A Fresh Start

Hello again! As you can see, I've decided to start up my blog again because some pretty exciting stuff is happening in my life and I would like to share with you all and have the outlet to externally process and/or get advice!

The last time I began blogging was because of my life-changing decision to move to South Korea to teach English. Since then, I have returned to America with a fiance, tried to find sufficient work but couldn't so we moved back to Seoul. Unfortunately, that was horrible, so, yet again, we came back to America. We've been back for 10 months and are feeling much better about this time around. Us finally feeling stable has helped us grow in our relationship so very much. Isn't it amazing how cutting stress out of a relationship can help people?!?! We are the best we have been and it's refreshing!

The last couple of years have been so crazy that I feel like this is the first time in a very long time that I've been able to sit still with myself and take time to listen... to God, to my heart, to everything. Before my stressors caused me to shut off internally everytime life got hectic. Now... I'm breathing. And it's oh so nice! 

So what's happening, you ask? Well this whole "listening to my heart" time has caused me to put into action one of my deepest and scariest dreams... getting healthy. And I say scary because it's been THE thing that I let slip when I felt like there was too much to try to control. And letting it slip for the last 15-ish years has made it quite an overwhelming task to try to get ahold of. Last fall I tried going to the gym as much as possible and jogging through my neighborhood and even became a vegetarian to try to eat healthier. But when something is so foreign to you and you have no other people in your life helping educate you and supporting you along the way, it's hard. So over the holidays I completely gave up. But I still knew that becoming healthy HAD to happen and I couldn't ignore it anymore.

That's when Marathon Makeover literally fell into my lap! I was on Ada Wong's facebook page (a contestant from last seasons Biggest Loser) and she had become the national spokesperson for Marathon Makeover. I looked more into it and knew this was it for me! Marathon Makeover is a community of people that train "couch potatoes into marathoners"... and however cheezy that is, I knew running has always been a dream of mine. I could tell by their approach that they cared more about building a community of people working together towards a common goal than just simply running.

So I went to the informational meeting knowing frightened to death about the commitment I was about to make. Our group meets every Saturday morning and we have a educational section teaching us form, safety, diet, how to conquer the mental battle, etc. Then we run together... and we have all found out that it is SOO much more than a marathon. This group of people is amazing and we are all there for the same thing, to get healthy and to build a community. It's been awesome.

And my personal journey has been pretty awesome as well. At first my "why" was pretty general. I was doing this to lose weight and to get healthy. But over the last 7 weeks, it's transformed into something much more. I have realized that I feel like I haven't challenged myself in my life and that if I have, I have quit it or slacked my way through it. I haven't owned up to a challenge. So my new "why" is to really challenge myself and learn more about who I am along the way.

Although it's only been 7 weeks, it's already been an eye opening process of self-discovery. I can literally feel a change happening within myself. I'm not as cranky anymore or reclusive. I'm energetic and open to people. I feel like sharing my journey with those around me instead of sitting at home hoping for more intimate relationships. I'm making plans for things I never thought I would do like the Portland Marathon on October 9th and the Disney World Princess Half Marathon next February with my college roommate! Before, I wouldn't have even let the thought of doing either of these linger in my mind for very long before I ignored it all together. This is all a result of bringing positive self talk into my life and the process of finally believing in myself. That's been the main thing to me... I've told people about what I'm doing and they have seen the change in me and have told me how much they believe in me, and I kept hearing this over and over from people around me but couldn't believe it myself. And I don't fully believe in myself yet... but I can tell I'm on the road to believing it soon! At least I'm approaching it and not denying it's existence.

I'm sorry I'm blabbing. I'm just really excited to feel this change inside of myself. I'm excited to continue sharing my journey to a happier and healthier me with you all! 

Just keep running...

-Linda