Fitness Update

I want to venture outside of just themes of relationships or self acceptance and such to go into practical applications of the journey towards happiness.  This blog post will be about fitness, which is very important to that end.  A few weeks ago, I had a doctor checkup and was asked if I felt depressed about anything.  I said that I did not and was feeling very hopeful.  We had just been talking about my fitness improvement and running that I am doing.  The nurse said, "It's hard to feel depressed when you are so active in fitness, isn't it?"  She has a point, other than thee chemicals that are released into your blood by doing it, you feel good about yourself for trying and for the progress that you see and feel more confidence for other challenges, as well.

Since October of last year, I have lost 26 pounds.  It began as a Healthy Wage challenge that I will collect over 200 in october of this year for meeting.  However, I have exceeded it and kept going.  I feel more fit than I have been in several decades, and it makes me feel really good about my future.  I went from high cholesterol to normal range in less than a year.  All my lab numbers are amazing, now.  

I ussed to run 5k races and such, but it has been years, since I did til this year.  In October I began walking longer distances multiple days a week.  In March, I began running, again.  Now, I just ran 7 miles this last weekend, as part of my training plan to run a half marathon in February that I signed up for.  I am not sure how far I have to go back in my running history to find when I ran 7 miles last, if at all.  But, I will get to the 13 miles that will be needed for the half marathon.  I know I will.

It also teaches you a lot to be involved in fitness.  You learn that you can do more than you think you can do.  You learn that you get better with repeated practice.  You learn to commit to do it regularly, whether or not you feel like it, the weather is good for it, or if you have to work to make it fit into you schedule, because it is important to you.  And, you learn to cut yourself some slack if you didn't meet a pace goal or need to take a day off, because it isn't about winning a race but overall growth and improvement.

So, I hope this post will inspire you to include more fitness in your own life.  I believe it will help you in the same ways it has helped me, and I would love to have everyone find joy in fitness as I do.  It is an objectively effective element towards happiness that is literally in your hands.

The God that Hears

I've had a continuous relationship with God over my life.  That doesn't mean I've always thought God was worthy or that God was right.  I still have my doubts about both, but God hasn't ever had a problem with my questioning..  those problems usually came from men.  But, I think it is a Divine quality to allow others to struggle in the places where struggle is important to growth and not take it personally.  Plus, I think it is a Divine quality to question things.  My own kids have questioned me at times, and I don't think that is a bad thing.  As I said about one of them one time, if they are strong enough to question ME, they are going to be ok in life.

But, I did use to question God a lot and sometimes I felt angry at God.  None of that means I didn't have a relationship with God.  True relationships allow for true conflict.  God and the devil have a very old relationship, as well as other divine figures that walk independently.  But, I use to cast a lot of anger at God for what happened to me in life, presuming that God was responsible.  We get that idea that God is responsible by attributing to him the concept of Providence and believing that all things are being directed by him for our good.  But, I watch 5 people run red lights every single week.  People do not follow Divine direction, nor does things like disease, bacteria, or our own choices or the choices of others.  So, how can I hold God responsible for the freedom of others, unless I want God to take away all freedom, which I do not want.

But, as I swayed and screamed and acted out, I not only found that God was patient but that He LISTENED... not that he was waiting around for us to figure it out but actually HEARD me, because he cared enough to pay attention and offer care and consolation in the middle of it all.

So, this post is not to say to go church, because honestly I don't want to play roulette with whether you go to a good one or one that will take advantage of your pain to their own ends.  I don't want to involve religion at all.  But, I will say.. from my own experience.. that God is there and is listening, whenever you want to talk, and sometimes, that may be all you need.

Positive Realism

When I was young, I used to rush into things or out of things or moving or more.  I was led by my emotions, and it sometimes left me broke and having to create solutions for my own choices.  There are still times that I rush, but in recent years I am trying to take my time and make reasoned and planned out steps, and it is leading to more respect and better outcomes.

In the past I have noted this, but I learned to love turtles in Florida and taking your time.  What I discovered in driving Florida streets was that if you slow down, the others that are rushing will go around you.  You don't have to match their speed.  They will just move past, leaving you in peace.  When you realize that, the stress of feeling rushed can disappear.  You control your own pace and life.

Slowing things down and making reasoned steps can be frustrating at times, because you really want to be there.. to fulfill your goals and live in your plans.  However, I am finding there are a lot of benefits to taking your time.  Just like above, you don't feel the stress of trying to make it happen out of thin air and do not have to pick up the pieces after a rash move.  It also gives you time to identify the best timing and method of making things happen and to not only get there but get there prepared to BE there.

