Whew! August was A month!
We spent the first 9 days of August in Paris! Yes, my dream! Paris! With my love! Having been a single mom for most of my #babygirls life, Europe was a little challenging both financially and emotionally for me to try and tackle. We vacationed in The Dominican, St. Martin, California, Miami, Montreal, N.Y…..So, to share my dream with my love was mind blowing. I think almost every day I said…”THIS is the best day of my life!” Hahahaha! Twenty four hours after returning, I was with my concert buddy (my 11 year old Great Niece) and #farmboys sisters at the PINK concert! Trust me, Pink does NOT disappoint! All demographics are mesmerized by her energy and talent. What a TREAT! The following morning we loaded up and headed back to the farm. We returned with 1 daughter and 2 of her besties. They stayed with us for a week, and at the end of that week, we welcomed more family! One sister and her husband, their adult children, their partners and their 7 grandkids for the weekend! Four days later I headed back to the City for a few nights as my mom was passing through before a train ride out West. What a wonderful way to re-enter our real world. Cradled in family. But, WHEW!!! What a truly amazing month!
It was during the weekend at the farm with the ALL of the family when I was chatting with #farmboys adult niece. She is a competitive, very bright, highly educated, career driven mama. We were chatting about exercise. What are we doing now? What are we liking? I mentioned that for me these days I work out from home. I watch YOUTUBE videos. I use light weights and I also dance for the cardio. I also walk the dog 2 x’s a day. She then commented…”That’s great, if you have the self motivation to keep challenging yourself.”
I smiled and said, “Oh, I am lucky. I am pretty motivated. I keep to a routine.” Well, there I sat, days later… giggling. At myself. Just giggling. Keeping a routine is 1 thing….but to keep challenging yourself is a WHOLE different can of worms! And, it got me thinking…am I challenging myself? Challenging myself with workouts? Emotionally? Intellectually? Career wise? And, the answer is NO. Just doing the routine..the status quo is great. I get things done. BUT…Challenging myself? Not enough. That is for sure.
So, as summer sadly, slowly rolls out, I am challenging myself to try new things, push harder. To have a plan for myself that I can roll into this Fall/Winter that is exciting.
As the kids go back to school, as the time spent outside becomes less and less…are you prepared to challenge yourself? Are you ready to kick “IT” up a notch? Whatever “IT” is for you…..Try new recipes? Learn a new skill? Push your workout to another level? Join a book club with books you might not normally gravitate to? Maybe it is to put yourself out there more. Or, less.
I want to be THAT person. You know the one….the kind we all sometimes secretly dislike because they are pushing themselves, learning new things, interesting and interested. My hope is to take you along with me. Together let’s be THOSE people…the ones that keep striving, pushing, smiling and cheering each other, and others along!
Let’s motivate one another, leave no one behind, and together let’s challenge ourselves.
I have loved the positive responses from my blog that so many of you have inboxed/texted/emailed me with. I would love to hear what you are going to challenge yourself with this Fall and Winter, or maybe with the positive news that you are already doing IT! Please feel free to inbox me on instagram @theallisonjoy with your thoughts and goals! And, if this helps at all, here are some of the things I am going to be working on….1. Pushing my workouts. 2. Trying some new recipes/become a better cook. 3.Read more. 4. Update my website more frequently. 5. Smiling more throughout the day. 6. Planning my cutting garden for next summer. 7. Having music on more throughout the day. 8. To begin working on my new project that fills my soul.
Much love all. Much love.
a.-
ps….a few scenes from Paris!
allison-joy 