I will flourish here - a journey begins

We all have choices about how we are going to move forward with life and its challenges…. How do you do it?

I don’t know about you - but I have seriously struggled.  This 54 year old female has floundered around with life's ups and downs with feelings of self doubt, weight management, and an eating disorder while pretending that everything was fine to those around me.

2017 was a year of change for me. I chose to do things differently with everything from my mindset,  to the way I eat, and the way I train.  I lost 30 pounds, changed my self talk, and was able to improve my best marathon time by over 42 minutes. This was the beginning.  And, in 2018, I am on a journey to continue, to flourish...

Flourish is defined by Merriam-Webster.com as a verb meaning to grow luxuriantly: or to thrive. A plant grows through seasons - it is planted or grows new growth in the spring, produces its fruit or blossoms in the summer, prepares for cold in the fall, and dies back in the winter.  The plants grow more heartily when given fertilizer, water, and adequate sunlight.  Occasionally though, a plant must be pruned in order to grow to be its best - such as an apple tree that must be trimmed in order to flourish and bear fruit each season.

To flourish, we, as humans, are much like plants.  Our life experiences enrich us, perhaps “prune” us, and help us to grow stronger as we continue our journey in life. We are where we are for a reason -- it could be for a short season, or could be for a lifetime.  We have choices about how we grow -- what we learn in each and every challenge that we face.

I am planted here … I am choosing to grow, to learn, to absorb what I can from this season I am in.  The blog I am starting is to document this journey about life experiences, blessings and challenges - how they help me to flourish right where I am. A warning - a lot of my life journey is focused on running and fitness - there will be a lot of talk about that and the adventures my friends talk me into.

My goal in sharing with you is that it keeps me accountable to both you and me.  I hope that you will join me in my blogging journey as the flourishing begins….