I was insignificant and easily discarded. Please note the past tense tone of that last statement.

Because I felt that I was insignificant and easily discarded, I feared that my entire existence didn't matter. I believed that I was one hundred percent replaceable in every way. Fear was a natural result. This childhood fear definitely lingered well into my adult years.

I would come in and out of this phase and thinking periodically, but it was never a lasting feeling. With such strong limiting beliefs, how on earth could I matter in the grand scheme of things? In what possible way could I bring any value to the world at all?

Then there was a series of events that completely upended this fear-based line of thinking. 

SITUATION: I had a talk with God one day and I asked, if I was so replaceable and insignificant, then why am I here? I believed God to be a kind and a loving God, but if I was here on earth without a purpose or any meaning, then that was just simply cruel.

RESULT: God found a way to let me know that I was of value, but more importantly I believed it. Here's how He did it.

The way in which I learned that I was of value and significance was during the time I was watching my father-in-law slowly die. God spoke to me in my heart during this time. I am not sure that I can describe it, but it was powerful and undeniable. Here were some of the thoughts I was having.

My father-in-law was prone to melancholy and depressive thoughts, yet he had impacted so many lives for good - more than he had impacted them in negative ways. I then thought about others that had "impact" and "value" in the world both on a grand scale as well as in my own personal life. 

Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Oprah Winfrey are truly great people - but with some pretty big issues and faults. But they persevered and continued forward to the best of their ability. They persistently and consistently worked hard to live good lives. Their best efforts changed lives for the better.

On a personal note and as further proof, there's Mrs. Wasden who was my fourth grade teacher. Because of her example I learned to love reading and writing. She is a good woman, with a beautiful light to share with the world. 

All Mrs. Wasden cared about was God, her family, her students... ginger snaps and root beer flavored hardtack candy. Yet, when in her presence, you were made to feel as though you were the top priority - even in a crowded room.

As I reflected on these experiences, they became a serious ongoing boost to my faith. If my imperfect melancholy father-in-law, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, and Mrs. Wasden can impact even one person to change their life for the better, well then...that was a life well spent.

When you have faith-uplifting experiences like this, it creates an energy and courage within. When this happens, the world seems to change right in front of your eyes.


SITUATION: Because of the increase in faith and courage, I felt more daring to try things, to be more involved, and more than that - to believe that my contribution to a variety of events in life actually mattered. 

RESULT: All the sudden I felt a surge of energy, an almost "unleashing" and urgency to live life fully. Why? Because someone out there needed me. Someone out there could have their life changed for the better, just because I had the words and maybe even the actions at the right time to be the linchpin to their unleashing. 

Wham! Bam! All of the sudden I can see that I am in no way insignificant. Of course I matter! Of course I have value! Now that I understand this, how could I have fear? How could I not have courage? 

It was at this time that I first heard Gandhi's quote, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." He said it so simply. It was as if it could happen, just like that. Just all the sudden, "be the change."

I've since discovered that it is possible to all of the sudden just "be the change." Your habitual doubts and historical behavior are an ongoing obstacle, but it is possible to change them as you create new habits. It requires practice, but it is possible.

From Birth to Death

Watching my little eight-month old son grow, develop, and learn has been an amazing process to watch. There are so many parallels that can be drawn from this time of life.

From birth to death we continually struggle to grow, develop, and learn. 

Although there may be frustration in learning: how to turn from our back to our stomach, incorporating hand-eye coordination, potty training, reading, writing, math... it all fits together. Each thing we learn builds on itself, to improve our turn on earth.

Each experience builds on the next. Each repeated and applied movement or thought develops a skill. If a baby didn't strive to do new things, it simply wouldn't thrive.

How are we, as adults, any different?

It would be nice if things were easier all the time, but where would be the growth? Where would be the knowledge? If we weren't challenged, things would stay the same all the time. Then there's boredom, stasis - a true lacking.

There are times that I can't help but feel that I am being watched, just like I'm watching my son. Sometimes the watcher is a mentor, parental figure, family that have passed on and that are watching from the other side, and God.

