Week 20 Wrap Up and Smiles

It's hard to believe Week 20 has just finished up. No longer in the teens...6 months will come before I know it! Sometimes it feels like this journey just started a week ago, and other times it feels like its been a year already. I've been really terrible the past week with my food journal. I'm still eating the same way, I just haven't really written anything down or figured out calories (but it's all pretty similar foods, so I'm really not worried that I would be exceeding my calorie limit or anything). But writing down what I eat has honestly been the last thing on my mind this week. My replacement at work started on Monday, so I've been focused on training her during the day. Some friends started a non-profit organization and are having their first fundraiser on Saturday, to which I am doing all of the desserts for the event...so along with focusing on training the new girl during the day, my evenings have been filled with getting dinner cooked, working out, then baking....and more baking...and then some more baking. And then figuring out why the cookies didn't turn out the way they should have...then having to fix the recipe and bake some more. As much as I enjoy this, I know I will enjoy it a WHOLE lot more when I don't have a full time job to worry about. This eye twitch that I've had since last Thursday feels explainable now (add on the fact that the college is charging me double the amount of tuition they should, so I will have to leave work early one day next week to go down to the main campus and fix whatever is happening there, in order to pay my tuition by the end of next week). I'm really ready for 5:00pm on August 16th. When that clock strikes 5, my life will change forever...and for the better. I can't wait!

Anyway, weigh in: down 1.6 pounds this week, for a total loss so far of 53.2 pounds. With the tire flipping, we learned my quads are not as strong as they should be, so weight days have been focused on that this week. So, between really working the legs and yoga, I am S-O-R-E this week. I ended up taking an extra rest day yesterday because my legs just physically didn't want to move voluntarily and I felt exhausted.

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I saw a friend this week who said one of the nicest things someone has ever said to me before. It was one of those things where you go on your way and it just stays in the forefront of your mind and you end up reflecting on it for the next several days. I was with my brother and mom, about to go to lunch, when my friend comes up to me and says, "I just wanted to tell you that it makes me happy every time I see you. You just make me smile."

While my mom, brother and I were at lunch, there was a lull in conversation. My brother then said, "you know who makes me happy every time I see them?" and named someone. My mom then named someone that made her happy every time she is in contact with them. We created a list of people that made us smile by just seeing them. And that got me thinking, why? Why do certain people do that to us? Why are there certain people where, when we see them across the room, they make us smile and give us immediate joy just by being in their presence? And what is it about them that makes us feel this way?

Off the top of my head, I can think of 5 or 6 people that have this effect on me. They're all very different people with very different personalities, interests and mannerisms. I can't really think of any defining quality that they share that could be the tie as to why they make me smile when they walk in a room. But they're all special to me and they all make me feel the same way :)

Hearing those genuine and kind words come from my friend meant the absolute world to me. It made me happy that I can make her happy. And it makes me want to make others happy, too. So, I think that will be my "challenge" for this week. I think I'm going to tell those who make me smile...just that. I want to pay the happiness and kindness forward in hopes others will also pay it forward. I firmly believe kindness can go a long way, not only in changing people's outlook on life, but in making the world that much better of a place in which to live.

Think about it. I bet you there is at least one person that came to mind while you were reading that; at least one person that can brighten your day just by seeing them. At least one person where you can't help but smile when you come in contact with them. Why not tell them? Maybe it's just what they need to hear. And maybe they'll spread the kindess, too :)