I’ve been making “giving suggestions” as part of my participation in:

…and Giving Suggestion #11 is: Adopt a family for Christmas. While most of us will soon be counting down the minutes ‘til the big day, there are lots of folks who are dreading it. Why? Because no parent wants to tell his/her kids that there simply isn’t money for presents or yummy treats. So, how about bringing a little Christmas cheer to one family by providing either the gifts, the treats, or, if your budget allows, both?  Our local Christian radio station provides a list of needy families that my family is going to choose from this year, but you could also make it more personal if you know someone who could use the help.   

Moving on (ha! I crack myself up…not really), today is Move-it Monday, folks!!

Last week, my friend, Kelli, threw down…

\More Bang for Your Bucks

…a 40 day challenge to encourage all of us to get at least a little bit of exercise every single day between Nov. 15 and Christmas Eve.

Well, I decided to join in on the challenge since, even though I’m a fitness instructor, there are some days that I just don’t feel like I have the motivation or time to do anything physical. 

So, what keeps me moving?

A huge part of the answer to that question is: Competition.

Perfect example:

On Thanksgiving, we spent the day with my husband’s family. At some point, after all of the turkey, dressing, veggies, pie, cheesecake…you get the idea…had been ingested and apparently caloric delirium was setting in, we started talking about various exercises and one thing led to another until, before you could say “Tryptophan,” we were all squatting in horse-stance, determined to hold the position the longest.

(We = me, my husband, my two bros-in-law, my uncle-in-law, and my father-in-law, by the way).

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The “Contenders.”

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             Feeling good (this is maybe 30 seconds in)       About 1 1/2 minutes in, it really started to burn!

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Della, hanging out with Great G-ma, worried about our sanity        I think this is about 3 minutes in…HURT-ING.

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Simon decided to jump in on the tail-end (this is right after he and Ezra climbed all over me, and almost made my trembling legs buckle).

So…who won?

I did.

(You think I would have been so eager to post about this if I hadn’t? : ))

So, how long did I make it?

4 minutes on the dot.

At about 3:45, my legs went from on-fire-but-still-solid to uncontrollable shaking. The second Aunt Karla called, “4 minutes!” (the number I was determined to reach once I was the last one standing at 3:30), I tried to stand up and literally couldn’t.

And when I collapsed on the ground, Della started screaming her head off and crawled as fast as she could to my side, climbed up on top of me and wouldn’t let go of me for a full five minutes.  Mama-obsessed? Yeah, a bit..

Okay, so obviously, this is a fun story to brag about…I beat the boys….Nah nah!…and all that jazz.

But the truth is that, without those guys challenging me to “bring it,” I probably wouldn’t have bothered.  

It doesn’t have to be a moment of holiday silliness that inspires you, though.

The concept of competition = motivation is true 24/7, 365.

So, find someone who pushes you to “win” (whatever that looks like), and you’ll be all the more likely to kick not only your competitor’s tail but your own as well!

Here’s to moving it!

P.S. Have you entered:

five days five ways | because every day is different

You only have until Wednesday night @ 11:59 PM!! Better get crackin’!

P.P.S. The theme for this week’s

five days five ways | 5 Things Thursday

(the linky party where you post about 5 things—preferably with pictures—on your mind)

is:

Organized Smorganized

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I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a healthy dose of this during this hectic time of year. I’d love to see your great ideas, your clever solutions, and even your epic fails.  As always, the post can come from your own experiences or inspiration you find floating around cyberspace.

 

4 Comments

  1. Hahaha this post makes me laugh. I’ve given up sleep. Seriously, I’ve got it down to a science…doesn’t take too long. I feel badly because I keep getting asked by others and may have a problem with saying no. 🙂 I’m still SUPER new to it all, so probably with time I’ll ease up! We’ll see.

  2. Oh man, do I need to get moving!! And not just on Mondays…if I don’t stop inhaling pumpkin flavored items, my hiney will be the size of a jumbo pumpkin!

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