Snow Day

Today I woke up to a winter wonderland of snow. I still planned to go to the 9 o'clock class at the gym, so I got ready to head out, but the class was cancelled and I headed to the couch for a nap instead. But I wanted to enjoy the snow and I didn't want to drive in it so I decided to go for a winter suburban hike instead.

I layered up and headed out to the streets. I like to walk with a destination in mind so I headed to the gym to say hello to my trainer, but he wasn't there, so I just sent him a text instead of my wintery self and turned around for the hike home. I took some pics of some nice snowy trees, too.

On the way home I tried a shortcut to avoid the busy streets that didn't have the sidewalks shoveled. Things were going great for awhile on the side street until I hit a dead end. But that didn't stop me. There was a nice field covered in snow that connected to my street so I stomped right through it with the snow up to my knees leaving a nice line of my footprints for the next person who might need it.

Then tonight I took a nice hot shower and took care of my face with my nice moisturizers and scrubs. I'm all relaxed and clean and ready for tomorrow's training session. It's only 6:15 and I can relax and watch movies or something and hang out on the laptop and enjoy the rest of my snowday.

While I was in the shower, I was thinking about how far I've come in the last year and what might possibly come in the next year. It really does take a good year for the changes to happen in significant, meaningful and more permanent ways. I'm so glad I remember thinking that I wasn't going to worry about results until Christmas when I started last March.

I think it's a big mistake to expect things to happen too quickly. Small changes happen that are important, but if you get discouraged hoping for big things to happen right away, you can miss out on so much. I just noticed today how I am never overfull anymore like I used to be almost my entire life. I used to eat for all the wrong reasons.

My decision making has changed slowly over the last year. It has changed more naturally in ways that will stick. I don't feel deprived or like I'm on a diet. I'm just more mindful and I like the way I feel and the way I choose.

I chose to take a hike today because I wanted to get out and enjoy the snow. Yes, it was exercise. But I didn't worry about figuring out how many miles my route was or how fast I walked. I just walked. I know that many people find motivation in writing things down and having goals, but I've found in the last year that my goals have become bigger because I don't write them down anymore. I'm not beholden to numbers anymore. I treat every day like a snow day.