all the doing….it’s becoming your undoing

June 6, 2013 in Blog, Blogging, Goals, Rambles

First, let me tell you how amazing all these “Ask Me Anything” questions are!  Out of about 75 questions, I only go one that ruffled my feathers (and I won’t be sharing), and I think your questions will make for great future posts.  Future, being the important word.

Let me be honest here.

I’m run ragged.  Tired.  Irritable.  Sore.  And simply stressed to the limit.

Lately I’ve taken on too much.

I’ve noticed – it’s cyclical for me.  I’m the queen of saying yes, of taking on too much.  Then I CRACK.  Then I slow down for a about a split second.  And I feel great for having less on my plate.

THEN…

I start comparing myself to others – to their busyness and their accomplishments….and their mess.  Then I slowly start adding to the list.

  • “Sure, I can do another show.  I’d be so bored if I didn’t.  Let me rope Travis into this one!” 
  • “I have that one hour open on Thursdays.  I can take another client.  Squeeze two in if I rearrange a few things.” 
  • “Henry should know how to add and subtract numbers 10 through 20.  We need to work on this.  Like NOW!”

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We got chickens.  Add that to the list of things that would be nice, but we don’t need right now.

The truth is:

  • I SHOULDN’T have signed us up for Cinderella – we need to get moved into this dang house.
  • I DON’T need more clients – two hours of KidZone a day is enough for my children.
  • And I SHOULDN’T place undue pressure on this homeschooling thing – my brilliant son is only FOUR years old!

It all hit me last week like a ton of bricks.  The CRACK in the cycle, if you will.  And I sobbed on my poor husband’s shoulder for an hour.  And he was there, as he always is, to tell me that I needed to be doing less.  And that the things I DO should not define WHO I am. Repeat:

THE THINGS I DO SHOULD NOT DEFINE WHO I AM. 

Then WHY?  WHY am I drawn to the busy? WHY?!?  I’ve already written like three posts with this same theme, yet I haven’t changed.  Maybe a little.  But not enough to stop myself from the crashing.  Last Friday’s post about resting our bodies was what many of you needed to hear.  I’ve already mastered that.  What I haven’t tackled is my need for rest in all the OTHER areas of my life.

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Prayer is needed (and ongoing).  I fully trust that the crashing happens so that I come to rely on God more and more.  I obviously can’t do this myself.  But I have to CHOOSE to do less.  I have to choose that – no one else.  (These words just came to mind:  I need to rest FROM things and rest IN Him.)

After I finish a few obligations, this simply must be a season of rest* for me.

Because all of this DOING (going, striving, beating, racing) will be my UN-doing.

QUESTION:  Am I the only one who struggles with taking on too much?  Any tips on saying no more often?

splendid…lindsay

*More on this to come.

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why don’t you look us both in the eye

June 4, 2013 in Blog

Unless you’re Travis, you won’t really understand that title.

And unless you’re Travis, you haven’t been married to me exactly 8 years TODAY.

Lucky you.

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Dear Travis,

Boy, do I love you!

You absolutely make me a better person. Just being around you makes me feel like I’m doing something right. Like life makes sense. Like I hear guitars in the air….

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Oh Travis,

You’re the ONLY thing in my life that I’ve never wanted to quit at some point (yes, parenting included).

Yes, I was created to be your helpmate but I know full well how much you help me every single day. Or maybe I don’t – maybe that help is so great that it’s past my comprehension.

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My lover,

You’re a great dad to our children – selfless and far more patient than I could ever be.  I want to make more babies with you.

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You’re smart and you know it.  And the fact that you know it makes you so sexy to me.

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Darling,

Thank you for leading this family towards God, through example and action.

For being our head.  For reaching out every single night, taking my hand and praying specifically for ME.

It means more than you can possibly know.

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Travis Truly,

You have my heart.

Happy Eight Years, my love!

here’s to eighty thousand more…lindsay

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ask me anything

June 3, 2013 in Blog, Blogging

Today, I’m opening myself up.  And allowing you guys to be the nosey little creatures that we’ve all come to love.  Winking smile  No judgment – I will be your ring leader.

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What’s your regular work out schedule?

How many years did you play with Barbies?

What is your favorite color?  Food?  Movie?

Do you (still) pick your nose?

Hit me with anything you want to know.  I can’t promise that I’ll answer EVERYTHING (I’m imagining some catty or disrespectful questions could be asked), but I WILL to be open and honest on just about any question.  Use the box below to submit your questions (anonymously if you’d like) and later this week, I’ll have a follow-up post with my answers.

Annnndd….ASK AWAY!

Ask Me A Question

* (denotes required field)

splendid…lindsay

 

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the importance of rest

May 31, 2013 in Blog, Body, ED, Over-Exercise

I’m going to make this short and sweet because A) it’s Friday and who wants to read a long blog post on Friday, B) I have no time to write as I’ve AGAIN backed myself into a corner of being overbooked, and C) what I have to say today *should* be common knowledge already.

*Except that it isn’t.

I simply must speak up about something I see so prevalent around the healthy living blogging community, as well as at my gym.  WE’RE NEGLECTING OUR BODIES BY OVERWORKING THEM.  And sadly, we do so in the name of “healthy living”, broadcasting our over-exercise on Instagram and our blogs.  As someone who has suffered from years of over-exercising and who is just now understanding the impact of what that’s done to my body, I can’t keep quiet any longer.

Listen.

If you’re not taking a SOLID rest day** at least once per week, you’re hurting your body.

**I don’t mean an “active rest” day where you cross train and go hiking or walking instead of what you normally do.  A rest day is one in which we put little to no stress on our central nervous systems.  We REST.

Neglecting to take regular, habitual rest days will likely lead to injury, a feeling of being “burned out”, and can hinder performance.  After properly resting, our bodies are better able to perform athletically and think critically – so in essence, doing nothing will help you be able to DO better!

I believe that TWO THINGS get in the way of us treating our bodies to the rest day(s) that they deserve.

1) We connect EATING with EXERCISING – two things that should be kept separate (aside from fueling purposes).  We count the calories we burn while working out and connect that to our intake of food later in the day.  How many times have you rationalized eating a donut just because you ran that day?  What if you COULDN’T run anymore (or, as I’m trying to show in this post, you had to take a few rest days)?  Would your eating habits change?

2) We COMPARE and CONTRAST.  “I was going to take a rest day until I saw so-and-so’s post on Instagram.”  “She’s working out harder than me!”  “She doesn’t feel good but she’s “sweating out” a cold.  I should do that!”  <-This is a post for an entirely different day, but infuriates me nonetheless.  There is no such thing as “sweating out” an illness – bobbycosh!  You should be resting your CNS – trust me, you’ll heal much quicker through REST!

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Next time you feel burnt out or you just want to take day off from exercising, DO IT!  Realize that this isn’t a free pass for you to sit on your butt (something that is highly unlikely for most of the audience I’m speaking too), but rather a plea for us all to start honoring our bodies (mind, muscle, bone) that do so much for us.  You can honor through exercise and you can honor through rest.  Both are equally important.

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QUESTION:  How often do you take rest days?  <-I completely rest every Sunday.  Do you struggle with over-exercising?  Under-exercising?

splendid…lindsay

Resources you might find interesting:

What IS over-exercising?

REST: Ways to Improve Performance

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