I AM Motivated

I AM

Motivated!

I take an enthusiastic and proactive approach to life.

I want to know the actual meanings to words that we use all the time that, like my previous post mentioned, might have lost a bit of their meanings through the decades.  Motive simply means a reason for doing something.  

I very often hear people tell me that they wish they had my motivation.  To be very blunt...no you don't.  The motives I have for continuing to strive towards a healthy and fit life are rooted in fear.  Fear of not being here for my husband and children, and fear of getting cancer again, and not being able to handle what comes with that because I'm not healthy.  

Back in 2014 I gave birth to our little Annabanan.  This was an amazing time for me.  After Gem was born I was diagnosed with melanoma and then thyroid cancer.  Both cancers needed surgery to be removed.  Thankfully I did not have to do any other treatments beyond the surgeries.  The day I left the hospital in 2014 with our little banana was exactly a year to the day that I had my thyroid cancer removed.  God truly did a miracle for me to have that little one after all that I'd been through.  He first gave us our little Gem from God after two losses, then he gave us cancer twice, then he gave us Anna Grace.  That's where she got her name.  Anna is from Hannah which means grace, so her name is literally Grace Grace...and that's exactly what God extended to me having had cancer twice and still being here to have another arrow in our quiver.  

When Ann was 4 months old my Daddy passed away.  He was plagued with diseases that are for the most part preventable.  He did not take care of himself.  Heart disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes...high blood pressure and cholesterol, you name it he probably had it.  Losing dad sent me on a downward spiral of using food to comfort me.  I was not eating good at all.  Fried foods, processed foods, tons of sugar, tons of fat...bad decisions for my body with my history and my family's history.  Then almost exactly a year after losing dad we lost my aunt.  She was only 52.  When we were up north at her funeral we went out to eat.  It was just me and Anna since Tim had to work and Gemma was going to day care.  We all went to a local pizza place, and I ate an entire medium everything pizza on my own, and then ate a brownie and ice cream sundae.  

Now, it wasn't the food that turned the light switch on for me, it was the fact that I didn't feel horrible after eating all that, when in the past I would have been miserable had I eaten that much food.  In that moment I realized that something was different and if I didn't get a hold on what I was putting in my mouth I was going to have a bigger problem.  That's when I first saw a post that invited people to a clean eating group on Facebook.  From there I went on to join a group that introduced me to the 21 Day Fix and Shakeology.  I found the vehicle I was going to use to put my gas into to get healthy and fit.  My gas being my motives or motivation.    

Somewhere in the middle of this new revelation for me I lost my true motive and I started to focus on what I looked like more than why I truly wanted to be healthy and guess what?   I lost my steam and gained some weight back.  BUT...even though mine was bigger now, that's not the end of the story for me.  Because my motive had roots that are deep and unmovable I was able to get back to doing my best to live a healthy and fit life.  I just had to do some mental cleaning and put what truly matters back in front of my eyes again. Like to affirmation says, "proactive approach", I need to be diligent in keeping distractions away from my true motives.  

Do I have a certain aesthetic that I'd like my body to look like?  Yes, but that can't be the reason that I keep doing what I do each day.  It could be a goal but not my why, not my reason/motive.  

What is going to keep you motivated when you're 50 or 60 or 70 to keep living a healthy and fit life?  When I'm 70 there's no way a bikini or fitting into a dress is going to be my motive.  

Dive deep, ask hard question, and find out what truly motivates you.  

XO 
Shelon

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