All Kinds of Progress

Hello readers.....all five of you...one of you being my dad. haha

It is 3 weeks into 2016 and I am here to update you on how I've been doing with my goals, life, health, and all.

Mental Health

Well, it turns out it is quite a process to get a therapist and psychiatrist around here. Every week is the same; A phone call with a reference, then I wait, and get another call with another reference, and I wait again. I am finally meeting my psychiatrist today and am still waiting to schedule an appointment with a therapist. Lately I've been feeling like seeing a psychiatrist isn't necessary since things have been so good for a while, but then I remember what I am capable of and where my mind and life go sometimes. I will do anything to keep from those dark days coming back. Therefore, I am going to see the psychiatrist and move forward with figuring out if antidepressants are necessary or if I should go a different route.
I know one of my other goals for my mental health was to read a new book every month. This is definitely harder than I thought it would be. I have a great book picked out for this month, "May Cause Miracles" by Gabrielle Bernstein. I was really excited to read it and to use it as a tool in my life. As it turns out, I need to learn to choose to read over watch tv. I am pretty busy with other things and by the time I'm in bed and "should" read, I really just want to turn the tv on and pass out. I do tend to read more on the weekends. This is mostly because I have implemented a "no tv" rule for my weekend mornings. The tv is only allowed on right as I am going to bed, or to watch a movie with my boyfriend. This new rule has changed my weekends drastically. I used to turn it on as soon as I woke up and would lay in bed for hours doing nothing productive. Now, my Saturday morning consists of waking up, making a cup of tea, and reading my book on my back porch. It is a really wonderful time for me. I am happy with the progress that I am making with my mental health this month. I feel stronger and more aware of so much more in my life. I'm not scared of my depression and anxiety. I feel more prepared for it. I am looking forward to see how much progress I make this year.

Physical Health

Oh boy, I am loving my health and fitness life right now. I started a new program on Monday called the 21 Day Fix by Beachbody, and it is pretty cool. Basically, it comes with workouts for everyday, these really cool color coded food containers to measure your intake with, and Shakeology (which I have yet to try since it hasn't come in the mail yet). I don't have the containers either, but I looked at the guidelines and have been trying to follow along without them. I have cooked every meal I have eaten, taken out most dairy (besides greek yogurt and almond milk), most processed carbs (besides whole wheat bread and tortilla), and am drinking SO MUCH WATER. I have been doing this for 3 days and already feel better physically and mentally. My skin is glowing, my body is less bloated, and I have a lot more energy through out my day. I have also been off soda for 3 weeks, which is insane for me! I am a huge soda addict and the fact that I have gone 21 days without it is so motivating. I know I can go the rest of my life without it. I know that won't happen, but its nice to know that I can go long amounts of time without it. Much better than 3-4 a day. I am also going strong in my sobriety, 333 days today! I CANNOT believe I am almost at a year!!! That is absolutely the craziest thing I have ever accomplished, ever. I know 100% that I can go the rest of my life without alcohol, and I plan to. I am so excited to plan a birthday/sobriety birthday party next month. I will have all of my friends with me celebrating this awesome accomplishment. Along with all of the great things happening, I am also free of cigarettes, which is another amazing accomplishment. Those I am absolutely addicted to and can't believe its been almost a year for that as well.
I am feeling extremely proud of myself this month for all the things I have succeeded at so far. And its only been 3 weeks! Imagine how much more I will do in the next 11 months!

Relationships

Being intentional with my relationships has been such a blessing in my life. I am so thankful for the people in my life and the relationships I have with them. I have spent many evenings with friends having great conversation, learning about each other, giving awesome advice, and getting lots of encouragement. Just these past three weeks I have had coffee dates, lunch dates, beach dates, all day dates, and workout sessions with different friends. It has been a great reminder of the love that surrounds me daily. My relationship with my boyfriend has been growing as well. It's always hard when he starts a new semester of grad school. He doesn't have much time for anything else but I understand that and try to be as supportive as possible. We see each other on the weekends and try to spend as much time doing things that we love and spend quality time together. I am so thankful, every damn day, for this man. He brings something new to my life; a new perspective, a new way of doing life, a new way of thinking. He just amazes me. (I hope he's reading this and understands how amazing he is and how thankful I am). :]
I have also tried to spend more time with my family. I have stopped by my sister in law's house to see her and the kids a couple of times the past few weeks, and I have been out to lunch with my parents a couple of times. Its a little harder to see them with our busy schedules and the distance. But we make it work and its totally working. I feel closer to them already.


Education/ Career

This aspect of my life changes all the time, thats why its so hard to really set goals since I change my mind all the time. I definitely want to finish school, but that won't happen until next fall, so I am just waiting until them to focus on getting into school and figuring out what I am going to study. As for the personal training, I have changed my mind. If that happens for me without forcing then of course I will go with it, but I felt that I was forcing something that wasn't supposed to happen for me yet. So I stopped focusing on it and new babysitting jobs fell into my lap. I am focusing on where I am now, and  thats nannying. I absolutely love my job and would do it every day of my life is thats the way it goes for me. I plan on finding a new nanny job when this one ends in June but my location will be changing. (more on that later). I am really happy with being content with my current situation. I have my financial struggles, but I am taking those one step at a time as well. Money is the weirdest, most frustrating thing in life. I hate and love it. I want to give it away, but never have enough. I want it but don't want the power it brings. Its an addiction. I will focus on my financial situation in another post.



So thats my January so far. Pretty great things happening in my life. I am so thankful for everything that has been going on and will continue to happen. I am falling in love with my life one day at a time. I am learning to love every little bit, the good, the bad, and the really ugly.

Have a wonderful week,

Candidly, Candace