Some will think that taking your time lacks committment or shows doubt.  However, it is just being realistic, and being real with yourself is very important.  Not all avenues willl work to get you to your destination, or not all timing will either.  Failing to be real will lead to loss.  Paths or timing that do not work may seem like a negative thing, but it is just information.  Information is important to plan correctly, and planning is key to making things work, if you can combine realisim with determined positive goals and not negative self criticism.  

So, take your time.  Hope is not in a rush.  You are.  Learn to enjoy the journey and make careful steps.  I think you will find much more success in your journey if you do.

Find Your People

In the summer of 2024, I moved from a place that I had always considered very me to a place that didn't fit me so well.  It was after an eye surgery .. two actually.. and I was feeling defeated.  I moved to Oklahoma from Tampa Bay to be nearer to my mom and sister, especially after ex related friction was caused by my ex wife in Florida.. as is noted in another blog post.  I also noted in a differrent post how I came into Oklahoma looking for comfort and security after my struggles but was given an outcome of isolation and more challenges for me to overcome, which I believe was a divine message mean to teach me that I was able to handle everything... even in Florida.. on my own, which I was doing in Oklahoma for not only my own needs but th needs of others.

But, there is a social connection element to this that has not been noted.  When I left Florida, I was feeling that I didn't have enough friends or connection around me there (which was not true), so I made some attempts in Oklahoma to establish connections... Meetup events, religiuos institutions, and more.  Yet, two and a half years later, there is literally no one that I could call upon to go for a run, go to a ball game, or go to an event.  Indeed, other things happened to eliminate the few friends that I had developed.

Yet, a few months away from my return to Florida, I already have a handful of people that I could connect with (some from prior living there and others new) to do different things of my interests.  Get that?  2.5 years of trying in Oklahoma, none.  Not even back yet, a handful and growing.  Whether by difference of mentality or divine intervention, I want to pose this idea to you.  If you are feeling isolated and alone, it COULD be that you just haven't found your people or maybe not even your location where they would be.  Regardless, following the concept of the Flow blog post, go where you are wanted and with those that connect, not where you are not or pushed away.

Flow

I watched a movie, yesterday, that many will probably hate as a method of finding romance and indeed that method is hated by the characters in it for a lot of the movie, but I think it actually hits on an important reality that I think is important to highlight here.

The movie is One Night Only, and in the movie premarital sex is outlawed, except for one night of the year, each year.  Bypass those current political comparisons and thoughts and don't let it distract you from the story.  The show centers around two separate characteres that both hate taking part in the process but also doesn't want to miss meeting their person, whatever levels of bad options that they might have to face... and both of them get a load of the kinds of bad single date options that we have see out there in person or on the apps.

Now, it is at this point that many will conclude of the movie as they have concluded about dating in general.  It is too messy and random and romance should be planned out, filtered, and controlled to get to your one.  But, what kind of adventure is that?  If you have to control it all, why not just go be with an AI partner that is programmed to do whatever you want and to be whatever you want?  I have often found interest and likes in several things that I never even knew existed by talking to someone and have refinend what know that I like by my past experiences that were out of my hands.

Now, none of this says you should drop your boundaries or become something else for another.  It doesn't mean that you just take what you get.  In the movie they didn't.  As soon as the red flags or differences in desired outcomes  appeared, they left.

But.. that's my point.  FLOW.  That is life.  You get out there and try as your part in the flow.  You meet others.  It either clicks and grows or doesn't and ends.  Either way, it is not a failure but a successful process.  But, you cannot succeed in it without taking part in it, yourself.

So, here's to the journey.  Take risks.  Be you.  Have fun.  And, if something happens that you didn't have to create... that's magic... and that is the kind of romance I would like to find.

Life Changes

I'm not a young man, anymore.  I have been through many life stages.  I am sure that you can all attest to that in your own lives.  But, one thing that I have noticed is how so many of us feel like we need to default to our mentality when we were young adults.  I don't know about you, but I was pretty stupid when I was a young adult.  I made a lot of mistakes, and I had a lot of personal growing to do and mentalities to change and so forth.  I still make mistakes and grow, but.... I do try to learn and grow into something new.

But, we start to do something in older ages, like dating, and so many feel like they need to adopt the family structure dreams and romantic actions of a young person, again.  But... that's not a functional or accurate picture.  You are no longer looking for someone to have kids with... you already have your kids.  And, older women are as accomplished as men, so the old school mindset that the man pays for everything and takes care of the woman is kinda insulting, in fact.  It's almost like saying you are looking to purchase someone or be purchased by someone.  