All of these figures at some point watch, sometimes with baited breath and excitement, wondering... "Is this the moment we see her do it?"

It may have taken days, months, years or a lifetime. To see all of the critical developmental stages; the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, etc.

We are excited to see certain growth unfold and then there are times we cringe at less desirable, less effective application of skill or dormancy of it as well. But this is also part of the process, isn't it?

The concept still stands though. We must strive to face challenges, and overcome them in order to thrive (to triumph, succeed, learn, grow).

I'm convinced that as long as we continually strive from birth to death to grow, develop, and learn to the best of our ability, we are destined to live a good life - no matter the environment or the circumstance.

I don't want to "go gentle into that good night"* with people watching in ambivalence, relief, or lack of emotion. No, that is definitely a moment that I hope I am surround by people with baited breath and excitement, wondering... "Is this the moment we see her do it?" 

                                              

*Dylan Thomas

Choose Your Own Adventure

I have made many decisions throughout my life. They have been good, bad, passive, energetic, simple, complex... all of these have taken me down a variety of paths. 

Sometimes I have meandered, other times I've slouched, I've gone ahead full steam, and I've hidden. The doors that have been opened  as well as shut have always been interesting. 

I have always been exactly where I should be, even when I didn't think so; even when I wish I hadn't been.

To bring the point home, know that I grew up reading Edward Packard's Choose Your Own Adventure series. I shared them with friends and we had a grand time. 

I recall going through the motions and picking my path, but I was always unsettled - thinking there was a better path but I just wasn't seeing it. My friends and I would discuss the endings and what happened along the way. 

We had to back up our storyline selection by explaining our deductive logic and reasoning that led to the story we elected to follow. Sam and Jeff always seemed to have the coolest adventures... (I didn't really have friends that were girls back then). 

After a brief period of time, I found that I would re-read and then select the path that I thought was the coolest, before we met to discuss our adventures. I would then tell my friends that I naturally selected the most prestigious story of all the options. What a cheater!

In hindsight, I know now that there is no perfect story or perfect ending. The stories are all just endings that have equally neat things that happen all along the way. 

In fact, I've come to understand that the only thing perfect about each story is two-fold: 1) we get to choose and 2) experience the process. The ending isn't necessarily the main objective, rather just a type of result.

You see, the intrigue is that there's not a single story that is better than another. It's just not "our story" and our perception about watching it unfold can often be romanticized.

The entire point of choosing your own adventure, is to see what you do with the path you have taken. The neat thing about a real life 'choose your own adventure' is that you're not limited to a specific path or ending.

You can change your direction at any time. You literally can do this. It might take time, creativity, lots of energy and so on, but it is absolutely possible. If you don't like where you are - change it. If you don't like who you are - change you. Be relentless. Make it happen.

There is no ending to your story - not even at "the end". As you have taken your adventures, you have touched and influenced others along the way. The effect is exponential. 

No, your story never really ends. What your story really does is influence another person's adventure. So choose, do, serve, love, laugh, cry, and experience your life fully. 

Where's Your Focus?

Have you ever felt like you've made something happen just by focusing on it? Be it negative or positive, you have been dwelling on a particular thought and as it unfolds the resulting sentiments were something like:

"I knew it!"

"I could just feel it coming."

"I just knew this would happen."

"I had this nagging sense that..."

"I knew I could do it."

The mind truly has power. Where is your focus? 

Think of shows like: 24, MacGyver, Alias, A-Team, Batman and the like. It's always forces of good, fighting against forces of evil. Good generally wins by narrow margins. 

It's a tough fight. But why do the good guys generally come out on top? The bad guys have pretty specific focus, goals and aims. They are determined bad guys. 

However, when their life is on the line they will throw their arms up, beg, or squeal on another bad guy in order to cut a deal. To what end? To save their hides!

When the life of the good guy is on the line however, they are willing to sacrifice their life at all costs. What's the last scene prior to the almost martyrdom of the good guy? 

