Kindness is Key

When we arrived home after nearly a week of camping and volunteering at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum, I was mysteriously brimming with energy. But instead of focused movements, I was running all over the place and after putting most things away back in their proper place, I went out into the garden to take stock on what was happening with our vegetables.

The peas were more than ready to be picked and there were two overgrown zucchini calling my name. After plucking the food from their vines I weeded in between plants until I got bored, then brought everything indoors. After panicking for a single indecisive minute, as I didn't want to let the vegetables just sit there on the counter, I decided to bake a chocolate zucchini cake and cook a cauliflower salad.

After checking to make sure I had all the necessary ingredients (I did) I set about boiling the cauliflower and eggs as well as getting the cake batter ready for the oven. I don't know what possessed me to do all this. I was in a tizzy! Between my time in the kitchen, taking care of Little C and trying to catch up on blog posts, the whole day was frazzled, the total opposite of relaxing.

Truth be known, I love to cook and bake. It's a creative outlet that many people enjoy and it's something I do for myself. Big C is a picky eater and is known for rejecting many a culinary masterpiece if it's not plain steak and potatoes. Although I am slowly and gently nudging him toward a more open mindset, sometimes just by adding herbs and spices to otherwise mundane dishes, he does not eat anything 'mixed' like casseroles or anything with a sauce. Gravy or soup is OUT. How crazy, right!

With all this baking around the house, I've been snacking unnecessarily on junk food. To my shame I've been ignoring the delicious fruits and vegetables in my fridge in favour of cookies and brownies. I am not happy with the way I am acting. Treating myself poorly is not the way I envision living. I know I will have to make a conscious effort to be kinder to myself. Perhaps I will document this journey? We will see.

This isn't a food and exercise blog. I am by no means an expert. Ha! Not here! This is my beginner's guide, my buckling legs, if you will, to treating my body kindly. I am not rigid, of course not! I seek pleasure all the time, which is why I am in this predicament in the first place. Somewhere along the way my brain decided cookies and other sweets were the answers to my pleasure prayers. And although it's perfectly fine to indulge once in a while, everyday three times per day is not an indulgence, it's a bad habit!

So, Kindness is Key!

Positive Affirmation

After reading initial posts, I can see that blogging was my way of writing out my feelings of desperation regarding our upcoming wedding and my fears of dealing with people and my image. One thing that I've been working on is maintaining a positive attitude throughout my day.

To aid me in this, I downloaded an app on my phone that sends me a daily motivational quote. It may sound hokey, but it does help me lift my spirits. Little things happen throughout the day that seem to get me down, so I admit that I need little things throughout the day to help me back up.

I can see that a lot of my desperate thoughts were on an 'all or nothing' line, which is no good when it comes to balance. I find, for me, the key to 'winning' my goals is to remain calm and not over-think things. I can see that I can't have any hard and fast rules, like 'no this or no that' because it creates too much pressure to follow.

Today's quote:

"In the hour of adversity, be not without hope; for crystal rain falls from black clouds."
                                                                                                             - Nizami

Kind of similar to 'Every cloud has a silver lining', it reminds me that there always must be balance. For every good, there is bad. We cannot have one without the other. With hard work accomplishes great things. We cannot have great things without hard work.

Today my hard work plans is to clean house (after such a busy weekend, the house has been neglected!). I will also get my hair cut, and spend some time with my sister (perhaps we will bake something, but more than likely we will sit and gossip)!


Update:
So the next blog post I read, minutes after posting this, was this. Coincidence?