Today was the day all my Couch to 5k preparation for the last few months came in handy. My first str8 run, 20 whole mins. I've been looking forward to and dreading this day all week.

Is it wrong that I said a silent prayer and made the sign of the cross before the run began?

Is it even more wrong that I just lied about praying and making the sign of the cross?

Dammit.

I'm already on the slow boat to hell for a whole host of human transgressions, I s'pose I just speeded my trip up a tad.

Anyhooozle, back to the run.

Sure I've waxed poetic about running before. But this was different. For one, there was absolutely no rush. The other Couch to 5k jaunts went so quick, I didn't quite enjoy the process if building up my stamina as much as I was barreling through each week to tick it off my exercise checklist.

But first things first, before I run, I had to have my iPod filled w/enough tunes so I didn't have to watch the clock and enough beat, to keep my hype. These are the little diddies I chose:

Very appropos to read this today...

It can be tempting to lower your expectations when things are not going your way. Yet the most realistic response is not to lower your expectations, but in fact to raise them higher. It may seem that lowering your expectations so they're more in line with your reality would protect you from disappointment. Yet lowering your expectations is sure to bring on even more disappointment.

If you're disappointed with the results you're getting, it's not because your expectations are too high. It's because those expectations are not high enough to pull you forward.

Raise your expectations to the point where they become so meaningful and compelling that you cannot help but fulfill them. Choose those expectations that will drive you in each moment to do what must be done to reach them.

When the going gets rough, the answer is not to give up on your dreams. The answer is to grab on to those dreams, and to put them front and center in your life.

Set your expectations high, connect solidly and consistently with them, and those expectations will give a positive, effective direction to your life. Expect the very best, and let those expectations drive you to live out your most cherished dreams. - Ralph Marston

Ya know, when you plod along day by day, it's hard to "see" changes. Especially when week to week, you go up 2lbs to lose 1lb to gain 1.5lbs to lose .5lbs. It's enough to drive a woman to drink.

Luckily for me, I've been taking pictures for yearsssssss. Unluckily for me, I've been taking pictures for yearsssssssss.

In other words, I can see times when I was "slimmer" than I am today, but was till "fatter" than I was a few months before that.

Anyhoozle, it's all in the past and all I'm concerned w/is the recent past, when I revised my day 1 back to be November 12th of last year.

Since then, I've slowly crawled out of my rut, consistently taken my daily pudge pics and every 30 days taken my updated logo pic. It's about time to do a compare and contrast.

Going forward, I'll do these every 30 days. It helps to realize that even losing "just 7lbs" there are changes to my body. Though @ times it's hard for me to really "see" it. But that's b/c I have all sorts of disordered ways of looking @ myself. When I stare at them too hard, it all looks the same.

@ first glance, even I can admit I see a change and feel deep down, I can do this.

If you are a slow loser, I suggest you take pics and just compare them from week to week. It may be enough for you to ignore the scale.

4 weeks ago I posted a plea for a buddy in the weight loss thing. W/all that was going on I needed the external oomph b/c I was starting to have doubts. I ended up snagging 5 other peeps and off we went on a mission to each lose 4lbs in 4 weeks, donate $5 a week to charity and check in daily about our day.

There were emotionally trying times in the last month. Cookie & pizza temptations, a baby was born, someone got sick and a family member took ill. Along the way we kvetched, laughed, drooled over Kiefer & Clive *ahem*, cheered each other on and picked each other up when down.

The week I maintained I told the group someone would have to lose a 1b for me, and they did! They really helped me get my mojo back and while our losses varied, I can happily say we all ended in the negative.

After a lackluster 3rd week where I maintained, I challenged us all to finish big loser style in the final week. That was also the week where every day I came home, I was tempted to not workout. I kept not waking up @ insane AM, but I hit the gym in the PM sorta for me, but mostly for them. Not only that, but I did 2 things I never thought I'd do.

I've always been reluctant to do this but now that I'm @ rock bottom, I'm going to give it a shot.

I need one person to do this weight loss thing w/me for 4 weeks. You must be serious and committed. No excuses. No dropping out. No bullshit. To do this you must okay w/having a realistic weight loss goal of 4lbs in 4 weeks and you must have a plan for your eating and exercise, drinking water is optional.

Every single day we will report on how we did food wise, workout wise and optionally water wise. Every week we will report our weight.

