One Box Away

One Box Away

It had occurred to me recently, when I went to fill out some kind of form… that I was only one box away from that dreaded “last age box” and I thought OMG where did all those boxes go? How had I reached "One Box Away" so soon? Most forms have anywhere from five to seven age boxes.  You know the kind, those little boxes that give you an age range and then as life passes you by so do those boxes. The One Box away was my awake up call to realize it’s time to LIVE really LIVE!!! 

How many Boxes away are you?

10.28.11 A.Weider

I Want vs. I Am

I Want vs. I Am

As I continue to move forward on my life’s journey, I have come to realize how important prayer and affirmations are.  My thoughts today are focused on affirmations.  Prayer is a very personal experience, and therefore I will not attempt to preach to you.  Now affirmations on the other hand are something to be learned, encouraged and practiced daily.  As I was affirming my life’s wants, I realized I needed to speak my life’s “Haves” and Be thankful for all my blessings as well as speaking my life’s “I Am”… I realized I was saying I want this and I want that…. But I remembered a wonderful scripture that I Love “Call things that are not as though they were” speaking in the present, believing in what you want in your life, and changing the I Want to the I Am…. For me, my affirmations come in the form of “I Am”.  I have made an I Am list to read as often as daily. I would encourage you to see your life the way you expect it to be…. Believe, Affirm, Trust, and call into your life things that are not as though they were…. Whether you believe in my God, your God, or the Universe we are all one. Believe in yourself, your dreams, your desires, and your goals…Never give up… I Am a survivor, I Am Love, I Am Awe, I Am wonder…..I Am Blessed!

Strength Training

 Strength Training

  

Strength training comes in many different forms.  Most of us only think of the gym or some kind of physical exercise when talking about strength training the truth is our mind needs strength training more than our bodies.

As I continue to workout for a positive physical effect, I've come to realize it's my mind that needs to become stronger. I need mental strength, mental workouts...

Over the past year as I went from a life I was very familiar with, to a major detour and now to a new found path for my life, I have become more aware of my mind and it's control over my emotions, as well as my physical well being.

I have been working out daily at the gym for my physical well being and somewhat daily for my emotional health. Like the gym I have needed to use different equipment to have a well rounded workout.  As I have worked on myself emotionally with people around me, I have realized it takes many different lessons to move in a positive direction for mental strength.

Releasing the strength within for me has come in the form of writing.  For others, it may be something very different.

When I first started my mental workouts it was daily in the form of poetry, like at the gym, I was able to build my endurance up and my poetry became more like written short thoughts, and now I am preparing myself emotionally for a 5 k race by writing blogs... My goal, my dream, someday a book! For some in the physical realm it's a marathon... My marathon is my book...

The importance of life is taking care of yourself not only by eating the right foods and exercising daily but by strength training your mind.

Go ahead learn something new, take a class, open your mind to a new experience, go on a retreat, find your passion and pursue it!! Whatever it takes strengthen your mind!!

I know I am and it feels wonderful!

A.Weider 10.23.11

Being Prepared Drink Water

 Being Prepared Drink Water
Written in Co 9.6.11 5:24am

As I continued on my vacation journey I waited for that moment when the altitude was going to be too much for me.  As I traveled to Colorado I was told "be careful" of the altitude, it may be difficult to breathe, you my experience headaches, and feel fatigue. I was also told to drink a lot of water, All of which are true facts. As I waited to have an altitude issues I realized I had been "prepared".  My water intake which had always been high was helping me during this vacation. I was prepared and didn't realize how important my preparation was until this vacation.  My doctor recently told me I needed to consume half my weigh in water daily. I drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, most days I drink more then half my weight in water. (A 130 lb person should drink about 8- 8oz glasses of water a day (8ozx8glasses=64ozx2= 128lbs).  Water has always been my drink of choice, I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones who really enjoy water and the benefits of water, like hydration. My journey included hiking, after all I was in  Colorado living the "rookie mountain high" experience.
My first hiking experience was at Maroon Bell an incredible breath taking mountain peaks near Aspen. The peaks were around 14,000 ft high our hiking took us to over 9500ft.  We hiked up trails, over ruff terrain, through aspen and pine tree grooves. The site was breath taking. Not only was I prepared with the right hiking shoes, clothes, food for energy and a camera in hand but most importantly I was prepared with water.The main reason I believe why I never became overcome by the altitude. 2/3 of our bodies are water, which means 55-78 % of our bodies are made up of water (depending on body size). After studying the benefits of water I  realized how important water is, here are  a few of those water benefits; WATER Transports nutrients and oxygen into cells, Moisturizes the air in lungs, Helps with metabolism, Protects our vital organ, Helps our organs to absorb nutrients better, Regulates body temperature, and Detoxifies. Water also has benefits like good for healthy skin, good for digestion, helps reduce headaches along with Proper hydration which helps keep your joints and muscles lubricated . All those wonderful benefits just from drinking the proper amount of water! I heard this quote this week from Buck a horse whisper  "Always have an idea of how much life you want before you get going..." I know at my age I want alot of healthy life and in order to experience that I know I need to be prepared.  My water intake, was 2/3 of my answer to my positive hiking adventure. And knowing I wanted a full life experience here in Colorado and because of the altitude, in order to have that I needed to be good to my body and hydrated it continually with water...