They make eye contact with the person they are dying for or look at the bomb they need to stop. Their focus is on the greater good and not focused inward toward the self. And somehow at the last second, good still prevails.

Historically humankind watches shows (or plays) like this that have the same outcomes, tell the same core story with a different setup, but why? 

I personally think that this is because somewhere deep down we cheer the person on for not losing sight of the goal; for not losing focus. We feel good inside, because a character accomplished what we feel we fail at in our own lives so often. 

This isn't the case though. We are surrounded by many a Jack Bauer and Sydney Bristow. The reason the archetypal hero can be rewritten in so many different ways and not lose appeal is because of what they focus on. 

The characters' focus plays on the desires of the human heart, which are to overcome every and any obstacle that prevents us from achieving what we inherently feel is right, but that we struggle in doing. 

The hero makes a large scale impact and therefore their large scale sacrifice is willingly embraced. In no way does it make the sacrifice easy, though. It's tough and someone cries. 

Just because your sacrifice might not narrowly avert nuclear war doesn't mean the impact is any less. Your focus on the desired outcome still tremendously impacts the lives of others. 

I could delve into many examples at this point on how this is true, but by now you are telling yourself your own story. The pang of guilt you might be feeling right now needs to have its focus redirected. 

Tremendous good comes from the tough things we have to do day in and day out. This is where the term "every day hero" comes from. The impact is huge to family, friends and neighbors. Get up, walk away and go make that thing happen. Focus. Do. Recommit.

Byron Katie is coming!

Byron Katie is an amazing woman who has such a simple concept  she teaches and the simple concept is quite literally mind blowing. She's going to be presenting at the Salt Lake City Downtown Radisson on September 22; who's coming with me?

Participating in this one day event can quite literally change your life. It has the power to strip you of negative perceptions and help you write new very positive ones.

To learn more about The Work of Byron Katie, click here.

Salt Lake City, Utah 
Saturday, 22 September 2012
The Work Now—Loving What Is with Byron Katie 

Byron Katie has one job: to teach people how to end their own suffering. As she guides people through her simple yet powerful process of inquiry, called The Work, they find again and again that their stressful beliefs—about the world, other people, or themselves—can no longer run their lives. Join Katie in a workshop designed to take you on this one-of-a-kind journey of self-discovery now. 

Schedule

Saturday, 22 September, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Personal Manifesto

As promised from my last blogpost...
What is a manifesto?

A manifesto is a public declaration of intentions. You may have just been turned off with the word “public” and feel the desire to shy away from reading any further. hBefore you leave, though, try to look at it this way – public simply means, written and visible. 

If you happen to share it with anyone else, well then that’s your prerogative. A manifesto is a very good way to get the concepts of where you’ve come from and where you intend to go out in front of you. 

In doing so, you’ve just taken something undefined and made it tangible, in order to cultivate an incredible tool to plot out your future intentions – to make the future less uncertain, and instead more purposeful. 

Manifestos can be professional, business or personal declarations of purpose. I believe that a personal manifesto is an incredibly powerful tool to rewrite your present, your future and to cultivate a stronger better you.

In order to create your manifesto you need a specific topic. I really like using Jeff Goins’, The Writer’s Manifesto as a good example. This is completely focused on how to write unfettered and a way to stop being your own stumbling block. However, here are few more famous manifestos that you may have heard of:

Ø  US Declaration of Independence

Ø  Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech

Ø  The Ten Commandments

Now how do you write a manifesto?

I really like how clear and concise Geoff McDonald has outlined the tools for this activity. I’ll make a quick summary here:

Ø  Intent: What do you intend to achieve in writing your manifesto? What’s the end goal?

Ø  Declaration: Be straight up and bold, say it how it is.

Ø  Public: You can take this to any level you want to. Share with yourself by making it visible to you daily; share with your spouse, partner, family; this could be a business effort. However public you make this is up to you, however it needs to be visible. Why? Accountability.

Ø  3 Rules 

1)    Outline what you intend to achieve.

2)    Create or enhance a better future.

3)    Make public.

