Wake Up and Smell The Coffee

Every person wakes up one morning and finds themselves wondering how in the heck they got to be this old and contemplates why they have not accomplished more in life.

Well folks, I am one of those people.

Oprah might call this an "aha" moment, but I call it a "WTF" moment.  I am always wondering if I should have taken more chances and darn it, how come my bank balance is so low, can that be right?  Well, I have decided that it is time to put the big girl panties on, update my living life list (formally know as the bucket list) and make a few changes in my life.   Rather than bore you with my life story (it is really not that exciting), I am going to focus on the present and the future.  There is no point in worrying about the stuff that has already happened because you cannot change a gosh darn thing (hopefully lessons learned are tucked away for future reference), but to focus on the present and how the choices I made today will affect my tomorrow.  Remember, time goes by quickly, so embrace life and life life to the fullest. 

First, I must talk about choices.  My dad, the wise man he is, always says life is about choices.  But dad, Forrest told me "Life is like a box of chocoates, not choices."

Choices, choices, choices.

I don't always agree with him, but for me specifically, I have made some "interesting" choices to say the least.  I get really tired of hearing him talk about choices, but then he is right.  I catch myself talking to my children about choices and how the decisions they will make today will affect their lives.  My girls are 10 and 12 so for them it is hard to get past next day let alone thinking about life after high school.  So, I need to revisit the past and see how my past choices, good or bad, have affected my life here today in 2012.  Well, there are way too many to contemplate, so I will pick the top five and as painful and somewhat depressing as it is sharing them with you, here they are: 

1.  Divorce in 2007 after 10 years of marriage (he is now my BFF so go figure).

2.  $72,000 in student loans (yep, just added them up today).

3.  Dating a man or almost two years when it should have been a one day relationship.  (Note to self, pay attention to the red flags even as insignificant as they may seem at the time).

4.  Living beyond my means for way too many years (are you telling me that a mani/pedi are a want not a need)?

5.  Gaining 70 pounds since graduating high school (ouch, that one is painful).

Needless to say I find myself at a crossroads (dare I say mid-life crisis?) in my life that made me realize that my life needs some major overhauling and that time starts right now.  My days on the comfort couch are over baby and I am goiong to share with the world, or anyone who gives a darn, how I am going to make this miraculous turn around in just 10 months.  If I would have had my act together I would have already been two months in the process.  Oh yeah, I forgot, don't dwell on the past.

So here is my game plan although it will probably be altered as I go along.  Just like this blog, it is work in progress.  Oh, and did I tell you it took me hours to get this little no frills blog started?  Due to my lack of technical expertise I am going to enlist in a friend to help make this a more sophisticated site, but for now it will suffice.  Gosh, maybe I should have asked my 12 year old daughter, Caroline, to help.  She could probably have had it up and running in 30 minutes.  Oh yeah, back to my plan.

For the first step, I thought it best to review the previous year.  As a teacher, I am constantly reflecting on my work as an educator, to see how I can make improvements.  So in my next blog, I will go into detail on my year in review.  Remember, I am working myself off the comfort couch, so it will not be that exciting to most of you out there.

Then again, as I talk myself off of MY comfort couch, maybe you will be encouraged to tell me about YOUR first steps off of your comfort couch.

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we hit it."  ~ Michelangelo

Getting off the comfort couch and living life ~ Lisa