I Am Happy

Hero Rush, TN April 2013

This morning, I am happy.  I am actually beaming.  I think I have been for a couple of days now.  Life is
exciting me and living life and experiencing it just feels...invigorating and fun and hopeful and free.

Why?

Because I'm making my freaking next right choices, that's why.

I realized this past week that my healthy lifestyle is crossing into a new territory I have never, not once in my life, experienced before.  It is becoming......A REAL LIFESTYLE.  Automatic.  Just how I roll.  Just who I am.  Holy guacamole ..... when and how did THIS happen?  Oh yeah, one next right choice at a time!

Last Sunday I ate a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  (NO, I did not record it on My Fitness Pal) But I didn't feel horrible about it.  Yesterday (Friday) at the end of work my stomach felt "off" and I tried to think of what I may have eaten that triggered discomfort and as I processed through the entire week I realized I'd eaten cleanly all week long...without effort!  Without "doing without" or "fighting the urges."  It's just what I did because it's how I feel good and what makes me happy!  What the.....?

Me and my son Memorial Day 2013

I haven't written much and I want to get started again.  There's so much you don't know about what I've been up to lately!  I have been hiking the Smoky Mountains, participaing in 5k and 5mile mud runs/obstacles courses, whitewater rafting, ziplining, swimming, working out with a trainer and playing tennis.  In fact, when I get home from work I have been grabbing my son so we can go do something active - tennis or walking around The Cove (a gorgeous lakefront park and peninsula with a great walking/running path.).  I grab him to do these things - not out of obligation or guilt - and not even really for him - but because I love to be active!

My body likes being active.  I move better.  I'm less rickety and old feeling.  I have more energy.  I feel better.  I FEEL HAPPY.

Life still has all the challenges it always had.  I'm still single and not dating (what can I say, I don't get asked!), I am still a single mom of a teen boy (that certainly has its challenges!), I still have a demanding job (albeit super fun), I am still in a new state with no friends (well except a few coworkers who I have to say are amazing people...just need to get doing more with them outside of work!), I am still dealing with the loss of my mom and having an aging dad, and I still have all the responsibilities of being an adult.  Oh yeah, and I still have nearly 60 pounds to lose to make my ultimate goal.

Max Patch Bald - Appalachian Trail NC

And despite any of that...I AM HAPPY TODAY.

Starting today I am heading out of town to see old friends in Maryland, going to a conference in Washington DC this week, and then heading back home to Tennessee in time for a 10.5 mile hike to Max Patch Bald, a gorgeous spot in North Carolina on the Appalachian Trail that offers 360 views of the Smoky Mountains.  Lots of hiker reviews call this one of the top 5 places to hike.  And I am getting to do it.  How freaking cool is that?

Do you want to be happy?  I don't mean, do you want life to be perfect, because that's just not going to happen.  Being happy to me means doing what I like to do  (which is sweet freedom) and liking what I do (which is bliss!)  I spent many years trapped like a prisoner inside my body, my mind, my bad marriage, etc.  Now I am trying to catch up and live and experience all that I can...this is no dress rehearsal and there is a LOT of living to do!  And that makes me happy, too!

Just think about what you want life to look like, to be like, to feel like.  Then make some positive (simple, small) changes to get you there.  Happy is just one next right choice away.... (REALLY!)

Carly