May 022017
 

When I was young and meant to be out until all hours of the night, I could do so because I rarely slept a full night. Being an insomniac helped me to join the world of the young. πŸ˜›

However, when I finally learned how to sleep regularly through the night, I made it a discipline to be in bed by 9:30pm each night since I was basically going to up at the same time every morning regardless of when I went to sleep – 6am. On a rare occasion, I can sleep in until 7 or even 8am, but with my early-rising husband this is nearly impossible. πŸ˜‰

Still, being on a set sleep schedules makes it a challenge to go out at night and be social. Therefore, now and then it does require an upset to my schedule. Unfortunately, despite possibly taking a nap to help me stay awake the night of, I have to use a day to recover because I feel tired all the next day.

The older I get, the more difficult it is to recover from these late nights out. Although I enjoy the time, I cannot say that I enjoy the recovery…. Still, I cannot become a social hermit – though it does appeal at times. πŸ˜‰

Anyway, it’s nearly 9:30am and methinks it may just be nearly naptime…. 😐

~T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 09:25
May 012017
 

I started reading the second book in the Outlander series. Before I watch the next season of the TV series, I want to read the book….

In the opening scene, the character is going through all the collected belongings of his recently passed away adoptive father. 

It started me thinking on our need to collect things and in some ways hoarde various objects. Is it necessary though? Do all these things in our lives make us happier?

Back when I read about the KonMari method and thought about what brings me joy, I did manage to get rid of a lot of things – clothes in particular, but there are still a lot of papers I have left to go through and free my life of.

It got me thinking though…. 

We are rarely lucky enough to know how long we are going to live or to foresee the future of events in our lives. For some of us, we may live to a ripe old age. Others of us may go tomorrow or sooner. When our time comes, there is no negotiating nor is there the luxury of taking care of business to wrap things up nicely. Although some may find out they have a terminal disease and are given time to do this, it is rare. 

So, if we know that it is more likely that we will not have the chance to tidy up our lives when we know our time comes, then doesn’t it make sense to live each day like you are dying today? 

Maybe we collect a few less things. Maybe we tell someone we love them now rather than later. Maybe we decide to let go and have fun. Maybe we stop worrying about what we cannot control. Maybe we just live today for all that its worth!

~T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 13:50
Apr 302017
 

In high school a close friend of mine’s boyfriend was in a serious motorcycle accident. He was the brother of another close childhood friend. I was going to my girl friend’s house when her parents told me about the accident and that she was down near our local store.

I went and picked her up; took her to the hospital and waited with her to make decisions that could not be waited on until his parents arrivedΒ to make due to the severity of his injuries. Luckily, he made a fairly full recovery and leads a happy life (as far as I know) now.

During that time, though, I went into ‘calm’ mode and never got emotionally involved despite my friend’s tears and worry. Her dad asked me if I thought about being a doctor as I had a good head and bedside manner. I said I had thought about it, but the years of schooling turned me off….

Often I can judge people according to a question of: “Would I want this person to be on a lifeboat with me?”

Those who get panicky, become overly aggressive, whine or only state negatives would immediately be thrown off my boat. Having level-headed, calm and proactive people are the type of people I like to have around me in times of trouble.

This weekend, one of our yogimates hurt her ankle as she stepped off a sidewalk suddenly. She swears she heard a snap and the pain was initially immediate. While it was likely that it was just a short-term pain and discomfort, she needed to go to the hospital to get an x-ray and check it out just in case it could have gotten worse.Β She had been with someone at the time and was in that person’s car, so it seemed best that that person take her to the hospital and be with her.

However, in the end, I went to the hospital to be with her because the other person reacted so strongly and negatively, which ultimately affected everyone during the day in the training class.

Of course, everyone is human and responds to emergencies in different ways. It is not a fault per se if someone takes on stress and does not know how to cope accordingly. However, I was reminded again of the gift of being able to emotionally detach, remain calm and take care of a situation. It is later that I cope or am affected.

In the end, all was fine. Our yogimate’s ankle is fine though she is being careful with it for a few days. <3

Still, in a state of emergency, I have a clearer idea of who could stay on the lifeboat! πŸ˜›

~T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 10:41
Apr 292017
 

Well this week has been much better. I managed to take the first steps to get myself back to the gym. Although I did not quite get back to my regular routine, I did get a start, which is half the battle! πŸ˜€ It helped to have a couple of random people mention to me in passing that they had noticed I had been absent from the gym. Even though I do not generally interact with others at the gym, it is nice to be seen.

