Thursday, December 15, 2011

I hit the wall.

You all know by now that I am working my way through a few different programs to get lean and mean. I am doing sit ups, push ups, dips and squats. They are each a 6 week program to reach a goal. When I started the programs I read through all the stuff that talked about expectations and pushing yourself, but not pushing yourself so hard that you break. The stuff also talked about "the wall". I was assured that at some point in the programs I would hit a wall and have to repeat a week before I could continue on. I, of course, thought that was ridiculous and I would definitely NOT be taking the time to repeat a week.

I hit the wall tonight.

My body will just not co-operate. I simply can not heave myself up for one more dip or push up than this week is requiring. While I was doing dips tonight my arms were shaking and my shoulders were burning. At one point I stopped mid dip thinking I would be stuck there for the rest of the night because I couldn't make my arms move up or down. And next week there is a fairly big jump in the reps. The most disappointing thing is that this will put me a week off of meeting my goals by my birthday. I know, I need to keep focussed on the big picture.

On an entirely different note, I went in to a store today for the first time in a VERY long time (grocery stores not included). Dylan had a bunch of gift cards to spend at Chapters and they were burning a hole in his pocket so we headed out to lighten his wallet. The store was packed with crazy people. Having not participated in any Christmas shopping this year, it was kind of a shock to the system. I used to LOVE to shop and be out with the people filling my arms up with bags full of treats and gifts. And now the whole process makes me cringe. The thought of spending money on things that I can get in other ways (library, borrowing, thrift stores, etc) seems almost irresponsible. I'm starting to sound sickening (I know, I can hear it!), but the point is, I am happy with where I have come in the past year. I am glad that I am no longer held hostage to the consumerism that society promotes to me. I know I am not part of the norm, but that's ok - I never did like to be in the middle of the pack. Don't get me wrong, there are times that I long to be spending money on something frivolous or buying something just so I can feel like I am like everyone else (how stupid is that?), but I committed to stick to a no spend plan and I am happier and more relaxed because of it. When there are not bags of stuff coming in to the house, the house is a lot less cluttered. And a lot less clutter means a lot less stress. And with no extra money to be buying things that aren't food, meds or gas, it takes a lot of pressure off. I will definitely continue my minimalism quest in to 2012.

And P.S. - I received so many private messages about the post I wrote about my ex marriage. It is amazing to me that God uses my little blog to help people. Thanks to everyone that shared their stories with me.

No comments: