Category: 366 days of novice motherhood

Heart

We set ourselves goals for spring cleaning our lives throughout the month of September and it is nearly finished.

There are some of my goals I have done really well, others I have just completely ignored.

Why would I put something on my piece of paper and ignore it?

Too many goals?

Heart not ready?

Lazy?

Regret?

Disappointment?

I believe there are many reasons why we don’t finish things that we start.

Even if I haven’t achieved all my goals, I’m still glad I had a go at smashing some of them.

Some people live lives surrounded by fear worried that they would fail.

Some people live lives embracing laziness and apathy never attempting anything.

Even though I haven’t completed all my goals, I had a go and am aiming to finish strong.

Podcasts, the gym, drinking water, cleaning out trunks…

I think success comes when we face a battle and step in too fight.

Satisfaction is not really in the final result, I believe it’s when we choose to fight another day.

If you haven’t completed what you began and feel disappointed, why not extend it through October?

Why not choose just one thing off your list and finish that strong?

Finish well.

I believe you can.

Let go of guilt and rejection and step forward into possibility.

A

Health

Well our 30 day journey of heart.home.health is nearly over. I don’t want the lessons that I have learnt to stay in September though, I want life change.

One of my goals was to let go. It’s not something that I have ever been good at but in this season of my life it seems very present.

I am wanting to live lighter.
I am wanting to expect less.
I am wanting to live present and in the future rather than stuck in the past.

How about you?

The emotional toll of letting go gets me every time in the arena of my health.

My mind becomes consumed, then I eat really badly and give up my pursuits of exercise. Emotions have more tolls on our health than we ever admit and finding ways to relax and reform bad habits in the health arena are necessary.

Our bodies hold stress physically. We think our emotions are in our soul and minds, but our bodies express these stresses externally also.

How is your emotional health at the moment?

What do you do to bring balance into this arena?

Do you sabotage diet efforts?

Do you give up exercise too easily?

Do you set goals but not stick to them?

Our emotional health is just as important as our physical one because I believe they are intrinsically linked.

You can’t be emotionally unhealthy and be physically on top of your game, we are whole people not compartments.

I don’t have any quick answers as I have struggled so deeply in this area, but I am hoping that our journey together has helped you somewhat find strength where there may be weakness.

I personally need to learn that food is not the answer to stress. I personally need to learn that exercise brings release not tiredness to my soul. I personally need to allow seasons to pass easier and live in the now.

A

Home

If home is where the heart is and my home is made up of people that I love, protecting them above all else should be my mission.

I know life is unkind sometimes and accidents do happen and crazy stuff happens to the most amazing people.

BUT

We all have habits that put our families at risk. A glass of wine and driving, leaving hair straightens out after use, cords and cables exposed, dinner reheated after being in the fridge for too long.

The list goes on. Charl and I are in the process of baby proofing our house, but I have a habit that needs to be confessed and replaced with something new.

As soon as I put it out there, then repentance and humility follows bringing change.

I am embarrassed to admit that each time I stop at lights I pick up my phone and have a little play. A text here, a Facebook there, an instragram float, a twitter frolick.

Traffic lights annoy the living daylights out of me.

Waiting in traffic even annoys me more.

No excuses though, my cargo is too precious and distracted driving is one of the main causes of crashes.

So I need accountability.

Changing a bad habit never works if we shame ourselves into the change. Feelings of guilt and shame only hardwire the habit and make us more secretive and ashamed.

I believe the best way to form new habits is too replace them with good ones.

Struggle with chocolate at 9pm replace it with a herbal tea.

Struggle with snooze on your alarm (move your alarm away from your bedside table)

Struggle with gossiping about others replace it with encouraging others

My replacement is everytime I’m at a traffic light or am tempted to look at my phone I am going to pray for a specific list of friends.

I am also using spotify with new music to distract my phone use.

What bad habit do you have that needs to be replaced?

Mine is not great, but I’m making myself better thinking yours could possibly be worse!

A

Heart

The older I get the quicker I am learning to hold onto my ideas, my loved ones, my past, my friends a little lighter.

When we hold on with a grip that is as strong as Tarzan, our companions can’t help but yell for help.

I am a passionate, engaged girl who loves to really make a contribution but sometimes I hold on too tight and try to strive my way through rather than sail.

I need to learn to let go.

I found this poem when doing some scanning for today’s post and the words are so poignant for where I am at.

One of my goals this spring is to let go.

Let go of the past.
Let go of people that don’t respect me
Let go of hurt from situations I can’t control.

To let go of unforgiveness.

To let go of bitterness.

To let go of unmet expectations.

It is not easy, but as this poem says

To let go is to not stop caring!

To let go is to not cut myself off.

Woah.

I can just stop there…I don’t need to build up walls to let go, I don’t need to pull away and become bitter.

I just need to hold on looser.

Hold your friends, family, ideas, thoughts, expectations and the list goes on and on, a little lighter.

A

Health

My pantry is one of my greatest downfalls. If it is stocked well, half my battle is won, if forbidden stock makes its way into its dark caverns, I’m done for.

I surrender so easily to a pack of grain waves. I surrender even quicker to a block of chocolate.

I surrender way to quickly.

Contraband becomes like an enticing spell that draws me into its clutches over and over.

Eat me.
Consume me.

Come on one won’t hurt.

It’s not a lot.

Just a little.

Then boom regret.

Why does contraband taste so sweet yet end so badly?

Why is a diet so easily discussed on Sunday evening yet so hard to follow on Monday mid morning?

It’s just easier sometimes to clean out your pantry and start fresh.

If its not in your house the battle is half over.

Lately I have been ordering my food online from Coles and woolworths. The delivery fee is quite small in comparison to the savings I make from shopping smarter.

But more than that, I am more inclined to skip the chocolate aisle online because I don’t have to pass it. Online I can plan my week, purchase it, then someone, somewhere gathers it and drops it into my lounge room, with no chance of impulse buying.

It’s a small thing that has made a massive difference to my pursuit of ore pregnancy jeans.

Out of sight out of mind.

It’s a good saying in the realm of our health and eating well.

Try it.

You might surprise yourself.

Clean out your food cupboard, fridge and begin afresh.

A