How do you rebound?

Yeah, yeah.... a sports analogy from the non-sports girl.
Don't hate me - but I really don't even watch basketball.

But I started researching the philosophy behind rebounds and the role of rebounding in a game - Here are some of the things I found...

• Few statistics influence the outcome of the game as do rebounding.
• Rebounding is essential to winning the game.
• Rebounding takes dedication.
• Rebounding is 75% desire and 25% skill.

Any way you look at it - I started thinking about rebounding after misses or mistakes in life - whether it is diet, exercise, parenting, frienships, work, or other goals. 

There were definite times along my journey that I made mistakes or missed the shot.
There was the day I ate an entire pizza, or the day I just couldn't walk away from the Lay's Chips... Or the many personal trainer sessions when I just couldn't finish the exercise, running training days where I couldn't do the mileage prescribed, the weigh in days where I missed my self-imposed unrealistic goals, or the overall feeling that it just wasn't happening fast enough (I did tell you I was impatient...). 

So if we were to apply the basketball rebound principles to life - rebounding from mistakes is essential to getting to your goal.  So instead of worrying about "when" you will mess up or that you "failed" because of one mistake - instead get your head ready to not let that mistake be the end. There is no such thing as failure if we realize it isn’t the end. Bounce back!

Yes - I'm preaching to myself in this... my triathlon goals are testing my limits...
Struggling with swimming is making me rethink why I would ever sign up for this!
I want my skills and abilities to appear overnight (yep - unrealistic and impatient) and doubt creeps in... BUT I am DETERMINED that I will achieve my goal. I will rebound from this challenge and reassess my expectations and game plan.  But I'm not calling it quits!

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
–Sir Winston Churchill

My resolve...

My resolve as I start the next book of my life - is to strive for better balance.
What? My life isn't perfect? Nooo.... far from it.  With my obsessive tendencies, it was quite easy to lose focus during the weightloss journey on the things that were really important. So here I am coming clean and admiting that all is not well in my life.

"The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself."  — Anna Quindlen

But over the journey of weightloss, I learned that I couldn't make change happen overnight.  So it would be unrealistic (yep...me and that word again) to expect I can solve all of my problems at once or immediately.

So where do I start? I'm really not sure how to tackle this with a nice, neat plan of action.  I can't plan for every scenario that may play out...which is my natural style.  Which means I really do have to let go of unrealistic expectations... and that begins with changing my own thoughts - in how I react to life.

Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be?

~Nelson Mandela

The best present I have ever received...

Was a Dr. Suess Book.... Yes, you read that right.
Not a cheesy gift, but absolutely the PERFECT present!

So which book?   Oh, the Places You'll Go!

My dear friend gave this to me for Christmas and personalized each page with how I should interpret or apply the words - or just overall encouragement on my current journey.

It was a perfect gift because 2011 marks the next phase of my journey - to embrace life fully with this new self confidence, skinnier self, and optimistic outlook on the future.  But 2011 also includes choices and changes that are very difficult - but that's life right? The best things in life often do require really tough decisions.

Ever think Dr. Suess could give you advice as an adult? Whether that advice is a weightloss journey or a personal transformation... the words apply to life so brilliantly.


Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

But the closing was the most profound for me...

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Great ideas or intentions are just that if you don't take action. Move forward, take that step, make that change! Conquer the world!

So...get on your way!

As another friend says it..."keep pushing until there are no more limits.  This is life, this is love, this is living."

So...read this book again!
Here's an audio book link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQRWeZy-S8Q
Or here's a link to the words: http://www.teamhope.com/seuss.htm

Thank you Erin!

Do you really live out loud?

I've heard the term "live out loud" but never really paid attention or took it to heart what it actually meant. Then I stumbled on it a couple of times in the last few months and finally understood its meaning (well - at least how I interpreted it.)

During the journey of changing my body and mind, I kept everything to myself.  I still shake my head when I think about how fear can negatively impact your life.  I was afraid of failing, so the fewer who knew what I was doing - the less I would be embarrassed.  I feared I really was crazy and that my irrational thoughts weren't normal.  I feared losing control - that somehow hiding my emotions allowed me to not be vulnerable to life's disappointments or challenges.

Learning to not be afraid has been the hardest journey.  But as I learned to overcome fear through exercise, I started changing my thoughts about daily life too.  And then I did something that changed my entire perspective... 

I used a tool - www.myfitnesspal.com - during my weightloss to track food.  Their website also offers a forum for sharing struggles/successes and allows you to friend others who are also on this journey.  I stayed in the background - because I thought it was my struggle.  But when I was ready to test myself and whether my story was really a success - I posted before/after pictures on this site first. 

That was the day that I learned the meaning of living out loud.  I let go of my fear and put myself out there for everyone to see - and comment on.  (You can read their comments here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/136063-sharing-my-b-a-pics ).    That was the day that I realized sharing my story could really impact other people's lives.  And it gave a whole new meaning to life...

So - Living out Loud for me is through sharing my story and struggles - including my mental insanity through this blog!   This is my way of "paying it forward" - you never know when something you say/do inspires someone or changes their lives...

Now in reality - this new found excitement or passion for living out loud, living healthy and tackling change (at the speed I want things to happen) isn't accepted by everyone in my life.  So while I try to not push the boundaries on being annoying, pushy, demanding...or overly dramatic - I just want to practice not being afraid of sharing my thoughts or emotions.  I can't continue to live inside my head fearful of what others will really think.  So - here's the real me... living out loud!

Friend me on Myfitnesspal at amyshamm or on Facebook as Amy Giles Hamm - or follow this blog.



"Live out loud! Live life to it's fullest. Don't just laugh out loud, but cry out loud as well. Take all those wonderful feelings you have and let them out, they are the key to making your dreams come true. You need to know your feelings, so they can lead you down the path you were meant to follow. Max it all out when it comes to living your life, meet your end, exhausted, but happy with the knowledge you lived your life to the fullest."
-- Edward W. Smith