Make Each Day Count

It has been too long since I posted, because so much has happened in my personal life! One of my most vibrant aunts, only in her 60's, passed away. We knew her time was coming, but once it comes and the initial grief is over and life 'seems' to resume to 'normal,' it never really is the same...September and October came and went, although they seem to be a blur. In early November, my mom suffered a terrifying and life-threatening event, twice in one terribly agonizing week. Both times,we thought we had lost her. Then I had surgery on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Four days later, a beloved friend of 22 years unexpectedly died.

There are some people who are so 'real,' so full of the joy of living, so quick to love, so compassionate, and so strong - physically and emotionally - and who possess the funniest (but endearing) quirks that they always have an alluring aura about them. When they walk into a room, one is immediately aware of that presence and happy for it. When people like that die, as we all must some day, it just doesn't seem it could have happened so soon.

To all of us, circumstances occur that make life worth living. Some things take life out-of-balance, because we have lost, or know we will soon lose, someone so very dear to us. I learned that lesson young. Every time worries and sorrows come, the lesson is relearned.

When life gets harder, it's time to hope and pray and go into a 'quiet place' in one's soul. I had to get off the proverbial saddle and 'walk' it again for awhile, to think and ponder and thresh out so many things.

Although in the past months I didn't have the heart to write about low-carbing, a thought about it dawned on me. I knew it before and yet, once in a blue moon, one experiences an "epiphany" about something one has long known. That is, we see a truth of which we've always been aware, but we see it in a brief and beautiful glimpse of light which helps our own understanding of that particular truth deepen.

The lessons about life and love and joy and loss and sorrows and death have everything to do with why we're living a low-carb lifestyle. We do it because we want to live the lives God gave us, not just endure them because we too early lost our vitality.

In reality, what we eat and whether or not we exercise is just a part of our lives. Other things, especially people, happen in life that are even more important.

Absolutely, we can make low-carbing a path to a healthier life, but let's be sure to enjoy life as we low-carb, too. While we should try (very hard!) not let other things get in the way of our low-carb goals, neither should we let that goal get in the way of enjoying our loved ones and our lives. There's no reason we can't do both.

Especially since I began low-carbing in earnest, my personal motto has been: This day, I will stay on plan. It meant I wasn't going to mess up any day with a useless cheat, one I would later bitterly rue. No, I was sticking with the plan, day by day. It meant I didn't overly worry about tomorrow or the weekend. "Let the day be sufficient to itself." Isn't that what we're supposed to do in all things, not just when it comes to the low-carb lifestyle?

So, with just a simple addition, my personal motto is now "updated and improved":

This day, I will stay on plan and make each day count, in time and for eternity.

The Magical Wish List: Reasons to Low Carb, 1-10

Less than a year ago, when I decided I would restart low-carbing and make it a success, no matter how often my health might set me back, I began compiling a list of wishes, reasons, goals, and successes to keep me inspired! As time goes by, I add to that list. For those new to low-carbing (as well as for those who are thinking about it), the following points came from my original list:

1. I want to look and feel better. That includes getting off all my current meds, avoiding diabetes and other serious health problems, not to mention being able to walk up and down stairs without my heart bursting out of my chest.

2. I want both my husband and I to make it to a healthy old age - together!

3. I want to be able to run (or at least walk really, really fast) or bicycle with our youngest child, who has no memories of a somewhat healthier mommy, as do his older siblings.

4. I want to dance as I once did- cuz, honey, could I dance!

5. I want to be known for myself, not for my weight.

6. I never want to be embarrassed again about any pictures taken of me.

7. Never, ever again do I want to sit in a wheelchair, due to arthritis and fibromyalgia or any health problems, when I need or want to walk some distance.

8. I want to feel like the real me instead of feeling as though life might as well be over for me because I'm always sick and tired. Yes, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired!

9. It would be a novelty to feel some sense of satisfaction each time I do look into a mirror. (Ok, I admit it: Vanity, thy name is Woman!)

10. It would be nice to wear a nice dress and know I am not just "looking neat and clean," but lookin' pretty good.