When life derails you

Life happens. And for all good intentions what you have planned does not always go as planned. My 2017 plans to be a better person for me got derailed when on the first week of this new year I came down with the knock down drag out stomach flu. I will spare you the unpleasant details but it wasn't pretty. It took me 3 days to drink a small gatorade and eat a couple of saltine crackers. Water was the main part of my diet for a few days. I tried to eat...but I paid for it after eating for many days after this bug hit as well as for weeks following. I can finally eat without after meal pain. I just can't eat a lot yet. My energy levels are not where they were and my blood sugar levels are still out of whack.

My goals for this year was to make more and better healthy choices and eliminate some food groups out of my diet for a variety of health reasons. Well sugar free and gluten free have not happened and here we are Feb. 1, one month into the new year. After getting hit on Jan. 3 with that nasty bug my health, lifestyle and energy has been compromised. Working out has been a challenge to say the least-I lack energy, big time. And yes it has put me in a foul and bad mood at times. Yes I'm tired and some evenings I fight to keep going despite the fact that it is only 7:30 or 8:30 at night. I know I will be awake at 3 a.m. if I fall asleep too early. I try to keep going, get things done, get my steps in and plug away. Someday's I do it, other days, not so much.

Lack of sunshine and poor moral at work or by those around me has not helped either. And I've continued to plug way, going through the motions, showing up, doing what I have to and getting out. Not a good way to live life.

The one highlight I had was my son's wedding. I put the residual affects of the flu aside and had fun, made memories, relaxed and enjoyed.

I've tried to remember that there are people, probably some very close around me, who would give anything to even have one of my bad days....let that soak in. Lack of sunshine, the flu or the behavior of others is small potatoes compared to what some people are dealing with. I can deal with and need to get to a better place, PLUS learn to be patient with myself, something I lack a great deal.

So with the start of this new month, I'm going to pretend it is Jan. 1 rather than Feb. 1 and start again with my mission. And that is to continue to be more physically active, to eat healthier, make better food choices, eliminate the negative and do more of what makes ME happy and stop trying to please everyone else. Oh, and say NO when I want to and not feel guilty about it. It's a new day, new month and still a new year. So what if there are only 11 months left, it's better than nothing. It's time to kick some butt, and move forward, because NO ONE is guaranteed to be here at the end of the day, week, month or year. Make today count, even if its a small step. So there life, take that!