Go For The Goal!

Well, with Easter coming up in a few short weeks, I thought I'd let you
know how I am progressing toward my Lent goal. The original goal was for
me to exercise four times a week. I had to change that during the first
week of Lent due to my lack of doing anything that even began to resemble
approaching that goal. So, I gave up fast food.

I am proud to say that I have been successful thus far in my quest to stay
away from fast food! When Mike travels, it is so easy for me to just
swing by McDonald's and pick up Happy Meals for the kids and eat whatever
they don't eat (which is most of it). On those nights during the Lent
season, I have been feeding Meg cheese eggs - which she loves and will
actually eat - and I have been fixing Kate Princess Soup. It's just
chicken noodle soup where the noodles are shaped like Cinderella and glass
slippers and such. Because it is princess-ey, she'll eat it. I have been
fixing myself a sandwich on those nights and, as a result, have not been
miserably full for the rest of the evening. It's practically as easy and certainly better food for us to be eating. I think once Easter is upon
us and I can officially eat fast food again, I may be less likely to do
so. We'll see, but I am hopeful.

So, I am in the process of accomplishing a goal - yea me! For me, this is
a huge feat. I'm not a real goal-oriented person. There's just not a
whole lot outside of family and work that I am driven to do. Part of this
is just the laziness that is inherent in my personality. But the other
part is - if my family is happy and my manager is happy, then that's pretty
much what I wanted to accomplish.

I'm not one of those people who has said to herself, "I WILL run in a
marathon!" Nah, I'd like to be able to run in another 5k, but I have no desire
to take it beyond that. And I'm okay with having to walk in part of the
5k. Just so I finish with a pulse.

For me, instead of having a goal to be able to run a marathon, my goal
would be MUCH more attainable like:

After I take a nap, I may do laundry.

Now that's something I can live with. If it doesn't happen, (I'm talking
about the laundry here - the nap HAS to happen!) no harm done. (My
husband may disagree with that...) That way I'm not terribly disappointed
in myself for failing. I've left myself enough wiggle room that if I do
accomplish it, it's a nice surprise. And who doesn't love surprises?!!

I have a few friends who have had their babies without any labor
medication whatsoever. For some, there were medical reasons why they did
it. For others, it was because they are, apparently, insane. I asked
one friend out of curiosity why she chose natural childbirth. Her
response was, "Because I knew I could do it." Really? I'm sure I could
do it, too. I also think I could stand still while a fast-flying baseball
hit me in the teeth, but wouldn't it be more comfortable to just move out
of the way? What does it prove that you were able to have your baby
without meds? That you have superpowers the rest of us do not? I'll tell
you one thing you proved to the other expectant mothers who heard you
screaming while they had their babies with an epidural: that they made the
right call.

I don't mean to say that being goal-oriented makes you annoying. (It
makes you annoying to me, but I am only one person.) I'm just saying that
my method works out pretty well for me. I get to take lots and lots of naps. I watched the Winter Olympics recently and I wondered, when was the last time Bode Miller took a nap? Those people train for like, ever. Who wants that? If I wanted to train for a marathon held in the fall, I would have already had to be preparing for it. How on earth do I know what I'll be doing on the fall? I could be fat by then from not exercising.

So, I'm content with my little no-fast-food goal. I am SOOOOO glad I did not give up potato chips for Lent as I have done in the past. I would have caved for sure - Doritos has a new Cheeseburger flavored tortilla chip that is yummers. There's also a new Sour Cream and Green Onion flavor of Cape Cod chip. Haven't tried it yet, but I'm sure it will be everything I dream it will be.

Hope these last few weeks leading up to Easter are good for you too. Good luck with your goals if you are observing Lent. Now, I'm off to my nap.