So, here it is:

April 23rd (Sunday)

  • 60′ Ladies’ Evening Yoga

April 24th (Monday) –Β 20′

  • 15 burpees
  • 35 35kg total abdominal x2
  • 30 20kg low row
  • 40 5kg ab crunch x2
  • 20 15kg chest press
  • 30 4kg tricep back curls
  • 20 4kg back crunch
  • 15 4kg side crunch each side
  • 100 jumping jacks
  • 15 15kg shoulder press
  • 60′ Ladies’ Morning Yoga

April 25th (Tuesday) –Β 45′

  • 31′ 3.5km on treadmill
  • 20 7.5kg high pull machine
  • 10 5kg overhead press machine
  • 60′ Private 2:1 Yoga

April 26th (Wednesday)

  • 60′ Men’s Wellness Yoga

April 27th – 29th (Thursday to Saturday)

  • Yoga Teacher Training weekend
Apr 282017
 

As promised, I am here to update on my post about the podcast S-Town

Although M gave up on the podcast because the story was advertised as something different than it turned out to be, I found myself enjoying the narrative and continued through.

The story of John B McLemore is both sad and fascinating at the same time. SPOILER ALERT:  It seems that Mercury poisoning was the cause of his demise, which is quite sad given that the man was a seeming genius.

It was quite clear that JBM was likely gay or at least somewhat and struggled in a very small town. Despite his eccentricities, though, he seemed loved and supported by his friends and community. His mental decline started to take a toll, however, and this is when the reporter Brian Reed comes into the scene.

I was quite fascinated by the storytelling of this man’s life. Even though it started out as a potential story about murder and crime, it turned into a sharing about a man who seemed to suffer while alive but in his death got recognized for who he was.

Overall, I recommend it. There are some gritty parts, but there’s nothing scary about it. πŸ˜€

~T πŸ˜€

Apr 272017
 

I do not have much to say today. Overall, I feel pretty good. My mind is a bit quieter and calmer than it has been. I am not sure as to why but it could be a number of things:

  • Immediate bills paid up
  • Taking vitamin B again
  • Sleeping
  • Routine returned

Or, it is a combination of all of the above. I finally feel as if there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I am a bit freer to focus on some other aspects of life. So, we will see.

Anyway, today starts the yoga teacher training weekend – only two more (including this one) and then it is exam weekend and I’ll be a RYS-500 teacher. This will allow me to do a bit more other things and to relax a bit.

So, I am also looking forward to focusing on some other bits and pieces in June….just gotta make it through the end of the May! πŸ˜›

More on this later. 

~T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 09:07
Apr 262017
 

I seem to be having respect issues with my husband. It is not a really serious one, but it is something that I will be keeping my eye on and seems to relate to my posts this week.

When someone works in a predominantly male environment where ‘man-talk’ is the norm I can understand that it might be difficult to draw the lines between work and home. Now I am a fairly open and liberal woman who does not quite take offense to the locker room talk. Still, I do not want to be objectified by anyone even under the guise of my husband’s adoration.

As someone who listens to a lot of true crime podcasts and watches similar TV shows, I am often struck by the lack of respect that men have towards women or even vice versa in rare cases. We find small ways to justify slightly skewed ways of speaking to one another or judgmental comments about body image. Yet, all of this is about respect.

So, yesterday my man was having a very bad day. I called to check in on him and he immediately began to yell at me over the phone to “leave him alone”. Well, mid-tirade I simply hung up. I was having a great day and in a rare good mood. Nothing and no one was going to mess that up for me.

Therefore, I chose not to speak to him again. He could have sent me a message at any point during the day to apologize or express love, but he did not. He chose to call me when I was in the middle of my lessons, so I could not speak with him. Then, he tried to justify his lack of apology and communication with “I tried to call you.”

Well, this does not pass for me because everyone who knows me knows that I rarely – if ever – answer my phone nor prefer to talk on it. Also, he would have known that I had lessons at that time and chose to call then. Finally, he knows that a simple message of “sorry, let’s talk later” or something to this effect will be enough to appease me. Thus, I felt it was more a matter of a lack of respect – lack of respect for me as a person, his wife, etc. He claims he was truly sorry, but I don’t know.