The reality of older dating is that it is no longer a case of lead and follow, protect and be guarded, honor the man for their work and clean homes or such.  Because, by older ages... at least I hope.. both the man and the woman know how to run their own lives.  Neither needs a savior and neither should need someone to fix.  In fact, it is a common joke that a man needs to be taken care of like a child.  And, that is born as a concept in the young age romantic beliefs and media presentations.

But, that's just romance.  Your life as an older being means that you have a lot of experience of pulling  yourself out of low points and driving yourself towards paths of happiness.  You are not looking for attention and no longer hold the belief that you will change the world single handedly.  You work hard and are tired, and yes... by all means... deserve a good drink a a peaceful evening by a beach.

That doesn't mean that things need to be left behind, but as you reconnect with others, know that the next chapter will not be a repeat of the prior because everyone changes all the time.  But, isn't that amazing?  It means you get to discover someone new in those that you knew and get to know what they have become and will become.

So, as you move forard towards happiness, know that it will be a new you that takes the next steps.

It's Your Journey

I love the support of my friends and family, as I receive it.  Though I also remember the days, weeks, months, and years that I made moves without it.  I don't say that to discount how nice it is to have it, but a lesson that I learned a long time ago and a code that I live by is the understanding that your journey is your journey.

What do I mean by that?  There is literally no person in the world that has your set of experience in their past to inform you, and no one else will live with the consequence of advice that they might give to you.  I cannot count the number of times in my life where I received advice from someome about what I should do in my life from someone that had a very incomplete picture of events and an even less clear vision of what was important to me.  Then, I do their advice and things go sideways or a deep desire is lost.  In the midst of my lamenting over it or conversations, I would find those same people saying, basically.... well, it sounds like you should have done something else.  So, when I would challenge them over it, they would be accurately defensive to say that they didn't know all the facts and it was MY life and my responsibililty and thus not fair to pin it on them.  In short... disagree with me, if I am wrong.

In guiding your life, you need to gain an understanding of yourself, so you can make an accurate decision, and then YOU must make it.  Whatever becomes of your life will be no one' responsibility but your own.  If you need to take drastic and life changing changes in your life, you need to do it... not seek validation of whether you should do it.

No one is a puppet.  No one can blame others for their choices of actions of lack of them.  If your life is not going as you want or need it to be going, it is NO ONE's blame or responsibility but your own.

Your life is your life.  Your journey is your journey.  It reminds me of how I unfortunately feel about the youth of our society relying upon calculators, excel spread sheets and the worst... AI.. to live their lives.  All they are doing is deferring responsibility.  If I were an AI in this age, I think I would probably conclude like the robot in Irobot... geez, these humans are like babies and the logical conclusion is they cannot run their own lives, so we must run it for them.

Yet, I have hope for humanity... IF we remember what we have learned as humans.  So, I will continue posing the difficult question and challenges in hope that someone will take on the responsibilty of actually living a LIFE and not just a be a well manipulated character in someone else's game.

Trusting the Process

There is a mentality that is common in beach communities and other nature loving groups that draws from seeing the magniture of the univrse and how to changes.  It is a combination of awe in the systems that are going around us and a humility of realizing how little of a part of it all that we happen to be.  Suddenly, in that moment, things we thought were so important seem small and things that seemed urgent are given a pause.

I have have had a lot of plans that did not go the way that I thought they would go.  There are changes that have happened off and on all though my life.  Some of them have been very difficult leavings and some are difficult comings due to feelings and fears.  In the midst of it all, it can be so conflusing and unclear.  

However, one thing that I have concluded over my life is that the desire to control outcomes only serves to potentially lead to their demise and keep us from needed changes within ourself or our direction.  Ultimately, what will happen, will happen.  

Now, I'm not going to preach a all things happen for a reason message or all things are random.  Doing so would assume that all things are the same, and that is not the case.  Nor, am I qualified to know what the purpose of anything would be, if there is a purpose... or knowledgeable about what is happening in each of your individual lives.

But, what I do feel confident in saying is that fighting against changes are less important than observing them, learning from them, improving ourselves, and moving forward with lessons for a better future.

So, this blog post is me saying that in my own life, I am going to stop trying to make things fit my plans and am going to be more observant and an open participant in trusting that the process, though difficult at time, is able to be a means to making a better me and therefore a better future for myself and others.  I would suggest that is something that can be true for us all.