To make sure you are committed as I am, @ the start of each week we'll put $5 in a pot @ the end of 4 weeks, we will hopefully be 4lbs lighter and the $40 pot will be donated to charity, if it's cool w/you I'd like to do a diabetes related one. Winning back our health is prize enough, and the donation means there is no loser.

There are a few requirements and I'm sorry but it's my schtick, my rules, feel free to modify it and mimic it on your own site if you don't agree, but I want someone who is close to my weight +/- 10lbs, so 184-204lbers only.

You can make it if you try - © 2005 by Max Steingart

You can't be beaten at anything,
until you quit in your own mind.
There is no failure except in your not trying.
There is no defeat except from within.

You have no really insurmountable barrier except
your own inherent weakness of purpose.
The odds are with you if you keep on trying.

Consider yourself on a very long journey.
Sustain your personal vision of success until you achieve it.
In the end, you can only fail if you don't try.

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to is.
Success is a road that's paved with perseverance.

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.

There will be no more sunrises, no days, no hours or minutes.

All the things you have collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.

It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.

So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will all expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived.

It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.

Our gender, skin color, ethnicity will be irrelevant.

So what will matter?

I tend to get inspiration from all people & things. Last week, taking a mental break, I was scouring my fave celeb gossip blogs and came across a story that had nothing to do w/celeb bashing, but was such a poignant story, it helped to fuel all those pre-bday thoughts that lead to the declaration of the 'Year of Me'.

This guy:

Have hope(ful loser that is). A success story in the making.

via dietblog

"Jessica wanted more of a bump for her rear end instead of a flat butt," [I don't got that prob Jessie poo ] says Alexander, who works at Beverly Hills' Sports Club LA. He trained Simpson there nearly every day — one hour with weights and a half-hour of cardio. To achieve a toned butt and legs, Simpson took on a rigorous program of lunges and squats while holding 7 ½-pound weights.

[snip]

...Alexander, who encouraged Simpson to eat grilled chicken, seared fish, broccoli and asparagus. She avoided bread baskets brought to the table and declined extra sugar for her iced tea. Free desserts brought to the table were refused. [source]

In preparing for the role (and to be able to fit in those short shorts), Jessica first had to give up her No. 1 vice -- dessert! "She's a big sweet tooth person," reports Mike. "She likes to cook desserts -- brownies and cookies and banana pudding and stuff like that -- so she wasn't allowed to do that. And being from the South, she loves chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and chips and hot sauce and Mexican food -- fried and carbs, basically -- so she had to give that all up."

So you know what's next right?

Simpson Launches Treadmill Line

The singer spent six days a week getting her body into the perfect shape for her role as sexy Daisy Duke in new movie The Dukes Of Hazzard and she's so impressed with the results she wants to give fans the chance to get into Duke shape.

[snip]

She says, "I have a workout video coming out and now everybody can do the Daisy Duke workout and I have a treadmill line that I'll be selling.

[snip]

"...I was in the gym six days a week, two-and-a-half-hours a day with a trainer."

Snark aside, there is no secret.

It's a given she may have access to some super secret celeb goodies the rest of us don't. Still, I commend her for keeping it real and not pretending she just looks like that. Hell she is childless and 25 and STILL had to workout @ least an hour a day to get that bod.

About: from 7/24 thru 9/3, you can join in @ any point even the final week, the challenge is to lose just one beaker o' fat, or 5lbs. Losing more or less lbs is totally acceptable.

You don't need your own website to participate, men are welcome too.

There is no need to reveal your weight, on 9/4 just let the group know how much you've lost.

I'd like the challenge's focus to be fun and light hearted so reporting a weekly weigh in here isn't necessary. Plus we all know how the scale fluctuates and I'd hate for anyone to lose motivation or get frustrated in the latter days. For that reason the official challenge weigh in date will be 9/4. [edit: since it's a holiday weekend (thx for the out of town reminder jj), the challenge still ends on 9/3 but you can post your final weigh in anytime the following week, by 9/10 @ the very latest.]

Use this post to join, by simply leaving a comment.

This entry will be pinned for the duration of the challenge as an open forum to chat about how you are doing. Feel free to use it, as much as you want to. Post how you are doing be it daily, weekly. Though hourly may be a bit much. I kid. I kid. ::

Okey doke, so I pledge one beaker o' fat, anyone care to see me or, raise me? Heh.

