Addicted

Hello. My name is Sarah, and I'm a television addict.

Ok, it sounds totally ridiculous, but I have to tell you it's true. I've been feeling very blue about how I've been basing my life on what is on television. I knew I watched it a lot, but didn't realize how much of a real issue it was until my four year old son, Aidan started reciting my television "playlist". That was when I realized that I have it on all day long and my child expects it to be this way.

I have this list of goals that I want to achieve, and they will never be completed if I don't make some serious changes. For the month of February I will not watch television. My family has made a pact. No tv except for workout dvds and one movie a week. This will be very interesting.

Stay tuned!

What are we all afraid of?

Fear. It's truly an ugly four letter word. It's inside us all just waiting to spoil our plans. I had coffee with my friend and sometimes business partner, Tammy, last week. We were talking about our plans for our businesses, what was working and what wasn't. I had started to go through my list of gonnas with her. You know, "I'm going to...", and then "I'm going to do ...", when I was struck by the reason I hadn't done any of my gonnas yet, FEAR. I said it out loud for the first time without an excuse as to why I hadn't finished the things on my to-do list. "Tammy, I'm just scared." And it was the truth. Tammy told me about how she was scared to do some of the things on her to-do list as well. And I thought, "How can so many bright individuals be so scared. What are we all afraid of'"?

Someone once told me that fear is just False Evidence Appearing Real. We all have it and it's different for each of us. I look at my son and he is fearless. Even when we play hide and go seek and I jump out at him he doesn't even flinch. It seems that most of us are born with bright-eyed optimism ready to go after our dreams with gusto. After a little while trying to find our way in the world we shrink down to our sometimes very small circle of comfort. We often look at the ways others view us as the truth, when in reality it's not. And it's also none of our business what others think of us anyway. Even the most successful and famous people have just as many nay-sayers as they do fans. So what's really stopping us from reaching our dreams?

We all have our own battles that we fight within. What if we just did what we wanted to do? What if we just asked for what we want instead of hoping that it will come? What if we did one thing today to take us out of our comfort zone? We might say something stupid, or look foolish, but who cares that much anyway? Honestly, no one in this life is as hard on us as we are on ourselves. I don't see any shows like ESPN highlighting our shortcomings like a Monday morning quarterback. (unless your a celebrity and you've been featured on TMZ) I say this as someone struggling to get out of my comfort zone, which is getting smaller by the minute. I will not look at the "False Evidence" and believe that it's real. And I hope that you will do the same.

Off The Hook

I don't know about you, but I am often renegotiating all the promises I make to myself. I always keep a promise I make to others but rarely keep the ones I make to myself. I think there are millions of people out there just like me. I recently read that only one in four people are successful in achieving their resolutions each and every year. Just think about how many times you made a new years resolution. How many of those did you keep? I think it's sad how so many people, myself included, think "well, nobody keeps those anyway". Resolutions are promises we make to ourselves to try and make our lives better than the year before. Why is it acceptable to let ourselves down?

My four year old son often replies, "I don't like to do it," when we ask him to do something. Well, I have been saying the same thing to myself for a couple of days now. Applying this statement to exercise, stretching, preparing a healthy meal, cleaning, and even work. It started when a tremendous snow storm hit and schools were closed on Thursday, so I let myself take the day off. Then I continued to take Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Let's just say I had a loooong weekend.

After the boss in me noticed all the things I let go to pot, I gave myself a firm talking to. "Look Sarah, if you want to be lazy then be lazy, and if you want something better for yourself and family then do something about it." The truth is no one is going to just hand us a better body, life, insert your desires here. It takes work, commitment, and fulfilling those promises we make to ourselves.

I got back on track with cleaning my house, eating healthy meals, and exercising again. I even started to get caught up with all the work I let pile up. I don't know what it takes in general to keep a good momentum going. I do know that for me, my desire to check things off my list is what is getting me off the couch and away from my television. I refuse to let myself off the hook!