Be Content, Or Change

I just had a lovely couple of days away with my family and friends over the weekend

We actually did a couple of nights up at Mannum

It was great catching up with friends that we haven’t seen in a while

We also did a bit of a surprise Birthday celebration for one of the crew too, which was a lot of fun to plan and orchestrate

All in all, it was quite a special time

In accordance with our time away, there were some indulgences along the way

We actually went to the bakery a couple of times, had a bit of cheese and all the trimmings, some hefty slices of Birthday cake and on top of this, a few alcoholic drinks here and there

Some of us in fact, had more drinks than others

And in all honesty, that “some” was me at times

Now…

I am DEFINITELY a person who is in favour of having a good time and making the most of celebration

This is life, and I really want to enjoy it!

So anyhow, most of our drinks were in the evenings during our deep discussions on all the hot topics (well at least what we think is important) whilst also having a great laugh at the things which amuse us the most

Our crew sat cosy around the fire pit, watching and supervising the kids whilst they toasted (well maybe more set on fire) marshmallows for their eating pleasure

And to top it all off the weather was playing nice so the nights were still, 

Put simply, a wonderful time was had by all and there wasn’t much more we could have asked for

So going back to the alcohol bit, did I have a bit too much?

Well to MY standards, it’s a definite YES

My standard (or to what I have been discussing with Yvette) has changed

We’ve really tried to bring it back to having alcohol once a week

And no more than 2 drinks

Why?

For me anyhow, it’s just too easy to put on weight

You drink, then you do all the other things which seem to accompany the activity so well

I think we all realise just how easy it is to JUSTIFY having the sneaky snack here and there, or the piece of chocolate that is sitting there in the cupboard, just waiting to be devoured

Of course, it’s also somewhat effortless to just keep on drinking

Especially if you are in a group where others are too

I’d also say, if it is in fact you are having a good time, then I guess, why would you stop?

Personally… I stopped drinking, when I felt it was going to come at too much of a cost

I don’t like wasting a day, and I don’t like being hungover

Also… I don’t want to be totally and utterly exhausted when I go to work early on a Monday morning and I especially don’t want to put on weight that is too hard to shift

But… that’s just ME though

I realise, (or remind myself of the fact) that where there is pleasure, there is going to be a certain level of pain

If I’m going to indulge for a couple of days, then there is going to be a price to pay

You may not agree with this way of thinking

However, I just see things in life as a bit of a balancing scale

My examples would be:

Staying up late at night to ENJOY the pleasures of Netflix or whatever TV series you’re currently watching (pleasure)

Then it’s likely you’ll have to suffer the consequences of not having enough sleep (pain)

Don’t want to put in the time to plan and prepare some healthy meals for your coming week because it’s just easier not to (pleasure)

You then increase your chances of eating foods which are likely to be more highly processed i.e. takeaway and more expensive (pain)

I’m not going to go on here, because I hope you get my drift

My main message is this

You, (me), EVERYONE at some point must take a deep hard look at their choices and from there, the outcome which is derived

We all know, every decision has some form of consequence

And if indeed we truly don’t like the outcomes derived from these decisions

Then the question is, what are we WILLING to do to change them?

If you are unhappy about your weight, then you’ve got to put things in place which give you more control around how you eat

Got sore joints and are feeling stiff most of the time? Then you’ve got to create a routine which is going to get you moving more often

Sick of feeling tired and unenergetic around the kids? Is it time you lifted some weights or do you need to work on improving your sleep?

In essence, what you have been doing up until now, has got you to where you are…

TODAY!

If you are happy with where you are, then a sincere congratulations to you

However,

If you do indeed want “different” or more, then what you do NOW

And moving forward

Has to change

I know myself, how I used to train and eat say… 15 years ago, is a lot different to how I train and eat today

And how Ignite used to be 15 years ago (I actually didn’t call it Ignite back then) is certainly different to how it is now

That’s because I’m doing things differently, I had to alter my choices along the way

Why?

Because there needed to be change for me to progress

So things weren’t the same 15 years later

Would it have mattered whether things were the same?

For me it would have, but that is of course because I wanted more and I wanted change

I had to change… ME

And if you too want more, and if you want different, then you too will be willing to change… YOU

P.T. Scott