The point is that, for whatever reason, I no longer feel the need to accept the small justifications no matter whom I feel is disrespecting me. I have respect for myself and no one is allowed to treat me otherwise.

~T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 11:39
Apr 252017
 

This morning I sit here trying to figure out what to post about and find my mind drifting. More signs that the ups and downs are definitely on the up causing my brain to go into rapid fire mode. Most of yesterday I felt as if I had a load of energy bottled up inside that was much like one feels from a caffeine overdose in a day. Although I was happy, there was still tension of build-up in my body.

It was actually a rather busy day full of some inefficiencies yet somehow very productive or active.

By the end of the day I was ready for my usual bedtime and slept well. So, guess I just gotta keep focusing on how best to use all this energy for now and hope that I do not come crashing down at some point…. πŸ˜›

Anyway…on to the rest of my day! πŸ˜€

~T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 10:04
Apr 242017
 

So…the memory is so often unreliable. We tend to easily remember the bad things that happen to us or the moments when others have let us down in some way or another, no matter how little or a lot. However, we have the amazing ability to forget all the good things or the status quo elements of life.

I have been in some kind of a mood lately. While I could blame it on my monthly cycle or others around me or the moon or whatever else I can find to pass it on to something or someone other than myself, if I am to learn anything (eventually), I should be paying more attention to my bipolar tendencies.

Because the extremes and swings have not been so noticeable lately, I had nearly forgotten that they even exist as a reality in my life. Since I am not manic up or down, it is more difficult to take notice or to remember to take notice when these episodes might be happening.

However, when M said to me the other day that suddenly I seemed to have released some tension (this was after selling his car), I thought that perhaps it was more of a trigger that snapped me out of the downward trend. Of course, selling the car is a HUGE relief in so many ways, but is it THAT much of a trigger to push me back up into an upward spiral? Probably not…and yet, I am now suddenly full of energy, happy, playful, etc. – to a minor extreme.

Therefore, logic kicks in and memory recall pinpoints that perhaps I am having a more obvious bipolar episode and have forgotten or chosen to ignore the signs again.

A couple of changes are being made to address this.

First, I am starting to take the Vitamin B (stress tabs) again as I imagine that having been off of them now for about three months has probably affected the chemistry of my brain enough to now be noticeable again. It was an experiment to see how the Juice Plus pills would work without the other, but I think that for now I need to do both.

Second, I got myself back to the gym this morning. Stepping on the scale the other day and also having some people notice that as a regular I have been absent, motivated me to take the first step to get back to it. This should also help the chemistry of the body to give me boosts through a healthy lifestyle and regulate the moods again.

I am still working on one other change, which I discussed last week or the week before in getting myself back onto a regular meditating schedule. This has been a bit slow on the take, but I will get there as I need to step up my game in this area now that I have more clients and classes going during the week. πŸ˜€

All in all, I cannot complain as the high in my brain is pointing toward life getting better and better. For now, I shall ride the waves and do what I can to prevent a crashing downward. πŸ˜›

~T πŸ˜€

Apr 232017
 

This weekend is a long one to celebrate the Prophet’s Ascension much like we rejoice in Christ’s rising for Easter. How they differ I don’t know….

Anyway, it has been a full weekend of socializing and a couple of late nights. 

One evening we spent talking with a friend about human nature and our expectations of people. M and I often talk about our opposing starting points when it comes to people. 

M generally likes people until they prove to be assholes. On the positive, he does expect people to disappoint him so he is not as upset when he comes around to the truth of them. 
On the other hand, I start on the dislike end and work my way back. In general I think people are assholes until they prove otherwise. It doesn’t mean that I get less upset in finding out the truth, but my expectations are lower in that sense because I don’t start out liking them anyway. 😜

Some people, though, like people and desperately want them to be decent humans so when truth is revealed the disappointment is so massive that it feels like a betrayal or personal wound. This is how then we end up with revenge, anger, bitterness and overreactions. 

Although there are times when I might briefly wish I liked people more, but then, I speak with these kind-hearted folk and mostly feel sorry for them. 😬

It might sound wrong, but I am glad I’m a cynic and skeptic. I have found some balance in not being overly negative about the human condition as in years past but still remain realistic and accepting of the truth – people are assholes but some of them I like anyway! πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

~T πŸ˜€

 Posted by at 11:26