Dreams, memories and hopes

Do you remember when you were young?
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
Great wall of China length of dreams and hopes

Have you forgotten those times you smiled?
Those times excitement lit up you eyes
As you thought about the great adventures you would have once you’re older

‘I can’t wait to grow up’you said
‘When I’m older, I’ll do this and that and that’ you squealed
‘I will be married by this age’ you proudly proclaimed

What about when you were filled with hope?
That the best is yet to come
And with age comes endless possibilities

I remember it all
And I hope you do too
This is the inner drive to keep you going
The motion needed to keep pressing forward

Find your momentum
Keep your hopes alive
Take it one day at a time
And never forget that your younger self had big plans for you
Don’t let them down
It is not too late

Prince Charming or Charming Frog?

This is just my little spin on fairy tales, fables, romantic comedies and reality. Who do we want a prince charming or a charming frog? 

The prince charming saving the damselle in distress phenomenon has been going on for ages. We get in our heads that us females need to be saved and rescued in order to be happy and find the love of our life. And it’s hard to change an ideal that has been engraved in us since childhood.

As young girls we were always told stories about princesses being rescued by a wonderful prince charming who sweeps them off their feet and in the end they live happily ever after. They find the love of their lives and that’s where the story ends. My personal favourite has always been Cinderella; mainly because of our name similarities and also I’m a sucker for a rags to riches story. The thought of being in love and living happily ever after overrode my thoughts so much I even made up my own little song “someday soon my prince will come but until then I’m going to have some fun. I gotta kiss some frogs before I find the one.” Ha! Maybe even from then I realized that some were just frogs and not princes. But I digress.
Continuing on the original path. You would think that all this fairy tale propaganda and propagation would end in out childhood, but oh no that’s crazy talk, it definitely can’t stop there. We need romantic comedies and romance novels and movies for the older dolls. These invade our reality and we become so disillusioned about our romantic realities that we spend our waking moments planning and dreaming about our perfect match. Awww how sweet. We write lists and state all the desired qualities we think suitable for a mate. All in hopes of finding the illustrious prince charming who enters and enhances our lives.

But how do we tell the difference between prince charming and a charming frog in this misguided world? How do we find our person? And what happens to all the broken souls when who we thought was a prince, turns out to really be a frog? Instead of saving, he hurts. Instead of charming, he’s just an actor; the devil in disguise and a snake with blue eyes to quote Carrie Underwood’s Cowboy Cassanova lyrics. Well that just sucks, doesn’t it?

Are we wrong for filling our young people with these fables? For trying to give hope to the hopeless? Or should we still enjoy the glorious tales that magnified the innocence of our childhood but take it with a grain of salt? I think my little rhyme said it best. Have some fun, kiss some frogs and one day he may just show up. But not to save my dears, don’t think it’s to save or complete. His presence will be merely to complement to the already amazing person that you truly are. We may be a princess but never a damsel. Think about it. 

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Getting back on the horse!!!!

For years, I've struggled with my weight. I was a tumble tud in my childhood, a chubby teenager and now a plump adult. All these are simple ways to say I've been a slave to food and inactivity for so long that it started to show on my body. I admit my flaws but I'm also willing to work on changing what I can and accepting what I cannot change.

Many of you may be thinking oh yeah sure; there goes another one on the new year new you bandwagon. And it may be true the new year brings with it hope that I will improve but I'm very serious about this commitment and that is why I'm here. You my readers shall be my accountability partners. By sharing my experiences I can feel like I have a community of supporters plus I can even inspire some of you to do the same like some of my fitness role models have. I know it won't be easy but together, I know we can do great.

Oh and before I forget, today was a small victory for me. I went grocery shopping and picked up some healthy and might I say delicious treats for myself that I will be preparing for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I'm excited because the first step to success is to have a plan and stick to it and that is what a grocery list and healthy food is in a lifestyle change. You pre-plan meals and a menu and stick to it. Get rid of bad foods and replace it with new ones. All of this helps to remove temptation and prepare you for success.

Secondly, my double win was going for a walk around the neighbourhood with my little sister this evening. Exercising isn't only great for me but I got to do it with my sister and if I can be a positive fitness role model to her, then maybe she won't follow the fluffy path that she has already started on and I have trodded down for so long. She is so excited to exercise and is even looking forward to our workout tomorrow. This is just a reminder that if you teach good habits early, children will not only be excited to do them but they will more than likely keep them into the future. And man oh man does that make me proud. Yeehaw!!!!

Those are my small victories for the day and the rest of my day was pretty blah just busy with school. Hashtag :day in the life of a med student. But I'm excited to start putting my best foot forward.

Until next time fitbees.

Nella