A BRAVE new day

So....we were having this discussion in chat last night about being brave vs. being a chickensh*t and it would appear that I am the only that thinks that we are brave (me, the negative snarky one!) and I do~think we are brave. In fact, I believe that we are all brave wise wonderful human beings who deserve good things----and do the best that we can with what we have at the time. (Okay who is this and where is Jolene???? lol)

Van Gogh said "WHAT WOULD LIFE BE IF WE HAD NO COURAGE TO ATTEMPT ANYTHING."

So in the spirit of bravery....my definition of bravery is:

• The ability to be yourself (after all everyone else is taken)
• The ability to get out of bed everyday and keep going usually with a smile on your face especially in light of this uncertain economic world
• The ability to keep going back OP increasingly in the wake of many failed attempts
• The ability to know that you are powerless to control what happens to your children/teenagers/grown children, yet you keep doing the right things anyways even when it hurts (and it usually does!)
• The ability to face Mr. Scale on a weekly or sometimes daily basis even when we know we won't like what it says
• The ability to live in a world where food is vital, necessary and everywhere, yet it remains our addiction of choice
• Drinking all of our daily recommended 64 ounces of water and not know where all the bathrooms are in a mile radius (you may laugh---but you know what I mean!)
• Being the largest person in your fitness class and learning to not worry what everyone else thinks because you have just as much right to be there
• Getting on the dreadmill or the bike or the eliptical or which ever piece of equipment you hate when you are tired or sore or busy or _____________(fill in the blank excuse) because you made a commitment.

This and so much more (serving our country in the military, working in a demanding public service job or working with difficult hard to serve populations, fighting for world peace, etc) is MY definition of bravery.

My RAH for the day was two-fold....I went to a new zumba class to support a first time instructor in her endeavors and I brought a bag of clothes from my closet to the dv shelter because I know they are always in low supply of larger clothes. The look and smile and gratitude I got from Jackie (the new instructor) made my whole week!

Exercise today....6-8 miles walked with walking group (I love Sundays and the ability to catch up on the minutia of our groups lives) and 1 hour of Zumba

Word for the day...SORE! (drat those bar curls from yesterday!)