If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you. --- Les Brown

It seems like the summer just started a few weeks ago, doesn't it? For many of us, summer seems to go by more quickly than other seasons (while others can't wait for fall to get here).

With that in mind, we wanted to remind you that Labor Day is a mere six weeks from today. Really. Before you know it, days will be getting shorter, school buses will be chugging down our streets, and you'll be wondering where the balmy weather went.

So now's the perfect time to ask yourself:

How much weight do I want to lose between now and Labor Day?

For many of us, Labor Day has been a weight-loss target since summer started. Maybe you wanted to lose 20 pounds over the summer, or maybe 25. But now that it's this close, you should step back and refocus your goal.

Maybe your summer has gone better than you expected, so you might be close to your goal already (way to go!). If so, you can adjust your expectations and lose even more weight than you intended. If you're on track, keep on course!

But if your weight loss has lagged behind your expectations, it's not too late! Just start over now and set a brand new goal for yourself.

Not sure how much? Regardless of how much you've lost already the past two months (a little or a lot), a good ballpark weight-loss figure for the next six weeks may be about 10 pounds or so. If you stick to your program and drink lots of water (it'll be the hottest time of the year, after all), it is totally do-able!

Now's the time to look for that "perfect 10." You can do it. [via NutriSystem daily dose]

What a coinky dink. 6 weeks from now, Labor Day, is exactly when my MBF challenge ends. Dare I harbor dreams of 10lbs o' fat (translation: ) dancing in my head and offa my damn hips.

Gah, I can't keep it in anymore. Yes I was going to hold off till the weekend to update the stats, and I still will, but there is one teensy weensy meaningless stat that has been lying on the tip of my tongue, dying to get out.

168.5

Ladies and gents, I am under 170...Waaaahoooooo yaaaaaaaa hooooooooozzzzlleeee

?!?!?

Officially carried away.

B/c this week I INSIST on making lemonade from all the sour lemons I was dealt last week. Here's what I'm gonna do:

I'll contact my leasing manager in a little bit and see what the status of the treadmill & bike is. Are they in fact broken or is it an electrical problem? And most importantly, how the hell long till they are back in business?

TOKYO (AP) - A 95-year-old Japanese man who took up track only three decades ago has run the 100 meters in 22.04-seconds, a record for his age bracket, according to media reports.

Kozo Haraguchi looked sturdy and fit as he dashed Sunday at an outdoor track slick with rain in the southern Japanese city of Miyazaki.

"It was the first time for me to run in the rain and as I was thinking to myself, 'I mustn't fall, I mustn't fall,' I made it across the goal," Haraguchi told reporters.

Japanese media reports Monday said that Haraguchi had beaten the world record of 24.01 seconds for the 95 to 99 age group set by Hawaii-resident Erwin Jaskulski in May 1999.

His time will be submitted to the World Masters Athletics organization for verification, they said.

Haraguchi also holds the World Masters Athletics' world record for the fastest man aged 90 to 95 - a time of 18.08 seconds he set in September 2000. He started track events at age 65 and stays healthy by taking hourlong walks daily. [source]

No excuses man, no excuses.

Red text my emphasis.

Hmmm now what do we have here?

Open wide (hesh up pervs)

Ta da!

Hiya, I'm iPod 20GB PC + Mac

So wayyyyyyyy back in the day, March 10th to be exact, I decided to sign up for this free thingamabod that seemed like a hoax when I originally heard about it last fall. Some fancy detective work, via google, revealed not only people who got their pod, but legit newspaper stories documenting the phenomena. That was all I needed to read, I set out to snag my own. Now I didn't start out w/high expectations, but I did have hope that w/patience & time being on my side, this would pan out @ some point. Fast-forward nearly 3 months to the date, June 13th, my iPod arrived.

No I haven't opened it yet, believe me I'm verrrrry tempted, but I told myself it will be my reward for successfully completing the 3 week food challenge. A non-food reward. Yet, it's more than that. By the time I complete the challenge it will be 7/2. The first ½ of this year will be done & I'm still here trooping on. By that point, my 6 week challenge will end & I'll also be increasing my running program to run my biggest mental block, 3 miles.

Symbolically opening the box on that that date will serve to celebrate all the efforts I've made in the last 6 months, the good and the bad, but mostly the good. I could be a maniac and make it a year end gift, but I have spent the last 3 months storing my music collection onto my computer & running to commercial jingles, I need my tunes. I'll now spend the next 2 ½ weeks gleefully making playlists. Soundtracks to run to, beautifuler words have never been spoken. @ least here.

