Finding the Blessings in the Midst of the Madness.

 Nikki

 

Height: 5' 5 ¾” - that ¾ is important!  My daughter is 4 inches taller than me…every little bit counts!

Weight:  127

Goals: Heal from my accident, pay better attention to my nutrition, and get back into a workout routine

Motivation/Support: Faith, family, friends, and my fellow Beachbody coaches and challengers

Finding the Blessings in the Midst of the Madness

That picture above brings back such happy memories of me and my mom in our happy place.  No particular beach, just saltwater, sand, and hours riding the waves and spending time together.  This is a tradition that I’m so blessed to be carrying on with my daughter who is growing up way too quickly.  She is almost fourteen now and has had quite a rough year filled with medical issues.  So much of my time has been spent as advocate, caregiver, and shoulder to cry on.  Through it all, I’ve often gone back to a lesson that my mom taught me that I’m trying to pass along to my kids.  Always look for the blessings.  Life has been so crazy, that I’ve added ‘in the midst of the madness’.  But it’s not always easy.

I had been doing so very well with working out daily for two and half years.  Getting up and working out in the morning was as automatic as brushing my teeth.  And as essential to my being as sleep.  But, life can change without warning.  And our ability to adapt to our circumstances is what helps us to not only survive, but thrive.  I was driving to my happy place to spend time with my dad…a tradition we revived after my mom passed away many years ago.  The light turned green and I proceeded into the intersection.  I did not see the car that for whatever reason did not stop at the red light and slammed into me, pushing me into the vehicle in the other lane.  It all happened so fast.  And it was so easy to focus on what I had lost – some time in my happy place with my dad, relaxing and refueling for our crazy life; my husband’s fairly new car…why hadn’t I been driving my old van; more headaches to handle with insurance, etc.  Truth be told, I did focus on the bad at first, and still find myself drifting there.  But I’m trying very hard to focus on the blessings.  I was still relatively close to home, so my husband was able to come and get me.  While, my vehicle would have been the better one to lose, I most likely would have been hurt much worse, had I been driving it.   And if this past year has taught me anything, it’s to focus on what I can accomplish today, to ask God for strength for today’s journey, and to ask him to walk with me when the burden is too much to carry.

Yes…my workout routine is on hold right now.  My ribs are thankfully not broken, although still bruised and sore.  But I’ve learned that one of the things that I enjoyed so much about my morning workouts was time to myself, in the quiet, fueling myself for the day ahead.  And I can still enjoy that time.  So, I still rise before the sun and instead of pulling on my workout clothes, I grab a good book and my cup of coffee.  And I curl up on the couch and enjoy some time before my day and all of my responsibilities start.  And I am thankful.