Today, right now, you are someone you have never been. You have never been in this moment and at this time you can define yourself exactly how you want. This is true for every moment of everyday. Now think of the possibilities this leaves you with! Often we define ourselves by our pasts, believing that because we failed or because we were afraid of our goals before, we will fail once again. I am here to tell you that is not so! Our lives are all a mater of personal choice, habit, and determination. If you did not make the right choice before, did not have the right habits, or were not determined enough before.... that was before... this is now, and the only one who can define the current situation is you. You decide who you are. So if you want to create a habit, start a program, become the most fit you have ever been, it is up to you now. First things first! It starts with how you think: If you think, oh no Im going to get discouraged like before, or I never stick with my goals, reword those ideas to change who you are. You can create who you want to be. Take those statements and make them fit who you are now, who you want to be. I used to be someone who gave up when I got discouraged. So you might be wondering how do I make this a true statement? Follow it up with a new habit you are going to create I used to be someone who have up when I got discouraged, now I read the list of reasons I made about wanting to get fit when ever I am discouraged and it reminds me why I want to be a better healthier me. I used to be someone who couldn't stay motivated but now I am putting my health and fitness first. Here are some helpful tools: Make a list of the reasons you want to be healthy Post the reasons around you house Write reminders and carry them with you Pick out an outfit that you love and would want to look better in and set it aside to wear as a reward Post solutions or alternative boredom ideas on the out side or your refrigerator next to your TV remote. Or any habit that you feel is limiting your success. by making these little habits a part of your regular day it makes them a part of you. So start the new you right NOW, because it will be who you are today!
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Some of you know, and some of you don't, how different my life is from this time last year until now. Now you might be thinking okay Casey we get it... you moved across the country, but actually that is not what feels so different, it feels like one of the smallest and easiest things I have done in my life... because it makes me happy and I by nature a ridiculously happy and positive person. So no that is not what I am talking about.... Some of you know that it has been exactly one year since I decided I was going to change my life. I decided I had control. I decided I wasn't going to take anyones shit anymore! I decided to remember who I am and I decided I was WORTH IT. Because it is November I think it is appropriate that I am so thankful for my journey and want to share it with you as well as a few other things I am thankful for. The story I am about to tell is about when someone loses their self. Prior to November last year I had lost myself to a negative environment. Believe it or not this can be just as draining and self-destructive as any type of addictive behavior. I believe the strength and growth I learned can be applied to any situation where a person feels stuck and is losing their own identity, which is why I want to share such a personal story. This time last year my life had just undergone some major changes. The thing with change is you don't always know when or where it actually starts. It may have been in the previous weeks, or months, maybe even a years. All I know is I had been building my strength, I didn't know it but I was. Kind of like a flower there were many steps that I had to take and did not know how or when or even if I was taking them. I didn't know I was a flower let alone what kind of flower I would become. Maybe, before this I thought I was a weed... I donno. Now I am not the person I was then. Much like a flower I didn't and still don't know how I got planted where I was.... Let me tell you one thing I began to realize I was planted in a whole lot of shit! Prior to that fall I was living with a negative mind, the people around me were negative, I had a negative out look on my self image everything was just negative. Which is totally out of line with what I have felt like my mission in life is about. I hadn't realized I was in deep dark shit! But that is the first step... if it looks like, smells like, acts like shit.... it is shit! And in some weird way that was when I saw the first hope of light! At first I thought okay maybe I can grow here in this shit and make it better... try and try as I did the shit was still shit. So I decided I was going to grow, there were many steps in my growing process before I could rise up out of the crumby foundation I was in. That was my next step, realizing I needed out. Suddenly I knew, I knew I had to. I knew I wanted and could be more.... At first I thought if only I can get my head out, then I will be okay.... What I did not know was once I grew a little I would see the beauty in everything. Once out of the dark, I would want to keep growing. The more I grew the more strength I got! Just like a flower! I was creating my own path to the light. I still don't know how much I will grow or how I will blossom, all I know is that I have left the dark yucky stinky shit behind and the sky is now my limit. As I write this I am filled with so many