So that's the tease I mentioned yesterday about having something else to look forward to besides ice cream. If you saw/heard about this free thingamabod and was also skeptical, it's fo' real yo & now you know someone who really got an iPod.

Finally, this couldn't have happen without help. For the 40 people who made the effort to help me out by clicking the link that I tried so hard not to be obnoxious about, Thank You!

And especially to the 6 people who completed offers. THANK YOU! As a sign of my appreciation I have offered to post their* referral links to help them get their own iPod. If you haven't already completed an offer and know of 5 people who'll sign up under you, be nice and help these two lovely ladies out.

Brenna's iPod

B needs 5 signups

Angela's iPod

She needs 5 sign ups too

Adam - declined signups but would like a link to his blog http://satellitefun.blogspot.com/ There ya go Adam

To the other 3 who declined me pimping their link, if you ever change your mind, the offer will always be open to you.

If by some chance, you don't think you can snag 5 whole people, but do know you can get 3, go for the shuffle [1/31/06 upddate: I got the shuffle!] I'm now going for the laptop!

PS I'll add a page on what I did step by step but I've been promising to post this update for almost 2 weeks now so I'll work on that over the next week or so.

*If you are looking for referrals, this entry isn't an open call to post that link in the comment section. If you'd like me to post your link, let me know and I'll email you to work out the details.

Now is when

The disappointment you've known is all in the past. Now is when you can take what you've learned and make positive use of it.

Has something been holding you back? Now is when you can begin to move beyond it.

Perhaps life has fallen short of your expectations. Instead of becoming angry or resentful, now is when you can put it all behind you.

Now is a new day, a vibrant moment, a time of real possibilities. Now is your chance to make the most of those possibilities.

Now is when you can focus your thoughts and actions in positive and meaningful ways. Now is when you can make use of all you have, and reach toward the best you can be.

Now is when you are able to act, and positioned to truly make a difference. Now is when life is here to live. -- Ralph Marston

Oh the progress that has been made in the blogosphere...

Amanda has some AMAZING progress pics (scroll down) from February and May.

BethK has lost 41 inches.

Erin is looking HOT!

Jackie not only has pretty new hair, she's also got a pretty FAB body. I think to date she's lost 105lbs. wÒÓ†!

Stacey's body makes me *drool*.

Thanks to Marci's AMAZING progress pictures I gave it my all in weights today. Looking @ what she's accomplished since the first of the year really got me pumped and helped my mind focus. I went slower than I did last week and took my time w/the extra three reps. YOWZA!

Self sent me an email. They are giving away 200,000 free 2 month passes to Bally Total Fitness. Summer is comin' may as well get a 2 month jump start on 'kini season.

B/c one good deed deserves another I found some more free samples to indulge in:

I haven't sent away for this yet, my pagerank is 0...pffft! But others may fare better. Check your own pagerank.

Free Adagio Teas If you enjoy our company, you're not alone. Adagio Teas has the industry's highest customer satisfaction rating. Yet search for "tea" on Google, and we're nowhere to be found.

Please help us change this by posting a link to our site (view links). To show our appreciation, we'll mail you a delicious tea reward that is commensurate with your site's Google PageRank (PR).

When I watched the Oscars they promoted a contest on Olay's site. The nosy girl that I am, also found where they stashed the free samples (Regenerist, Complete Defense SPF 30 & Daily Intensives Facials)

[1:52pm Update: Word to the wise, use an email you don't mind getting spammed. I used my spam attracting hotmail addy & not my precious gmail acct.]

I replied in the comments, but in the event someone skips the comment:

Last nights iPod drool [6/17/05 update: I got the iPod] was riddled w/errors. I'm praying the errors were only in the entry and not the offer .

Okay Steve questioned the offer of a "Plasma TV?". It's a free flat screen.

Taylore asked "Gigabyte right?" Very right!

Oh & it's not just the white 20 GB one, that's just the one I'm gunning for. The other options are the 4 GB iPod mini in blue, gold, green, pink, silver or a $250 iTunes certificate.

So I don't continue to fug this up, I'm copying and pasting the specifics, exclamations & all, from their site:

The Brand New Apple 20 GB iPod

• Holds up to 5000 songs!