Update Post

I haven't done a personal update post in a while, so I think I will do one, tonight.

This week, I made it known to work of my plans to move to Florida in November, and that gives me a lot of peace of not having to run two storylines out there and can be transperant.  Honestly, it has always been in my policy that more information is a good thing, but I do understand and greater appreciate the desire to protect people with my information giving and want to do a better job at that.  There is a Sandman episode that comes to mind where a man with power makes everyone say truth, and it ends very badly with people dead on the floor.  So, there is  a responsibility with how and where you say your truth.  But, it has been a peaceful week with regards to Floria planning, and I look forward to being there.

Meanwhile, it has been a hard week of work, and I won't go into details of that.  But, I am very good at my job, and I was selected employee of the month for my company, which was a very nice surprisse.  It does not change the realities that drive my decision made months ago to move to Florida.  My child is there, and if I get the chance I would very much like to spend more time connecting with and involved in their life.  Plus, I fell in love with myself in Florida and who I am when I am there.  I love the environment, the culture, and who I can be there... without needing anyone else in my life as a partner.  So, even if that never happens, I would love myself there, but I do believe in my future in that other area, as well.

Finances are much better this week, after auto repairs last week.  I even got a settlement payout of a class action lawsuit that I was in with Morgan and Morgan and had forgot it was going.  So that was a good surprise as well.

I have lived the last weeks and months more and more intentionally towards the positive and acting, instead of reacting.  A meme that I saw said to spend your time improving instead of proving, and that is so true.  I don't want to focus on the negatives in life but what IS possible and what I CAN do to make my life better.

I finished one puzzle and began another.  I have come to love puzzle time, because as I put things togethere there, I put things together in my mind.  And, it is nice to see things completing.

I have moved further towards my spiritual side and will keep doing so, even as I don't know if I will go to church, anytime soon.  The freedom to disconnect those two things is something that I think many need in this world, so they don't have to justsify GOD within the confines of man.

Ok.  I could write more, but I want to destress from the work week with alcohol and puzzle time.  Have a good weekend.

Be True to You

I want to step back to note something I noted weeks ago and has not ceased to be true but was not the most recent focus.  I was covering it, back when I was talking about boundaries a lot, and I think it bears repeating.  One of the first things that you need to do is take time to learn about yourself and what you need, and then you need to establish limits upon yourself to make sure you fulfill those needs.. and that is called setting boundaries upon yourself.  Sometimes, that is boundaries to preserve your money or your time.  However, if you did take the time to learn about yourself, those boundaries must keep those realities in mind.

I have spent a lot of time talking about improving yourself in recent weeks, as I have been making strides in that process, myself.  However, there is a difference between becoming the best YOU that you can be and becoming someone else's dream of what they would like you to be for them.  If you were to go down that path and curtail your own neeeds just to gain favor of someone else or set aside your needs for the wants or needs of others, you would find yourself right back into the same house of cards that has so often collapsed, in your past.

For example, I have been focusing on reason and logic and the brain to guide your steps, and that is a much more successful guide than emotions that can lead you astray.  HOWEVER, that has not and will not change the fact that in any romantic relationship that I will have, there must be an open exchange of emotions and flirting and care and more, or I would see no reason to be in such a relationship.  My focus on reason is not a substitute or acceptable alternative to me.  It is a guard to move me forward UNTIL such time as I feel safe to open up to what I truly desire.  I will not drop that guard, until that time and location so presents itself.  Until then, I will focus on other needs and see them done.

So, this blog post is a reminder that the first place to start in recovering and rebuilding your life is to first determine what it is that you need to be happy.  Then, you make step by step moves in a plan to get you to where you can find a good foundation in yourself, be balanced and happy on your own, and wait til and if something comes along that does meet your needs.  To do anything else is just to repeat broken cycles that lead you to the same outcomes, again and again.

Trust Yourself

I had a moment in the past 24 hours where I learned something that I don't need to share for the purpose of this blog post.  But, when I learned it, it confirmed not only what I had been saying but confirmed the path that I was taking at present.  But, when it happened, I was slightly taken aback by the news, and I my reaction to that was to say.. wait.. why is that not getting a well duh reaction from me.  As I inquired that within myself, I realized that repeatedly having to defend it had caused me to doubt whether I really knew the truth.  Suddenly seeing it as true, I was faced with the realization that internally I had been doubting.... myself.  And, that is the bigger sin.