"Thirsty for life? Keep your eyes and heart open and drink plenty of water"

We Are All Just Like Salsa.....

Just Like Salsa!!

I've come to realize after sitting in a packed Mexican restaurant people are like salsa.
We are all some variation of Spicy!! 
Mild, Med, Hot, and Very Intense...

"How Spicy is your life's salsa?"

"Hasta que nos encontramos otra vez"

Being Left Feels So Right!

Being Left Feels So Right...

"If I'm to be honest being left, hurts.
It has left a deep pain within my heart.
But knowing being left, feels so right, I continue to focus on what feels right as I work through the pain of being left...and today being left couldn't feel more Right!"

10.9.11 aw

Affect or Effect?

Affect or Effect?
While there will be confussion to whether I have properly used the word effect and affect correctly please focus on the point of this blog...

I recently reconnected with a friend who I respect greatly and admire her passion and drive for life.  I realized after our conversation just how much she, too, is affected by others.
Why is it we, as humans, allow other humans including strangers to affect us? And what causes us to be so greatly affected? Is it our pride? The wanting to be accepted by others? What if we could just totally accept ourselves for who we are, (as a side note except and accept yet another Crazy english word to be confusing) then what others thought of us wouldnt matter at all, now would it? I have come to realize the affect I have allowed others to have on my emotions has been a waste of my good positive energy.  I am trying very hard not to allow others to effect me. Today was a day of understanding just how we all are affected by others and how important it is NOT to allow others to have any effect on us !!!!
"Be who you are... leave a positive effect on others while not allowing others to greatly affect you!!"FYI
 affect vs effect Generally speaking, affect is a verb and effect is a noun. When you affect something, you produce an effect on it. Even in the passive voice, something would be affected, not effected.

accept vs except Accept usually means that you are receiving or admitting something whereas except usually means that you are excluding something or someone.

10.12.11 Aime

I LoveTo Right, Write?

I know the difference between right and write.... I love to write my passion is writing, sharing, and expressing myself...My spelling and grammar on many occasion is anything but Right! So why is my strength also my weakness? I don't have that answer, but I do know my passion for writing is greater than worrying about my pride with my spelling errors and for all you who love to Correct others... "Look at their love for what they do and not their shortcomings of what they cant do"
 "Encourage someone today instead of discouraging someone, maybe you will watch a caterpillar become a butterfly before your very own eyes!"

"My Love Tank"

Love Tank
Someone recently asked me if my "love tank" was being filled?  My first response was I have to fill my own love tank before I can expect someone else to fill it... How right I was! Coming to Colorado, traveling and seeing life,  being around others is an experenice filled with love... Loving life, loving myself, loving Gods beauty that surrounds me. Feeling the presence of Love in every situation "may" be a challenge for some.  But I am learning loving yourself, accepting yourself first, gives life a prospective of embracing all that surrounds me. An unconditional acceptance, an unconditional love for self, life and others. I recently thought
"Understanding love is embracing who we are in a humbeling way... It's doesn't have to be ego driven..."
The ego drove me for year... It was driven by survival, low selfesteem, huger for wanting to be loved,  All part of my ego.  Once I realized " it " ( the ego) the it of the I, the I of being Me" was OK just being, there was a weight, a burden lifted off myself. All the inner work of understanding who I was, who I am, and who I want to become. And realizing It takes work, it takes time, it takes undestanding it's a life long journey.  I've been told situations should "just flow", like life, allowing things to flow,  understanding the flowing process without trying but "just being present" allowing your life to flow is "a" key to finding oneself and filling your own love tank... Afterall once your love tank is filled, whether filled with loving yourself,  loving your surroundings, loving others, loving each moment we breathe, loving life. Then and only then are we able to consider allowing someone else to "add" to our "Tank of Love" ...
And wonderful life lesson I recently learned from a Horse Wisper
 "When you come to the edge of the cliff, I'll bet you'll stop"
I came to the edge of my cliff several years ago, I stopped, looked over at my life and realized I needed a new path. I was encourged by several on my path but it was I that did the work to realize change was good ... Life is very Good... And God is very very good...
Enjoy your journey and don't forget to stop and fill your own love tank!

Written 9.5.11 4:36 am

"Time Flies Swiftly"

Blog "Time Flies Swiftly"
I got thinking this morning about Time... The time and just how quickly it moves...
And then I thought "if time truly flies what kind of bird would it be?"
Some say the fastest bird is the peregrine falcon.... So time is like the peregrine faclon but this bird only flies the fastest when it is in a hunting dive... So they are not considered the fastest of all birds, the fastest bird overall at the speed of 106 mph is the Spine-tailed swift...
Hmmm.., of all the names,  the fastest flying bird is a bird named Swift!
So you could say:
"Time is Swift"
"Time flies as swiftly as the Spine-Tailed Swift!"
Just thinking ....
10.4.11aw