June 21, 2012

2012 | Day 169: YOU are MY dream


MOTIVATIONAL OF THE DAY

The Scary Choices

Sometimes we find a dream in our heart that we didn’t realize was there, discovered during a period of darkness, or when someone or something completely UNexpected comes into our life and we are knocked out for the count. Sometimes those dreams can SCARE us beyond all imagining, something we never wanted or ever thought we could or would want, held in trepidation as we debate the decision whether or not to FOLLOW our heart in this matter.

Will we or won’t we? Will we step out and risk everything we know and have ever known for something OUTSIDE the scope of our experience and knowledge, so unknown that we feel helpless and lost in navigating our way through it? Will we choose to look BEYOND everything that could possibly go wrong on the journey, seeing instead the wonderful OPPORTUNITY that life is blessing us with, the dream we have denied our heart for so long?

Whether your mind acknowledges it or not, once you are AWARE of this dream, you can NEVER become UNaware, that dream becoming a PART of you, living and breathing with you, held capture in your heart, no matter how far down you may try to push it or try to deny its existence out of fear of what might happen IF you follow it. You’ll never know if you don’t give it a chance, if you don’t take the risk and put yourself out there, if you don’t DO.

But when you’re afraid and you just DO it anyway, that’s when you grow and open yourself up to new POSSIBILITIES, when your heart SINGS in the exhilarating feeling of not knowing but knowing and having FAITH that something WONDERFUL is going to happen. It’s not just persevering and desiring it with a force more powerful than you ever realized, but it’s making the choices that scare us the MOST, stepping into the decisions that you want so desperately but have never allowed yourself to consider a plausible reality, that CHANGE us the most and can be the BEST things we ever do, WORTH everything in the end.

Will YOU hear and HEED the call of you HEART and take the RISK, no matter how fearful you are, no matter how hard the path ahead might seem, to SEE where it takes you, to take the chance that it could be something that ENRICHES your life BEYOND anything else you have ever known? Will you be BRAVE and EMBRACE it, knowing that God would never have offered such an unexpected gift it He did not WANT it for you? WILL YOU?

Quote for Reflection:
TRAINING

Skip x 300 revolutions

Full-Body (30 sec recovery between quadsets):
QuadSet A -
1. Single-Arm DB Bent Over Rows 3 x 8 per arm
2. Side-to-side DB Push-Ups (feet on floor, hands on DB) 3 x 12
3. Stiff-Legged DB Deadlifts (on step, reaching DB down 6 inches) 3 x 8
4. Skip 3 x 100 revolutions
QuadSet B -
5. Bent Over Plate Rear Raises 3 x 10
6. Hammer Raises (each hand with individual plate) 3 x 10
7. Alternate Single-Arm DB Lateral Raises 3 x 20
8. Skip 3 x 100 revolutions
QuadSet C -
9. DB Zottoman Curls 3 x 10
10. Push-Ups (feet on floor, hands on fists under chest) 3 x 10
11. Alternate DB Hammer Bicep Curls 3 x 20
12. Skip 3 x 100 revolutions
QuadSet D -
13. Swissball Crunches (270 degrees to 180 degrees) 3 x 15
14. Hanging Straight-Leg Raises (feet to touch bar) 3 x 10
15. Plank 3 x 1 min
16. Skip 3 x 100 revolutions

Stretch 8 min

Post-Weights Cardio:
Recline Bike 20 min @ 106-110 rpm

Stretch 12 min

OTHER NOTES

Sleep: The exhaustion yesterday was reflected in how long I slept - although I woke several times, ended up getting 10-11 hours and STILL woke feeling like I had been run over by a train, eyes bright red.

Mood: My soul feels so LIGHT

Energy: Boundless, once I got into training - mood definitely makes a difference as well, because I woke shattered as hell.

Libido: HIGH!

Joints: Shoulders still not good - left tendons clicking over each other painfully during resistance training, and right so painful I had to dig my nails into it during post-weights cardio to minimize the pain. Neck a little "out" as well, but working on it - has become more prominent the more my shoulders hurt.

Quality of Training: Took my bike off the rollers and RODE to the gym today (going to start doing this from now on methinks) - felt awesome to be out on the road again and made me realize how much I missed it, but anyways...I was smiling when I walked into the gym (it truly IS my "happy" place, although my smile was because of something else entirely), ready to get into the weights. Stuck with quadsets (really enjoy doing these), changing up the exercises for some variety. Noticed last night in the mirror how much more developed my left lateral delt is than my right and couldn't help but see this in the gym as well - going to have to work on that. Definition was great though. Smiled for the most part through the pain of my shoulders (which started playing up early) and the lightheadedness (that set in during QuadSet D), my "usual" training face only on through QuadSet B - where my neck started playing up on me (went away after this quadset though). Finished covered in a glistening sheen of sweat, feeling my abs tight (they need to LOOK as tight as they felt during and after planks), eyes bright, in pain but unable to keep the smile away...

Overall Sense of Feeling: My entire body is SMILING!

Iron Mulisha: Don't forget to check out I CHOOSE...