• Mac and Windows compatible!


• Super-Fast FireWire and USB 2.0 interface!


• Earbud headphones, AC adapter, FireWire cable, and USB 2.0 cable included!


• Get 12+ hour battery life on a 3 hour charge!


• Uses the "click wheel" found on the iPod Mini!


• These are brand new iPods!

To end on a high note, the Ensure freebie I posted 2 weeks ago arrived this week! Great, now I'm hooked on the exclamation.

I never thought I'd see the day that the phrase: free iPod would grace my site. If you've read my blog for a while, you may get the impression I'm a bit methodical. Bordering on anal even. Very big on research and the like.

For months now, I've seen that phrase all over the blogosphere. But I surf on past it. Today something lured me to google it. After reading a few articles, from legit magazines, that themselves declare this a legit program...well next thing I know I'm scrambling to sign myself up for a Free Laptop. [6/17 update: I got the iPod] [1/31/06 upddate: I got the shuffle!]

So now I'm just about kicking myself b/c I'm so late to the game and almost everyone I know online has completed an offer so I can't get them to be my sign up. I s'pose I can twist my mom & best friends arms to sign up for something. The deals aren't bad. Most are free trials, plus they only need to complete one offer. Mom should be okay w/that.

And yes I'm totally going to pimp this on my site, until the 5 offers are complete the pudge free graph has been booted. But I'm not greedy. I'm passing on the other free things. Shoot, I only need 3 people for the iPod Shuffle & 10 for a plasma flat screen TV.

Meh. I'm really craving the iPod. Especially since the day Joy was kind enough to explain to me what it really did...I became hooked.

By this point I'm prolly scraping the bottom of the pyramid scheme. Looking @ the bright side, as cute as the ever popular pink one is & it is vewwy cute, @ least I held out long enough that Now I have a shot @ the laptop.

*drool*

Ok now no one can say I never gave them anything

We're happy to send you a bottle of Ensure! Simply tell us which flavor of Ensure you'd like to try, fill in your address and then answer a few questions. Your complimentary, full-sized bottle will be on its way to you soon.

[UPDATE: For the question: How did you hear about the Ensure sample offer? Pick TV or Other ]

One delicious chew provides the VITAMINS plus ANTIOXIDANTS women need everyday. Free sample of new VIACTIV? Multi-Vitamin Chews.

Not free, but there are prizes!

Sign up now for our ninth annual SELF Challenge: a fun, remarkably effective exercise and eating plan that doesn't require a gym or a diet. You'll automatically be entered to win a fabulous daily prize—like the one shown below—and a grand-prize trip for two to Canyon Ranch spa. More than 460,000 women have joined the Challenge since its debut and now it's even more interactive—and prize-filled—than ever!

• Win a trip for two to Canyon Ranch Health Resort!


• Win a trip for two to L.A. to work out with celebrity trainer Gunnar Peterson!


• Win the daily Challenge prize!


• Refer your friends and win!


• Hurry! Be one of the first 2,500 online Challengers to get started and win!


• Finish first and get your name in SELF magazine!

I'm curious to see how this will spread.

If you sign up for any of these offers, leave me comment. You don't have to say much, just write what you signed up for. If you're like me, a simple "all" would suffice...

Every day I walk through the studio doors into an applauding audience and get a little charge. It's both validating and energizing.

Right now, I want to join the ranks of all those who love and care about you. Imagine them putting their hands together in praise of you taking a major step in improving your life: realizing that your health is your life.

I hope you decide to join our 12-week boot camp, or at least adapt some of its principles. But before you do, I ask you to carefully consider what that decision will require of you.

Work: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Peeling back the layers of repressed feelings that you've eaten for years.

Because I struggled for so long and failed so many times with my weight, I really want to see you succeed. I've wasted years of my life's energy on weight. When the real problem wasn't weight at all. Weight has been the symptom of many other issues. If your life's issues have helped make you fat, the decision to release the burdens you carry in pounds forever is a pivotal moment in your life's journey. Not just another diet/exercise program to be taken lightly.

I now know after years of yo-yo-ing, and excuses like I'll start another program next Monday?tomorrow?for the Emmy's?for my birthday?etc.?that the real decision is?I choose to live my best life. Not a mediocre, somewhat healthy, getting by kind of existence. But full throttle.

