Weighing-In

I have to decided to join forces with a friend in the challenge to focus on making some lifestyle choices and setting goals to help with my weight loss plan.  Over the next eight weeks, I plan to walk and run for a total of 100 miles.  I will continue this activity 2 to 5 miles at a time, going a distance of 12 to 15 miles a week.  From past experience, I know that some weeks and days will be better than others. Staying on course and pushing through the hard times is important.

I'm doing this with a friend whose life is so different from mine that I wonder how well this will work.  We are sharing the same goal, but how she gets there will be vastly different from my plan.  The idea is that we will stay on the path knowing that we can support each other through this stretch of the journey.

I'm a self-confident woman who is committed to living a healthier life by finding balance in doing things that I enjoy. I like outdoor running and walking whether on a nature trail, at the beach or moving through an interesting city neighborhood. I do not like the treadmill, but in the rain it's an option. 

Water activity is another joy. I'm planning to go water aerobics in the coming weeks, but in the meantime will start a strength-training regimen along with the walking and running.

I have made up my mind to keep moving.  What about you?

Time Out with a Friend

What does time do to our friendships?  When one of my dearest childhood friend keeps coming to mind it prompts me to call her  When we chat or have a chance to see each other my friend and I quickly establish the common ground required to have a meaningful conversation about the trajectory of our lives.  


I remember playing and sharing our dreams.  Now we laugh hard about how different our lives turned out.  When we share it's from a special place in our history of growing up that we can discuss the present and our hope for the future.  In growth and development the American Academy of Pediatrics states that "making friends is one of the most important missions of middle childhood -- a social skill that will endure throughout their lives."


"Besties" is the new term for those real friendships that you make along the road in life.  When I talk with my dear friend, we usually take a moment to go back in time.  While we get to chuckle about the awkward years of our youth other times have allowed for truth-telling that heals.  


We still speak our minds,
we still hold each other's dreams
we still hope and trust 
we still share and 
we still take time out to be friends


We need relationships in our lives that allow for healing so that we don't remain entangled in the vestiges of hurt or brokenness.  Relationships that help us dig out, free us from self-harm and/or give us hope have real power to change the world.