Thursday 29 November 2012

Thankful Thursday #12

So it's rather late in the evening here and I've been meaning to get to this Blog all day. I am very thankful to be here now. Just watched a movie called The Way. I'm now feeling reflective so sleep may not come for hours yet. One of my favourite books to reread is the The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo. It opened me up to a whole new way of thinking and seeing things I'd just taking for granted before. I look around more now to find signs, in whatever form they may be, that I am on the right path or telling me I need to go a different way. One line from the movie feels like one of those signs. You don't choose a life, you live it. 

I'm thankful for these signs. Thankful for the thoughts they inspire and the paths they lead me down. I think I need to plan a trip. A trip I may not be able to take for a while but sometimes just the planning makes a dream feel like a step closer to reality. 

I wish you all a good night.


P.S. Happy Birthday Gungz! Love you Bro! x








Thursday 15 November 2012

Thankful Thursday #11

Today I'm thankful for the memories. I have so many good memories to draw on when I need to remember how blessed my life has been.

Watching Dirty Dancing for probably the hundred and tenth time recently took me back to so many different times of my life. See what I did there? I was only in Primary school when it came out. I can still recite most of the lines verbatim which may be a little annoying when I watch it with others. A few large Dirty Dancing posters hung on my walls. My favourite : a close-up of Patrick (yes we were on a first name basis) that hung just above my bed.

Every Primary school disco, birthday party or class party was not complete without a Dirty Dancing competition. Every boy tried to mimic the last scene where Johnny beckons Baby with a smouldering look and a nod of his head. We were wild I tell you.
High school Slumber parties always included watching Dirty Dancing. Even in my adult life a girls' night in with pizza and wine had to include watching Dirty Dancing.

A life without memories would be unimaginable. I suppose if you forgot the yesterdays and all your todays brought you a clean slate you'd never have to remember the bad times. There would be no tomorrow. Yet you'd lose all the good too. No ties that bind you, the unbreakable bonds you forged through every childhood adventure, through surviving all your teenage misadventures and all the adult paths you are yet to take. Gone. I say cherish the memories. Protect them, store them and remember, remember, remember to live every moment so you want to recall it.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Happy Birthday Adam!

Today is the birthday of a very special man. Someone I've been friends with for 20 years and I hope to remain so as long as I am on this good earth.
Been through many adventures in those 20 years - some are hazier than others but there are photos lurking about to remind us or, lucky for us, my memory has served us well to remind us when needed. No need to mention them here. Between us I think we have kept a lot of secrets, spilt a lot of beans and cried on each other's shoulders more than I can count. Mostly though we've laughed and we have talked, a lot. I remember sitting in my parent's lounge drinking copious amounts of... tea and just talking and talking for hours. My Dad would come into the room at 2 in the morning and subtly hint 'Don't you have a home to go to.' 
He is one of those friends that it never seems to matter how long we go between conversations we always just pick right back up from where we left off. I miss having him live down the road. Yet somehow I know I could still pick up the phone and call him at 2 am in the morning - the time difference now would make him more able to hold a decent conversation. He is an amazing Dad, son and loyal friend. 

Adam, I am so proud to call you my friend. Have a very Happy 37th Birthday! 

Thursday 8 November 2012

Thankful Thursday #10

Perhaps I should warn you all I'm about to get a little mushy and sentimental. 
Today I am so very thankful that 12 years ago (well give or take a few days) the man who stole my heart got off a plane at what was still at the time called Johannesburg International Airport - after a long flight from Brisbane. 

Everything I'm thinking about this man, about us, sounds like a cliché. He is my best friend and sometimes frustratingly knows me better than I know myself. He makes me smile every day. He gives the best hugs. He supports my gym obsession. He knows how to make me laugh when I don't want to. He has this way of saying and seeing the simplest of things in a most unique way that makes me think of these simple things in a new way, and I love that. He makes me more adventurous. He makes me want to make him happy. He is thoughtful and kind. He is so humble and so unaware of how just how talented he is that I have to brag for him. Sometimes I just love to watch him from a distance and think 'he is mine.' I could spend hours listing the things I love about him. He knows that I do though and that's perfect. 

I know we were meant to be. I know we will always be. It's only been 12 years and we still have a lifetime and then an eternity.
 

 


Monday 5 November 2012

Never, ever give up!

I'm feeling reflective. I've been told a few times over the last few months that I'm inspiring. I've got to admit it does make a girl feel good but I'm terrible at receiving compliments. I like to hang around in the background and do my thing quietly. I have tried to surround myself with people who inspire me though. There is no shortage of these people either. They pop up just when I need them. It is perhaps telling that these creatures who inspire me most have not done so by standing on a stage commanding my attention, they haven't collected accolades, nobody is throwing rose petals at their feet or laying out the red carpet treatment for them. They are the ones that are just doing their thing every day and getting results. I am inspired by their example.

Saturday morning our 12 week Challenge came to an end. A bitter sweet one. Part of me was elated to have reached the end of a pretty intense 12 weeks. I achieved my goal so felt so good. But (you felt that coming right?) another part of me - and I think this was shared by other Challengers - felt a little lost once I got back home. Most of us put so much into the 12 weeks, even if we normally train hard and eat clean in these 12 weeks you push harder, eat leaner and become very goal focused. I do anyway. I think it is because they take your photo, your measurements and test your fitness whereas in your normal day to day training it is between you and your mirror, scales, measuring tape and maybe your PT's too. These Challenges work well for me because I am good at getting focused when I have a goal I'm working for and especially when there is a time limit. I work well under pressure. I also love the bonds I form with other Challengers and seeing the way they transform over 12 weeks. 

There is one particular lady at our gym that I've become friends with over the past few months. Linda walked into the gym 13 months ago and started training with Kane. She weighed 167 kgs. On Saturday she stood on the scales at the gym in her swimming togs and the number that flashed before her: 66.6 kgs. She has lost 100.4 kgs in 13 months. Amazing! How? By training hard every day, eating healthy and never, ever giving up or making excuses. She is one gutsy lady and I'm so proud to know her. Now she is inspirational. 

I'll admit I ate a Boerewors roll and had me some Ben and Jerry's on the weekend - they tasted so good. Today I woke up with a food hangover and went to my normal Early Monday morning RPM class on my Forty. Today I just keep doing what I've been doing for the last 12 weeks. Why stop or slow down when you love it? I have a new goal and it has a time limit : December 1st. Just in time for Summer and Christmas. 

Get moving and never, ever, give up!



Thursday 1 November 2012

Thankful Thursday #9

Today I am thankful that I am so tired that it can only mean I have accomplished a great deal today. 2 more sleeps till the end of this Challenge and then I promise to be more present on here. Thankful Thursday # 10 could be a big one.