emotions. So many things run through my mind: how did I not grow sooner, how could I have not fought for my own light, HOW WAS I SO NOT ME! I cannot imagine how my friends and family must have felt. I have been truly blessed to have such supportive loving people in my life. It must have been so weird to see me SO not myself! Being where I am now it is hard to look back. I can't imagine living that way, I can't imagine feeling that alone, dark and cold. Happiness feels you with light and warmth and makes you want to share it with others, and I never want to lose that feeling again. I am chasing my dreams, not afraid to show who I am. Not afraid to love and to give. Gosh this is hard, as I sit here I can feel the gap of who I was and who I am now, it is hard to imagine that that was me. My eyes start to fill with tears at just the thought of ever feeling that much negativity again, but now I feel strength and security in who I am which allows me to be able to talk about this and is the reason I want to share this. If there is anyone who reads this and feels alone I want them to know: that there is light, that they may have to make their own path, that they are strong enough, that their is happiness out there for them, that they are WORTH IT! YOU ARE WORTH IT! Everyone is worth positivity and happiness. Maybe its not you but you know someone who is in a dark place here is my advice: Tell them you think they deserve better than the choices and the people they are currently choosing. Tell them you will be there if they ever want help. Tell them you care about them That will do more then anything else. I am so thankful for the friends and family would did this for me. I am thankful for those who believed in me and in some way or another helped me realize I had more potential then I was allowing myself to have. I am thankful for those who helped me see choices. I am thankful for those friends who did walk away too, because with out their absence I would not have realized how alone my environment was making me. I am thankful for my brothers.... yes I said plural My real brother, who came to me with the most honest, open genuine concern. It was not until my brother who rarely gives his opinion on how I should live opened his mouth did I open my eyes. My roommate brother, who was there for me and made me get out of bed and eat and run and laugh and not go to bed too early on my hardest days. My track brothers Luis and Brandon, I know our time together was short but the kindness and warmth you showed me in our trip to europe reminded me that people can be caring, passionate about their goals, and still have a great time. I will always cherish complaining about Davos ,even though it is one of the most amazing places I have ever been, and coach, who truly is a gift to runners. I am thankful for all of you who visit my website and let me share with you pieces of me! I love you all! So here is one example: That girl in that photo looks like she is always confident and comfortable no matter what she is wearing, doing or saying....right.... Well, things may not always be what they seem. Now before anyone jumps to the rescue to quickly help me remember that I am fit... let me explain! I bring this up not to draw attention to myself but to use my story as an example. As a trainer I can take a step back and re-evaluate what I see and appreciate my progress! and yes I am PSYCHED! But unfortunately, like many people, I am too used to beating myself up for not being "picture" perfect. So sometimes I may forget what I know and only believe a lie my eyes are telling me. Which brings me to what I want to talk about! I know many women and men who have done one of two things if not both.... Built up an image of their ideal self in their head that no diet, fitness plan, or extreme measures could live up to.... so it is impossible to be satisfied. To make things even worse they have also internally verbally attacked themselves so much that no matter what is really in the mirror the image in their head is already broken. Think about what an up hill battle that is. SUCKS RIGHT! It is a battle that believe it or not you are in control of.... Wait WHAT... We get to decide how we feel about ourselves? YES... To some this may be obvious, but for some of us this is such a foreign thought, that it seems unbelievable maybe even impossible. I once was told to practice a confidence building exercise to look in the mirror and say "hey you hot thing, you are awesome" . You would think it was to help like how I look but it was more to help how I feel... and you know what... The two correlate.... When I am happy I find myself more attractive.... and you know what so do other people too. Another example of this same kind of thing was a friend of mine once told me she looked at herself in the mirror everyday in high school and told herself you are beautiful and when I asked her why, she said because it made her feel better. Once again: Our ideas become our habits. Our habits become who we are. I don't know anyone who doesn't want to feel good about themselves. So next time you are in the mirror create what you want to see. Find something you like. Feel good about something. Don't believe the lie that you have trained your eyes to see, look through new eyes. Appreciate what you got to work with! Because..... HEY YOU! YES YOU! SEXY THING, YOU ARE AWESOME! I'm always working on this one.... and that is okay, because we can always be more AWESOME! |
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April 2016
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