Thus, this blog post is going to be focused on specifically that.  There is no one else in the world that has been walking in your shoes.  You can be.. and I find often are.. faced in situations where the trend of society is to believe the statistically true concept in society, whether or not it is actually true to yours.  So, when you face soceity they judge you based upon the information that they have by trends.  When you try to explain how it is different, they assume.. well, that is what someone would say if they were guilty.  And, you find you have no way to defend yourself.. even if it were true.  As that process happens, again and again, you start to doubt.. yourself.

Then... the truth comes out, as it always does.  And, suddenly, those people that doubted you are like... that is horrible that it happened to you, and you are like.. well.. yeah, that is what I have been saying.  And, suddenly, you realize that the problem was not what others believed or even what happened but that YOU accepted the stereotype and jugement, evn if not admitted, in order to reconcile your own stability and peace with others.

But.... peace with others is overrrated.  If you are simply cowering to oppresors and liars to be at peacce, you are only delyaing the explosion of internal conflict and external truth.

So... as uncomfortable as it is.. my blog post advice is the same as what is found in Scripture regarding what is said about God... let god be true and every man a liar.  I think that is probably an overreach without context, but it does paint the accurate picture.

If YOU trust YOUR story, don't let anyone say that you don't know your own truth.  STAND in it.  Let me repeat... STAND in it, even if silently.  It doesn't have to be an argument to be a conviction.  Let others believe or doubt, let others fight or support.  STAND in what you know is true.  Eventually.. when the truth comes out... nothing in darkness will remain in darkness.  And, if you have cowered in that moment, the only one guilty will be you for giving up that truth.

The Role of Reason in Hope

Hope is not the easy path.  It takes courage, because it comes with risk.  The easy thing to do is to just accept surrender and count something as being lost and mourn it, rather than to have the hope, because choosing hope is to willingly expose yourself to the potential for rejection or failure, whether that be reaching out to loved ones or believing in better days, ahead.

So, how do you rise and stand in hope?  It takes a reasoned mind that can determine the steps ahead and the will to follow that plan, even when your emotions want to recoil in self defense.

I have noted this in the past, but faith and fear are not two different and opposite things, despite them being described in that way.  Fear IS faith.  What we call faith is believing good things are gonig to happen, while fear is believing bad things are going to happen.  In both cases, there is no evidence that either is true.  The difference is which path we choose to follow and which we want to feed.

That's where reason comes to play.  You are not emotions.  You have emotions, but you have a mind that was given to you to manage them and your body.  Just like a commitment to fitness that is necessary regardless of how you feel, you must take the time to determine what you desire and plan how to achieve it.  Sometimes, the path is blocked, and you cannot choose it.  However, other times, it is just difficult but possible.  However it is, if you determine a path to get you to where you want to be, you just hold yourself to the path, even when you feel tired, fearful, or alone.  

And, that is how you choose hope, not by emotional satisfaction but by loving yourself enough to choose potential over your own emotional paralysis.  It might not always succeed, but it definitely won't if you sit around waiting to feel safe.

Rise

Do you have the courage to rise, when you have fallen?  It does take courage, but it will be a fight.. against restrictions and limitations, against doubts and doubters, but most importantly against your own habits, fears, and security.

I've noted in the past how the first time that I went down to Florida from Oklahoma in 2020, I did so without a job, without much money, and without a car.  I had my will and belief in my ability, and that built up everything else... during a pandemic.  In doing so, I had to leave the security of stability and take a risk to be near my child, as I had just gone through my second divorce and had given custody back to my first ex of our child and wanted to go down to where they were to be in their life, even though that ex had a psychological condition that caused her to have symptoms like paranoia, religious grandeur delusions, and competition to the level of feeling like everyone was against her... symptoms that would lead eventually to her undermining me to my child and trying to block me from them as I was in their view not a good influence on my child.... the child that I raised pretty much on my own for the first several years due to that same condition post partum and the child I had been very active in raising more years than my ex that felt she needed to gain control.  But, when that ex did that, I didn't want to put my child in the midst of a struggle and allowed it to happen.  Yet, that was not rising.  That was letting someone else push me down.  The easy course of action was not to rise but to accept defeat.

Now, I find myself in an ironically similar cycle.  I have been helping my 2nd ex wife out as roommate for financial purposes, but several months ago I started setting boundaries where I chose things for myself and my own potential, including letting her know I will be going back down to Florida in November to be near my child.  I continue reaching out to them, and I will continue to do so.  I will be there, when the seeds of that effort take root.  Unlike the last time, I am not doing it from a position of weakness.  I am on friendship level with my 2nd ex wife, when was not the case, prior.  I am not going with nothing but am saving up til I leave in November.  I am not going to go unemployed but will be getting a job before I ever leave here.

