As I shave some of the excesses off my lifestyle, one of the loveliest outcomes is feeling things I haven't felt in a long time.
Like how great a good honest sweat feels... Not the kind I get in this part of the world just from going outside for a few minutes on any given day between June and September. The real kind. When I get home from four hard laps at the park and collapse on my bed 'til the air conditioning dries my sweat.
How wonderful it is to feel genuine hunger... When I eat nothing from 7:30 p.m. until I'm sitting at the breakfast table at about 7:00 the next morning, I actually feel hungry as I'm tucking into my meal. It's crazy how long it's been since I truly felt the pangs of a good honest hunger. I became so used to satisfying every passing whim of a craving, that I never had time to feel an empty stomach.
And you just can't beat feeling truly, physically tired at the end of the day... Crawling into those crisp, clean sheets and that tightly made bed feels so good when you've actually earned your rest. Knowing that I've put in a good day's work from sun up to sun down. I swear I used to have days where I'd look back and realize I'd accomplished absolutely nothing. I wouldn't even be tired, but I'd go to bed because - well - it seemed like the thing to do at 10 p.m. How good it feels to find myself yawning at bedtime! And not because I've spent most of my free time that day watching TV or surfing the net, but because I've washed dishes, made beds, cleaned windows, ironed clothes, re-stocked my pantry, scrubbed the vegetable bins in my refrigerator, and put in a good workout. Not all in one day, of course! It is an amazing thing to feel the same sense of accomplishment from each and every one of these seemingly monotonous tasks as somebody might feel in winning some great award or distinction.
A coworker of mine paid me the sweetest compliment yesterday morning. (I guess I should call her Co-worker #5.) We ran into each other on the way into the building and she told me she thought I'd looked "glowing" lately. Glowing? She said she'd been wanting to ask me if I'd been seeing somebody - she thought I looked like a woman in love. Well, no, but cool!!! (It must be those "creamy engagement ring circles" I've been using with the cold cream in the morning!) Who knows? It may be the cold cream, it may be the water, it may be the -4 lbs. And it may just be that rush of success in feeling like I'm finding my way through the woods after all those years of feeling confused and hopeless and out of control.
11 comments:
Wonderful! Have a great weekend.
Right back at ya!
Isn't it funny how now, with our forays into the past, suddenly all those old people we recall when we were young with their adages of 'hard work, honest living, modesty in eating and such leads to happiness' really knew what they were talking about. Congratulations on your weight loss and exercise. I have not been keeping up with my walks but most of my days are spent in lifting fence post, digging holes, hauling heavy wheelbarrels full of compost, etc etc. A good sweat, exhaustion after a day of accomplishment feels wonderful. And I know what joy a clean sheet or the smile you get when you open that ice box and see it shine back at you, good for you!
Oh, that garden work has gone to burn a ton of calories! Those old sayings certainly have some truth to them...
you are in love... with your house - and it;s such a nice relationship to have... always there for you, welcoming and comforting...
Jitterbug,
As I was reading your story about your coworker asking if you were seeing someone, my mind jumped to 2009, and I thought she was going to ask if you were pregnant!
Thankfully I was wrong. LOL
Awww, weenie_elise, I am in love with my house! Maybe its that newfound relationship with my kitchen or something...
Hairball - gad, woman! What decade do you think this is?!? I'm an unmarried woman. C'est n'impossible. :p
It might help if I spoke French properly --- Miss Bray would be so disappointed! I meant to say C'est impossible.
I love finding the little treats in life, like a new special coffee!
I too have a relationship with my home and its marvellous! I love turning down the blankets on my daily made up bed. I always feel so special when 10 minutes later I crawl into a bed that was made and then later turned down, just for me. When I was younger and overwhelmed by cleaning my room, my mother used to tell me to start by making the bed because a made bed always made the room look instantly better!
Thanks for the comment-there is another instalment up, but Hawaii is turning out to be a longer story than I thought!
I am loving your blog--fun & inspiring!
Public Artist, your mom gives great advice! I love turning down my bed at night, too. I'll even do it 30 minutes or so beforehand just so I can enjoy the sight of it before getting in. :)
hicktowndiva, you're so kind! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Keeping this blog has been a great help to me in keeping me on track with my missions.
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