To Restate and To Keep In Mind

• Have a specific manifesto topic in mind.
• Stay focused.
• Be real. Your manifesto is as powerful as you are honest.
• Manifestos can evolve as you do.
• Keep your ethics and your standards in mind always.
• Be willing to articulate what has colored your perspective(s), without pointing blame.
• It is what it is; you must know this in order to move beyond who you currently are.

What's your why?

How can you be truly self reliant, loving... everything you 

wish you were when you can't stand yourself? 

If you're not at that point, but you've lost an edge somehow, 

what do you do so you don't keep sliding backwards and 

away from who you are wanting to be?

These things happen when you lose or don't know what your 

"why" is. Why do you eat what you eat, do what you do, comb 

your hair  or cut it a certain way? 

Why do you seem to always wear a certain color, why do you achieve big things and then always slide backwards? Why do you believe the way you do, why do you say certain phrases, why are you negative, why are you positive, why do you yell or get frustrated when people question you, why do you get defensive so quickly, why are you so optimistic?

In short, I believe this quote is an excellent summary of the 

point I am trying to make with this entry, "when your evaluation of self

changes, when you feel differently about yourself, everything 

about you changes: your thoughts, feelings, emotions - every 

aspect of your behavior." (Schiffmann, pg 5)

There's nothing wrong with evaluating your life critically, so that

you can improve it. Simply put: You must be the kind of person 

your spouse and family think you are.* An excellent way to safely

and productively make this evaluation is to write a personal 

manifesto. 

I love that a client of mine jumped right on this effort, without any

prodding from me. I loved it! This has emboldened me to be a bit 

more vocal and extend an invitation to my readers and other 

clients to do the same. 

So my next blog entry will be an outline to empower you to begin
this type of evaluation. In the meantime, be thinking about your 
why. 

Start that dialogue with yourself and see what you come up 
with. Another thing to keep in mind is the manifesto may not be 
perfect out of the box. 

It might actually take time to understand your why; after you understand it, it may even evolve as you meet goals. I know that my why, in a variety of themes of my life, have changed with the birth of my son. 

However, the core desires and importance of what I was doing remains the same, just reorganized and fueled by a different motivation.

*A statement I heard on KLOVE radio one day during my commute.

A New Year! (Part II)

(Bursey, 2011)

I wanted to get into the nitty-gritty and share my thoughts on Jeffery H. Rice's top ten reasons people quit their New Year's resolutions, as noted in my last blog post. 

1) Lack of enough knowledge about the desired goal

In order to really accomplish a desired goal, you do indeed need to have some knowledge about what you're tackling; learning is key. 

Ask, research and determine what the purpose is in really going after your desired goal. Without a specific purpose, you will lose sight of your goal.

2) Not knowing how to put an action plan together

Throughly study, gain knowledge and determinie your purpose. It will become easier to determine what effect you really want this goal to have on you after determining the purpose. 

Once you understand what effect you want it to have, it is easier to create a concentrated path to attain the desired result (McMillan, 16). 

3) Loss of motivation

Mankind seems to always be in search of motivation. I know I get caught in the trap at times, but the reality is that motivational quotes, themes, videos, conversations and so on are simply a starting point to help yourself reignite your own personal motivational pilot light. 

The key is to never let the light completely burn out. Rather to keep it consistently burning and waiting, so that when something sparks, sending you into a full fire, that you are ready to roll with it. 

Eventually things will wane some as we get accustomed to the heat of the new norm, but as time rolls on we will indeed find something that sparks us again - the trick is to run with it, in a smart way, when the fire is lit.

4) Lack of support

Are you serious about your goal(s)? If so, have you even shared with your spouse, partner, best friends or parents what it is that you are trying to do? 

Have you asked them for their support and let them know specifically what you would appreciate them doing to help you along the way? Oftentimes lack of support is derived by you not taking your goal seriously. 

If it's a private goal, then you have no business whatsoever getting upset with others for being inconsiderate when they have no idea what the hidden expectations are. If it is a private goal, then you had better be honest with yourself. 

Lack of support (personal or via others) is usually indicative of an empty promise that you have given yourself.