Everybody tries new plans hoping for a secret weapon, ingredient, formula, combination of foods. The secret I have found is the force of your own decision to change. A decision is different than a wish, or a desire. Years ago a young mother who was on the show explained how she was having trouble getting her 3-year-old daughter to bed. She was so frustrated because her daughter was ruling the household.

Dr. Andrew Taraki was the expert advising her, who watched the videotape of her screaming child throwing tantrums every night before bedtime. He told the woman something so profound that I never forgot it. "The reason your daughter doesn't go to bed," he said, "is because you haven't decided that is what you really want her to do." He continued, "You haven't decided whether you want to be her friend and playmate, or if you want to be her mother. When you make that decision, she will follow." I have found that to be true in every aspect of life you control. Once you take yourself from "I think I will, I really want to" to "I have decided"?you feel the full force of that commitment.

Decision means: A choice to stop fooling around and lying to yourself about your weight, and why you can't lose it.

Decision means: You will tolerate no excuses for not doing what it takes to get rid of the extra pounds and what put them there.

Decision means: You're ready.

Are you really ready or do you just want to lose the weight? That's the first question I asked my Boot Campers Dana, Kathleen, Reggie and Stacey. 'Cause If you're ready, this program will work your butt off, literally. If you follow this program and stick to it, you will lose the weight.

Our group lost an average of one to two-and-a-half pounds per week. They all did the same workout and ate basically the same foods but lost differently. Dana, who was the youngest of the group, lost the least amount of pounds, 15, but lost more inches and dropped two full sizes. Reggie, the oldest?and male of course?lost the most, 30 pounds. Kathleen lost 20 pounds and Stacey, 25 pounds.

You're ready if you can answer "yes" to the following questions:

• Are you willing to look at your busy life with all your "to dos," commitments, obligations, and for the next three months make yourself the priority?
• Are you willing to work out six days a week, beginning with a half-hour and adding two minutes to the workout every additional week?
• Are you willing to eliminate the "white stuff" and control the volume of food you consume to fist-sized portions?
• Are you willing to shut down your eating at 7:30 p.m. no matter what?
• Are you willing to look at the truth of why you're really overweight?
• Are you willing to work at the answer?

If you had any hesitation?yes but?I will try?not sure I can make six workouts?do you really mean 7:30 p.m., etc., etc.?then you're not ready for this program. Come back and visit us when you are. One of the important keys here is to stop lying to yourself. When you tell yourself you're going to do something and then you don't, you let yourself down. And if you'd tried as many weight loss programs as I have, then you don't even believe yourself by now.

I want to make a believer out of you. So don't commit unless you're ready. It's a physical, emotional and spiritual decision that holds the power to move you to your greatest Self.

Go well.

- Oprah

[emphasis Oprah's]

Someone not too far from me is talking, in a very know it all tone, about weight loss products and exercising. Now I've known this person for a while and every few months or so they either go to a gym see something on tv or have an event, like new years, come around and they are all talk. Talking about how the INSERT-NEW-FAD-DIET-NAME-HERE diet works and why it works or how much they can run or lift or whatever.

I'm not sure who they talk to, if the person has ever seen them. But I have and I can pretty much say they are blowing air.

Now another person I know started WW in 03 and around summer time saw me w/my NutriSystem food so we chatted briefly and exchanged tips. They told me they were losing about a pound a week but I never heard a peep out of them. When I ran into them around the end of the year and I swear they look like they've been cut in ½.

I have a point.

I always look for life lessons and how situations can apply to me. As I'm overhearing this conversation right now I feel I'm more like the blowhard than the quiet person.

Whether I am posting articles or answering questions in emails or on forums, I'm spending more time and effort on that when I don't even look the part. I don't want to wake up 6 months later around the same weight and all the extra knowledge.

I need to get my arse in gear.

Which I am.

The disappointment you've known is all in the past. Now is when you can take what you've learned and make positive use of it.

Has something been holding you back? Now is when you can begin to move beyond it.

Perhaps life has fallen short of your expectations. Instead of becoming angry or resentful, now is when you can put it all behind you.

Now is a new day, a vibrant moment, a time of real possibilities. Now is your chance to make the most of those possibilities.

Now is when you can focus your thoughts and actions in positive and meaningful ways. Now is when you can make use of all you have, and reach toward the best you can be.

Now is when you are able to act, and positioned to truly make a difference. Now is when life is here to live.

-- Ralph Marston