Heart to Heart and April Goals

All right, it's been a month. Annnndddd before we dive head long into the April Goals, I think I'd like to take a minute and just chat.

Last year was chaotic for me. I went to Israel, for a second time. (Which if you all are interested, I might be inclined to share.) To do that, I took on a second job, which is why I wasn't posting as much after September. 

I think that's when things got difficult.

I won't say I work harder than anyone else, but what I do for a living, working with the elderly is draining. I was working in a memory care unit at the time, which is more emotionally and mentally involved. Then I would work at an Escape Room on the weekends and some week days. (For those of you who don't know what it is, I'll explain. You're "locked" in a room with a group of people; sometimes friends, sometimes strangers. You must all work together to escape the room. It's a lot of fun, and it's even more fun to be the game master, which I was.) 

That job wasn't hard at all, just a lot of extra work, and then I was trying to maintain a social life, blah blah blah. 

And I think I've said it before, I always get sad during the winter months. Maybe it's lack of sunshine; maybe it's negative connections. Probably both, but it got really bad last year. The worst it's been in a while. I was letting what other people thought about me control how I viewed myself.  It amplified my own insecurities. and then we being the spiral downward.

 To put it plainly, I wasn't doing well. 

Anyway, I started going to the gym. I quit the second job. (Well, went to an on call sort of status.)  I pushed some people away that weren't healthy while I healed. 

I realized that I needed the gym.  

I won't say I suffered from diagnosed depression. I haven't been diagnosed so I can't suffer from it, and I intend to keep it that way. But I get the blues really easily. Especially if there is the slightest hormone fluctuation in my body. The gym dispels a lot of that. I feel it mentally and emotionally if I skip too many days. I literally need the gym. 

I'm going to say to all you out there who have depression or something of that nature. Hit the gym. Maybe find a buddy to go with you at first. Because it's intimidating. I'm still intimidated by the buff people who know the machines. Doesn't matter though, I still go. I have every right to be there, and so do you.

 I say the gym because it's easy to fall off the work out band wagon. It doesn't have to be big, it can be walking on the tread mill, or something. Join a yoga class.. Make an appointment with a trainer/buddy so you have to go. It had a two fold effect, for me. You get endorphins.

Then, on top of the endorphins that keep you from killing people, you also start to look better. You feel yourself loosing weight gaining muscle. Then suddenly you'll  notice that daunting 30 mintues on the treadmill becomes an hour. When I started going to the gym, the elliptical kicked my butt. Now, I actually half trot/half walk on the treadmill. 

But enough of that. I got better was my point. Now, I want to get back to blogging, maybe not as much as I was, but this whole sporadic thing has got to stop. Writing is my art. Blogging my medium. I'll never excel if I don't use it. 

As I was deciding what I should blog about, I realized I missed doing monthly goals. It kept me accountable. 

So here we are. April Goals

Blog Goals

Post once a week.

Add cooking to the blog.  

Life Goals

Keep up with the chore chart. 

Only buy coffee two times a week. 

(It doesn't help Dunkin Donuts is 7 minutes away from work.)

Health Goals

Go to the gym five times a week. 

Prep two meals a week.