April Showers Bring May Flowers...

The last time I posted I mentioned that I was going after the things that I wanted instead of just wishing them to somehow find their way to me. For most of my life, I've had these wishes for who, and what I want to be, but the problem with wishing is that it involves no commitment, no hard work on my part. Throughout my life, and especially as I served a full-time mission in New Zealand for the Church of Jesus Christ I realized that everything worth it in anyone's life comes through hard work and dedication.

I am proud to say that as of today I have taken a lot of time, and I have dedicated much of my heart, and have lost over 70 pounds and counting!

Now a year later, I don't feel like it's changed my life. I'm still the same person I've always been! I've never struggled with confidence in believing that I was beautiful as a person, but it has given me the ability to believe in myself--my body--in ways that I never imagined before. Everyone asks me how I lost weight, and its so much more than diet and exercise. I lost weight because I believed I could. I've learned in these last few years, that the things that come easily in life are usually easy for a reason. The easy way of life isn't satisfying in the way that setting goals and achieving them can be. I'm grateful we are allowed to experience the hardships, and especially the success's that make this life such a growing experience.

To mark my weight loss and to celebrate my amazing mom and the completion of her chemo treatments I participated int he Breast Cancer 5k for the Susan G Koman Foundation.  I've seen my mom rise above and show such strength going through her chemo treatments. It reminded me of the reason I wanted to lose weight and be healthy in the first place. It was so meaningful to run it for her and for all the women who have gone through the trial of this disease. Not only that, but to even just to say that a RAN a 5k was an accomplishment. For a girl that has never been able to run 3.2 miles-- okay lets be honest here, even 1 mile-- without stopping, it was a huge stepping stone for me, and for all those times I told myself I could never do it.

I'm so grateful for my hard things I've had to go through in my life for teaching me the lesson that the best things in life don't happen overnight. There were so many times where I wanted to stop, to go home, or had felt like I had no motivation to finish. But I didn't stop, I didn't go home, and I didn't quit. I got up, went out, and did the best I could everyday--which sometimes weren't much to some people but were enough for me. The moment I stopped thinking of tomorrows and focused on what I could do today I found success. Soon tomorrow was gone and I was no longer just wishing, I was becoming.