Juggling Two Dreams

This is the same post I have up at Skinny Dreaming, with only a couple of changes. As it pertains to both my healthy living dream and my writing dream, I thought it was appropriate to also post it here. I also hope to impart how important it is to maintain a healthy lifestyle despite spending an inordinate amount of time sitting at a computer. As writers, we have a tendency to spend a lot of time sitting, and it is important to make time to take care of our bodies.

   
When I was morbidly obese, the only thing I dreamed about was losing the weight and getting myself healthy so that I could live long enough to see my children grow up. It took a long time for me to believe in myself enough to start working towards that dream, but eventually, I made it come true.


Then I started focusing on other dreams. One of those dreams is to be a published author. While I have had some short stories and some articels for magazines published, I haven't yet finished any of my novels to the point of having them ready for publication.


I am finding that trying to maintain one dream while striving for the other is not a simple matter. Writing is a process that keeps me sitting at my computer for long periods of time. Between that and shuffling my children to and from school, keeping tabs on them while they are home and general household maintenance (cooking and cleaning), fitting my usual two to three hours of exercise into my daily regime is increasingly difficult.


I have learned to try and fit my exercise in early in the morning, and, when that is not possible, right after my youngest children go to bed (7:00pm) which leaves me with some time to write later in the evening. I also get some of my exercise through walking and do a lot of walking while taking my children to and from school. Exercise benefits my writing by giving me more energy and my mind feels more open to new ideas during and after a workout.


I am also finding that writing works better when I am not hungry. I am able to concentrate more easily. The temptation, when I am writing, is to snack on junk food. I have been fighting that temptation, and sometimes the temptation wins. I have learned that I need to eat something healthy (such as fruit) before sitting down to write and that I need to make sure to stop, even when my creativity feels like it's on a roll, to have regular, healthy, balanced meals at mealtimes.


Maintaining my weight loss sometimes feels like it is harder work than losing it was but it is worth the effort. I still have more energy than I had when I was overweight, and even my creative ideas seem to flow more easily now. Juggling two dreams isn't easy, but it's worth the effort.


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Unbound

I posted this in my weight loss blog, but it is also appropriate to writing so I decided to post it here to.
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Lyn over at Escape From Obesity recently wrote these words,

"It is in our power to conceive and generate the life we want."

What an amazing quote! It is so true and it speaks to the heart of so many things, including but not limited to weight loss and fitness.

Recently, I've heard so many people complain about wanting to lose weight but not being able to find the motivation. I just want to say to them, "The only thing getting in your way is you!" but I hold my tongue lest I offend. Why does everyone think they have to wait for this elusive motivation?

When I started this weight loss journey, it was because I knew I was not living the life I wanted. I was unhealthy and unhappy with my weight, and I knew that it was in my power to change it. So I did. Seriously. We all have the power to live our dreams. All we have to do is start stepping towards them.

Lyn also wrote,

"I am not chained to THIS life. You are not chained to yours."

Again, this is so true and such a simple concept that people seem to often forget. We have CHOICES, and it is our choices that lead us either in the direction we want or further away from what we want.

And this is true in every area of our lives. For instance, I keep making up excuses for not writing my stories. Sometimes, I blame my fear of failure. (What if my writing isn't good enough?) Sometimes, I blame my family. (It's never quiet enough to write,and the kids need my attention too much.) Sometimes I just blame my state of mind. (I'm too tired to write.) And sometimes I even blame my own personality.(I've always had a problem with procrastination. It's just who I am.)

But the truth is that I am not happy with this state of affairs. I have always wanted to be a writer, to work towards publication, to take the stories I have in my head and get them out there for the world to read. The only shackles keeping me from doing this are of my own making. The phrase I want to say to others who complain about lack of motivation also applies to me. The only person getting in my way is me!

So no more chains. The chains keeping me from living my dreams are completely of my own making, so it is up to me to remove the chains. And I'm going to, even if I have to do it one link at a time.

The one thing I have learned from losing over 100 pounds is that I am capable of achieving anything and everything.

I can make my dreams a reality, and I will. What about you?

Queen Of The Procrastinators!

I am the queen of all procrastinators! All bow before my amazing ability to think about writing without ever actually doing any!

Actually, I haven't been writing here as much as I intended, but I have been writing elsewhere. I've been blogging about my new healthy lifestyle and how I've lost 65 pounds so far and am almost halfway to my goal weight. (That blog is at Skinny Dreaming.) And I've been blogging about my new baby and my other children at Giggles & Kisses.

And now I am having to write up the story of how I managed to lose 65 pounds while pregnant for our local newspaper. They love these kinds of stories for the new year. My husband is having to write up his story about his weight loss too.

My husband and I have made a pact about our writing. We have vowed to each spend at least one hour a week working on our novels. His is a time travel one. Both of the novels I am working on our fantasy/supernatural stories.