But, none of this is easy.  I am cutting my expenses to save up money, which helped me recently pay for some auto repair bills.  I am in a sort of no mans land at present, not able to establish connections here but not able to do so there, yet... at least not much.  I am not living where I will be living in years to come.  I am in the waiting period before potential can .begin, and that is a difficult place to be.

But, one thing is true and gives me peace and patience.  For the firt time in a long time, I am on a path that I am designing for myself to be where I want to be... not just to be near my child but because I like who I came to be in Florida and am looking forward to being that way, again.  This path is my own, and the end of that path is a life I am choosing.  It is not out of convenience, money, popularity, or glory.  It will have difficult days and challenges, ahead.  But, given the choice of letting others push me down and make me less or choosing to improve myself and my life chapters by my own hand, I will choose to rise.

I Don't Want or Need Perfect

As I began recently to begin thinking of dating in the future... not near but beginning considering it... I have found myself revisiting and retesting my balance and my foundations of it that I have been building.  It isn't a bad thing.  Everything must be tested.  That's why we have a devil.  The bible says that those that God loves He tests.  This goes along very well with the recent Fly blog post. 

Anyways, as I began reconsidering these things, I still conclude that I hold no ill will towards the past, even if I must move along from it towards a better future.  There is a meme that says your past doesn't need you.. your future does.  But, I have learned things from the past to bring into the future, and that doesn't mean learned bad things about anyone else.  It primarly means learned things about myself, what I need and where I need to have boundaries, for example.

But, somewhere along the months of healing and self reflection, one theme was realizing that there is no one that is completely bad or good, and I am as flawed as the next person.  But, I don't believe romance is about finding a perfect person.  If we did, we would be deluding ourselves.  In Sabrina, one of her friends says to her that illusions are very dangerous, because they have no flaws.  I think you can take that different ways, but how I take it is to say that if you put someone on a pedastal, they are bound to fall to your disappointment.

Selena Gomez has a song that I love a lot where she says that she doesn't need perfect, she just needs her man.  Similarly, the Veronicas have a song saying that perfect is going out of style.  I don't think that any of us really wants perfect, if we really think about it.  If we found someone perfect, we would feel inadequate.  Rather, we would feel much more comfortable with someone that is as flawed as we and that accepts that we are flawed.

So, I am not going to be looking for or expecting perfect as I go forward.  I will be looing for love and grace and romance and peace... more often than not accepting that we cannot always be on point in our lives of stress and distraction.  And, I will have boundaries that expects compromise, not complete satisfaction.  And, somewhere in the midst of it all, I hope to find a companion that want to experience this life of adventure we are on in a way that makes us both happy.  Can I find it?  Who knows.  But, what's life without dreams to follow?

Look for the Good

It's been a challenging week to say the least, but I maintained it and came out the other side on course.  Part of that was because as I said in the past few blog posts I kept my trust in what I knew and stayed true to my path without being swayed by emotion.  But, part of it was because I made an effort to do what this post will be about... looking for the good in things.

Nothing is ever all good or all bad, even though many times people retreat into perspectives based on absolutes that do not exist.  No one is all good or all bad.  A day is not a completely good day or bad day.  Everything is a mix of good and bad, and it helps to keep a focus on the good.

Take this week.  My finances took a hit, but my financial plans still work for my future plans.  And, i had the money saved to get through it, due to my boundaries that I have been putting in place.  Separately, I got news about a relative's health that, while not amazing, is manageable and much better than it could have been.

But, rather than focus on the things I cannot control and the challenges, I focused on what I could control and the good I had.  I finished my first week of my training towards a half marathon, running 4 times, often in high heat, and ended with a 4 mile run this morning at a pace that was not bad for that distance for me.  I cooked some amazing meals, and I have a VERY nice one that I will be doing in just a few hours.  I made big progress on my puzzle.  I renewed my car tag.  I am current on all bills, despite the challenges.  And, I have still been losing weight and slimming down.  I sent off another post card to my child.  There was many good things in this week, so as a whole it was a GOOD week, despite the challenges.  It would not have been, if I let the challenges paralyze me from making positive choices and continue to do good things.

So, I will end this with the challenge to you.  Are you looking at the good in your life or the challenges you face or have chased.  Having a positive life requires a positive focus, and that does not come naturally.  It takes will and work.  What do you need to focus on of your good, today?