Now there are some circumstances where you really do struggle with adequate support. Could it be that you are relying too much on others to get you where you want to be? 

Do you have unrealistic expectations? Or could it be that your support system truly sucks? If this is the case, email me, we'll huddle about it and find a way.  

5) Time management

No boss, no spouse, no kid, no parent is going to be standing at the foot of your bed at four-thirty or foive o'clock in the morning to get your attention. Get up and use your time wisely. 

Work on your goals and dreams, before other responsibilities get in the way. This is where you find out if you really want to achieve your goal badly enough.

6) Fear of failure 

I couldn't say it better than Michael Jordan in this youtube clip.

7) Excuses

Simply put, if you are making excuses, you are not fully committed. You may have to modify, you may have to adapt your goal to your circumstances. You may have to get creative and be extra patient, but there is a way. 

8) Not seeing results quick enough

Patient persistence is key. You may not feel like you are seeing results quickly enough; if this is the case, then you aren't appropriately measuring and tracking your progress. 

You need to track your results so that you can gain an honest perspective about your improvements.

"True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice." ~ St. Francis of Assisi

9) Lack of nutrition knowledge

Have you honestly invested in researching what foods are best for your body type? Have you ever tracked what you are eating? Have you met with a nutrition specialist to help you gain adequate knowledge to achieve your goals here?

10) The quick fix fad of the month otherwise known as the $100 billion dollar diet industry

Chances are that if it's a quick fix, then the results will be fleeting. So the question is, "do you want lasting changes or temporary ones?"

Just as a closing side note, I found the picture on Paul Bursey's blog page about the Entrepreneurial Mindset. Granted, in this particular article he is relating how to overcome network marketing challenges, but it's written in such a way that the application is actually quite broad. A good read with relation to goal setting.
                                                  
McMillan (2012). Hodgepodge Isn't a Training Program. Running Times Magazine, January, p. 16.

Bursey (2011). Overcoming Obstacles And Coming Out On Top In Network Marketing. (http://paulbursey.net/network-marketing/overcoming-obstacles-and-coming-out-on-top-in-network-marketing/). Paul Bursey Blogspot, March 17.

Digging Deep

This is the Nativity set that I mention below.

I am in the first week of Phase II of Insanity with Shawn T.. while I was working out the other morning I was really struggling. 

I was feeling the fatigue, soreness and resistance that you get with applying effort. I was frustrated and mentally not in the game and blaming it on the lack of feeling on my left side, multiple sclerosis being the issue. 

Good heavens, this is Insanity I'm talking about! So, in reality it was mostly my attitude and only partially my MS. Mentally I was giving up. I was telling myself that "I can't". Those are very powerful words.

It was while I was in the "I can't" of it all that I then looked up. Right in front of me was one of my many nativities that I currently have up around the house. 

It was then that I randomly thought to myself, what would have happened if the Savior said "I can't" and believed it? What if he didn’t “dig deep” and give it all he had?

There are times that my husband, friends, family, and even strangers have each carried a bit of my burden - to help me succeed. To help me so that "I can". 

For that I am forever and continually thankful, because it has kept me going when I thought I was out of steam. I have so many people around me that buoy me up to help me continually realize my potential. 

You have this too – even if you think you don’t. As a matter of fact, I would even venture to say that if you think you don’t have that support, you either 1) haven’t recognized it or 2) haven't humbled yourself to ask for the support. 

There is always at least one person in our midst that would be willing to help you in some way. We tend to see it most during this time of year, but that’s mostly just because we are more attuned to it; more willing to recognize it.

During my workout the other morning I realized that it’s my turn to dig deep - again. It’s my turn to give it all I’ve got - again. It’s my life and the Savior gave all that he had, to make up the difference, for when my digging deep isn’t deep enough. 

Right now, my support is a friend who works out with me - she is relentless! Thank you Mary!

This life is largely about consistency 
(some call it monotony) with 
intermittent intervals of high intensity 
(absolute craziness) –
this is how we progress.

