Visual Motivation

I know many of you have things to keep you motivated.  Some of you have incentives, or visuals to remind you of your journey.  I decided that I would like to have a little reminder of where I am headed, and where I have been.

This is my little marble monitor. With each pound I lose I get to add a marble.  I have added lines for every 10 lbs.  I made this around a month ago and I haven’t been able to add any marbles.  I haven’t really lost any weight.  My efforts have slowed down and so has my loss.  I look forward to a full vase!

What are you doing to keep your motivation rolling?

Persistence and the CPA

My husband has a degree in accounting.  He is an auditor right now, and his ultimate goal is to not be an auditor and maybe go into fraud investigation.  On this journey he has been working towards becoming a CPA, Certified Public Accountant.  To become a CPA you have to take four grueling exams.  After you pass one section, you have 18 months to pass the remaining three sections.  It is said that the CPA is worst than the BAR for attorneys.

The short of the story is, my husband didn’t take the CPA immediately following graduation from college and has been taking and re-taking these exams for many years (4+). He has been slaving away at these exams our whole marriage.  It has been our ball and chain.  All of our time has revolved around studying and the next test date.

He passed three sections then lost credit on one section, so he had to re-take it.  On that re-take round he missed the mark by one point. And the one he hadn’t passed yet, he missed it by one point as well. This was not the first time he was a point away from passing, success was just hanging on a string in front of us.  Frustrating!!! 

We decided this year, that this last testing window was it.  He was going to take the last two exams one more time and we were calling it quits.  The end.  Enough is enough.   We handed it over to the Lord and stated we have given it our best shot, year after year and now if it doesn’t happen we know it isn’t meant to be!

We have spent thousand’s (between $8,000-10,000 the hubs doesn’t want me to add it up!) on testing fees and our lives can no longer revolve around this exam.

Well, after a lot of work and sacrifices in many areas of life he DID IT!  My husband finally passed the CPA exam!  I am sooo grateful to be closing this chapter of our lives.  We are now seeking a new job and have high hopes he will find something that is a better fit for him.

Since this is my weight loss blog, I will liken it to weight loss.  Persistence.  You must never lose hope of your goal, even when it doesn’t seem possible or even something worth working for any longer.  There are angels out there cheering you on.  Allow them to help you keep your head lifted.

I always believed my husband could pass the CPA exam, I just never dreamt it would be so challenging.  It doesn’t seem real yet, but I am so proud of him for being persistent.

May we keep our visions straight and keep plugging away!!

Bogged Down? Tell it to the Punching Bag!

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings name them one by one.

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care,

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

Click Here to listen or for the music...

This hymn has been buzzing through my head all morning.  I have felt some of life’s burdens bogging me down.  Some of the things are things I have control over, and some of the things I only have control over how I act and react.  I am so very blessed, sometimes I don’t see my blessings clearly and they lie in a fog.

In attempt to remedy my frustrations and lift the fog in my mind, I took it out on the punching bag. (Another blessing, I actually have a pretty awesome gym set up in my home.) I kicked, punched and back handed the bag with all my might.  I allowed myself to grunt and groan as loud as I felt and gave it all I have got. 

I am not feeling really well (stomach bug again!), so my beating of the bag was a brief 12 minute session, topped off with riding my bike that is propped up on a trainer.  Now that I am cleaned up and getting on with my day I feel a little better.  My issues are the same and nothing is solved, but channeling my frustrations on the bag was helpful.  I can now choose to have a better attitude and hope my body doesn’t freeze in soreness tomorrow.

In the mean time I need to keep my sisters motto in mind, “Good things are coming my way!”  I actually should be saying to myself, “My life is full of wonderful!”  It really is.  I have the cutest kids and a supportive husband.  What more could a girl ask for?? 

Life is good, and I shouldn’t let the things of life bog me down and cloud my vision. 

Good things are comm’en my way!

Vison Boards...

I have always been a big fan of creating a vision of what you want in life then, getting out and accomplishing those things.

For several years now I have created vision boards to create a pathway of what I would like to accomplish in that year.  Having the visual helps me stay on track and remind me of what I want to accomplish and things I want to over come. 

I have had a saying for many years, “I get what I want in life!”  Some times what I want changes, or I get to choose to change, because the outcomes are not what I had originally planned.  But over all I feel it is  important to paint the picture of what you want in life and reach for it.

Here are some examples of my vision boards from the past years.  Each picture symbolizes something of importance in my life or a goal I would like to accomplish.

For my weight loss journey I made a few  “vision boards”.  These are a bit more simple but they symbolize my goals and rewards that I plan to give myself ever ten pound of loss.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated? Do you have a vision board? Please do share!