You have most likely been consistent or maybe even sliding slightly backwards. However it’s time to “dig deep” and give your life maximum effort to move forward. I wrote about this in a bit more detail in my blog entry And So It Goes....

I'm saying that it’s time to do a little interval training; no holds barred. Mix it up and get crazy with it. I’m not just talking about exercise here. I’m talking about any facet in your life that you feel is lacking. 

I’m talking about exerting maximum energy in any one particular area of your life that you have ignored for way too long. You know what that is. You are worth it. Believe in yourself – dig deep.

Life Without Limits

Nick Vujicic and Kyle Maynard have simply solidified the power of what vision, relentlessness, and belief can do. The power to do small and great things alike are within us. 

The power to do small and great things are innate - God put them there. We just have to decide our direction and then believe that we can. 

One achieving in this way is an anomaly, two are a testament. Simply put, we can do anything. The potential for living and inspiring success is limitless. Click on the links below to be amazed.

Nick Vujicic 

Here's an awesome video on Nick 

Kyle Maynard 

Here's an awesome video on Kyle

And That's The Truth!

As mentioned in Get In My Belly (Part II), there were a few books that were particularly enlightening to me. 

I would like to do a review on some of them. This blog entry will specifically address how The Four Agreements and The Voice of Knowledge both authored by Don Miguel Ruiz affected me. I may cover a few other books at a later date.

First of all, you should know that I don't know this man, but he has changed my thinking a great deal. So it is fair to say that a stranger changed my life for the better. 

I read The Four Agreements (TFA) for the first time in 2007. It literally became a lifeline to help me get through the next few years of my life. In this book I learned the following:

1. I was negatively influencing my own reality by being dishonest with myself.
2. I didn't like who I was and couldn't stand to be in my own skin, all because I hadn't found a way to love and accept myself. 
3. Somewhere along the way in this life I told myself that I was: insignificant, dismissible, unimportant, forgettable, replaceable, unintelligent and an unworthy of investment and I believed it.
4. I was living in fear that everyone else around me would find out that the aforementioned conclusions might actually be true. I assumed that these things were true and therefore I assumed everyone else would see and believe these things about me as well. 

After reading TFA I took several months to take a comprehensive inventory. I went through an internal deconstruction. 

I discovered that none of those points that I mentioned above were actually true. The only one who believed those things about me was me. 

The only true statement above was the first one. I saw that I needed to redefine my self-perception. I needed to view my reality without all the lies. 

I needed to embrace honesty and learn to love me for who I am.

I later read The Voice of Knowledge (TVK), which is a follow-up and companion volume to TFA. These books combined sort of became my friends during my deconstruction and reconstruction phases. 

I had later come to realize the outline of me, through the help of TVK. With an outline, I was then able to enter the reconstruction phase. 

I was beginning to take shape and realized that this Diana is the one that had always existed, I just didn't believe it - I didn't know her.

The only real difference between Pre-Diana & Post-Diana was the hazy wall that surrounded her like a cocoon. It simply distorted and hid the reality. 

Until I could be honest with myself that cocoon would always remain. I later found that I was ready to accept the truth of me. 

I could handle seeing and try to believe it now. This is actually quite difficult to do. Until this point I couldn't even meet my own eyes in the mirror, let alone think nice things about myself. 

It's like living in a dark cave without light and then all of the sudden standing on a mountain top in full view of the sun. The contrast was that drastic. It was an "Aha! Moment". In fact, I blogged a little bit about that experience earlier in My Road Back.

We are worth the effort of constantly struggling to see the value of you, me... we... This is a good life, filled with amazing things and opportunities. 

Why do we fall in to the trap of constantly limiting ourselves, simply because we doubt our worth and potential? We have a purpose. 

Why do we lie and try to fool ourselves, eventually letting the weaker part of us be in the driver seat? We owe it to ourselves to be honest. 

There is freedom in the heart and mind when you lay down each night knowing that you have done your best to be truthful.

Track, Basketball, Hiking and Multiple Sclerosis - Oh My!

I’ve tried really hard not to live my life based on my MS, but there are times I really doubt myself and fear rules; especially when there is a real potential for me to injure myself. 

However, I must admit that I was most pleased with my ability to deal with it last Tuesday and to trust in the very patient outstretched hand of my husband. I love you Josh!

My husband and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary last Tuesday (September 29th). Josh surprised me by taking me up to Logan, Utah where I lived during my college years while attending Utah State University. We spent our anniversary day hiking in Logan Canyon at the Wind Caves.

I miss high energy, sports and all manner of outdoors activities. There’s a great deal of trepidation that occurs in my heart and mind now, when I think about activities that involve light jogging or running, hiking, etcetera... 

From the Spring of 2007 to the Summer of 2008 I sprained my ankles seven times and fractured my left ankle once, all while experiencing less-effective walking on relatively stable ground.

The recollection of the "Ankle Fiesta of ‘07-’08" is especially humbling and especially difficult because I recall very well being on the basketball team at my high school and even at church with the young women of my area. 

I remember the thrill of running the two hundred yard dash in track events. I vividly recall the dedicated practice when learning how to pass a relay baton, while not breaking speed or dropping the darn thing.

I may not have been the best track athlete (I was really just a filler-body to the filler-bodies in that sport). Probably, the only reason I was picked to play basketball was because I knew how to knock people off their feet with my monster hips. 

I Lettered in basketball, probably only because of my hips and the fact that I had a pretty good three-point arm, but aside from that I have many great memories of torturous practice drills. 

I remember being completely capable of performing on the court, while running, throwing, catching, dribbling and defending. I remember these things and think of them most often when I struggle physically.

So there I was, at the beginning of the trailhead for the Wind Caves, reading the description and feeling angry at the fear I was feeling. I remained silent because I’m tired of hearing my own verbalized worries and complaints, so... I began hiking the 9nine hundred foot ascent, three and six-tenths of a mile roundtrip with a relatively narrow footpath.

I took it one step at a time. There were definite pauses. There was patience and endless encouragement from Josh as we took the mountain at the Diana pace, switchback after switchback, step after step, taking important breaks for the sake of my left leg but we eventually made it to the top. Wahoo!! But making it to the top was only half the battle...

What goes up must come down, and so when the time came, we did. Going down the nine hundred feet was physically easier than going up it for sure; however, going down I now had very tired legs and a barely working left leg. 

I had to work very hard not to go too quickly. I had to watch each step and in some cases hold Josh’s shoulders or hand (as determined by the very narrow path). 

It was during this hike that we determined that I need hiking sticks for balance. But I never fell! My legs sure bounced and jittered, but I never fell.

This may seem small and trivial, but it meant so much to me. I desire to be mobile and active. I want to do these kinds of things more often with Josh, with my children and with friends.

At one point in the hike, I tried to explain to Josh what my legs were really experiencing. And it went like this:

1. When walking normally, it’s common for my left leg to feel like a weight is pushing against it. As time and exertion continues, there’s a virtual weight that appears behind my knee and prevents the sensation that the knee is actually bending appropriately.
2. After enough continued exertion, I can no longer feel my left knee (however I do feel pressure of activity).
3. This activity causes my right leg to attempt to over-compensate. After enough time passes, both legs will begin to jitter and bounce beyond my control, thus causing my balance to be in worsened jeopardy.
4. Somewhere between effects one and two, my left foot will drag and I have difficulty in the mechanics of taking steps correctly. Then it becomes like trying to walk with flippers on. I know that in general flipper walking is entertaining and great for mocking opportunities, but when your knees are already jittery and unfeeling, it can become quite dangerous and unnerving; especially when walking downhill with big rocks all around and a steep fall to one side.

In this trek, support, belief and determination to succeed became the themes that lingered, resonating in me. I can’t give up and back away from doing the things that make me afraid, because when I do, I will lose more than just opportunity - I will lose me.

Even with modified activities (when or if that time comes) I still must push through and do the things I doubt that my body can do. It is the doubt that keeps success from becoming realized. It is the doubt that must be destroyed.