by Tish MacWebber | Nov 24, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name. If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story. The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors. I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.
This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.
Here is Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 39
Balance. I was trying to decide what my topic was going to be about this week, and it came to me. I need to write about balance. It is a word that has a lot of meaning and plays an important role in my journey to become a healthier version of myself.
I will start with Zumba. It is a dance exercise class. I am not the most athletic person. I really love dancing, though. Almost as much as I love swimming. I like biking and skating also. I have not done the latter two for years. I was swimming in the ocean in July. I went to Zumba class twice this week. So I am most active in Zumba class. I go. I do my thing.
I had Wednesday off for a vacation day this week. I then went to Zumba class, and it was an amazing class for me. I felt free and had no weight on my shoulders from spending the day at work. What a nice change it was. I danced and moved around with a little more zest last night at class. During the stretch, I always amaze myself with my balance. If I take a few extra seconds to set up for my “tall” stretch, I can stand on my tippy toes and reach high up and hold it longer than I used to. It takes those few extra seconds to set it up, but I can be comfortable in the stretch when I do. If I don’t, I wobble. I have yet to fall over at Zumba (it is not a goal, it is a fear) and I have to catch my balance there sometimes. I can trip over my own feet in a split second, and then recover in the next second. I have mad skills at this. Once in a while, gravity wins. The result of that usually leaves me in shock, because I am such a clutz, I normally have an equally remarkable recovery skill.
Balance. The Trim Healthy Mama (THM) plan, also involves balance. I am still having commitment issues, but that is not what I am referring to. The plan encourages a way of pairing the foods that you eat to maximize weight loss by using protein as the foundation and pairing it either with low carbs, or healthy fats. The way you plan your meals on THM creates the balance for you. It evens out if you find the way your body responds to the different types of food combinations. When I focus, I can see it working. I need to work harder, but also find the balance for real world situations.
Balance. The time spent and meal planning will be the balance for the healthier version of me. I need to make the time to plan and prep cook. Then when I need something quick, it is an easy fix. That is a no-brainer.
Balance. Sleep and exercise. I need to find more time to sleep and exercise. I have been so busy at different times this year. I know that sleep and exercise are important. Especially if I am going to work my way into writing full time. I know I function better if I have regular sleeping hours. I just get wrapped up in things when I am working on the website, the blog, or my books. It also slips away from me when I am working on other hobbies. Working on my passions is a source of great happiness for me, but I have to remember that other things matter as well.
Balance. I love coffee. I love pop. I love alcoholic beverages. I do not love water. When I do drink, I choose everything before water. I need to balance that a little better.
Balance. I need to find it. In my blood sugars, food, health, exercise, sleep, hydration, passion, creativity, and every other aspect of my life.
What are you doing to achieve balance in your life?
#TrustYourGut
by Tish MacWebber | Nov 22, 2017 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
I did some soul searching this past week. I am looking to find a way to support myself through my creativity. It is not going to happen overnight. I am writing books, and I make beaded jewellery, and I am trying to stay focused.
I have been trying to figure out how to put all the pieces together, and to get ahead. It is an ambitious goal, to be able to support myself by living out my dreams. I am working hard but wanted to explore another what if.
I considered looking into becoming a graphic designer. I am learning so much and challenging myself. I am building a website. For a split second, I wavered. I thought about how much easier it would be for me to tackle a project like that if I learned how to do things properly. If I had the knowledge, it would be easier, and I could advance my own website and launch a career with my own website being my social proof. It would be the best way to start a career.
I thought about it. Really, really thought about it. Hard.
I came to a conclusion. I do not need to branch off in another direction. I have found my passion and the best creative outlet. I need to write. I want to keep doing beadwork, but I need to write. I have been on this journey for a year, now. I have written consistently on the Blog, and I am aiming higher. I want to be a full time writer. I need to write, it is what I am supposed to do.
It is not the easiest decision because it is not going to happen overnight. It is going to take more hard work and dedication. It will try my patience and have challenges. Building a website has already presented me with a roadblock, that I put up myself. I had to sit with it, and sleep on it, and think about it. I have plans, and they will be tackled next month. This month I am writing.
Going in a different direction now would be a disaster. I have found something that feels right to me. It is a dream I had put away for so long that I almost forgot about it. When I started this Blog a year ago, it was to see if it was something I could stick to. Often I have taken on projects and put them aside. I have not stopped writing here, in fact, I have added more to it in this category. I am doing it. Writing consistently. Posting three times a week. Building on what I started a year ago, and proving to myself that it wasn’t another hobby. This is it. My calling. I am so glad that I took a chance and started something new. I am still being contacted by people for advice on how to start their own blog. I can only offer advice and honesty in return for the inquiries. I do know that if I can do it, anybody can. It may not be something that everyone enjoys doing like I do. It may not be someone else’s passion. But it is possible. I am not an expert, but I am having fun, and I still want to keep doing this. When you find out what you are really good at, you will know. If something else catches your attention, think about it, and make a decision. I know that I need to focus on what I need to do and stop being distracted by other choices. This is something I learned in the past year. I look forward to writing and sharing more of this journey here, on the Blog, and seeing where the next year takes me. It is going to see my Blog move to my website. That is something I am not ready for today, but I have the groundwork started and will be focusing on a new launch date, to be announced before it is officially moved.
Until then, I am writing a book for NaNoWriMo, and having a lot of fun with it. Writing in the different points of view of the cats I used to have has been a real trip down memory lane. Oops, did I just let the cat out of the bag? Yes, I am writing a book about cat stories, written as if they are telling the stories. At this point, every single word is breaking a record for the most words I have written with a book as the final goal. That is something that I am holding on to, whether or not I finish the 50,000 word count goal this month. I am going to do my best to pull it off by the end of the month. I still have time. I am also thinking about my fantasy trilogy, and writing notes to myself as they pop into my brain.
I am doing what I can to chase my dreams and catch them so I can make them a reality in my life. What are you dreaming about doing? What is stopping you from trying something to help you find your passion? I am Always Thinking…so if there is something that you want to say out loud to someone, that you want to put into writing, reach out to me, and I will help you if I can. I am finding something else that surprised me about this journey. People want to reach out, and ask advice. I may not know all of the answers, but I can tell you that if you are scared to ask questions, I’m not. I will ask for you if I don’t know the answer to your questions myself. It is something that I am known for. It is how I learn. The other big lesson I learned is to never give up. Being stubborn, it is a hard thing for me to do, to give up. Sometimes, it takes distance to reevaluate the problem, and then try it from another angle. Which I am working on right now in my book writing goals and my website building project. It will happen. It may take more than one attempt, but I have faith in myself that I will succeed. If you want to do something that makes your heart sing, be realistic in your expectations, and go for it. I am, and I am so happy that I took a chance on something that makes me happy. I want the same for all of you. If I can help, I will. All you have to do is ask. 🙂
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
Treasure Seeker Tuesday: Photo by Tish MacWebber; Photo Edited by Noa Price
by Tish MacWebber | Nov 14, 2017 | Treasure Seeker Tuesdays
Confused yet? I was. On Remembrance Day, 2017, I spent a few hours contemplating things. The people that are currently serving their countries, the people who are now at home as veterans, and the people that did not get to go home. I thought about innocent victims of war, both people, and animals. I thought about heroes, and my own grandfather, who is no longer alive but lives on in my heart and fond memories. He came home a veteran and lived for many years with his family. Not everyone was as lucky as he was. I thought about people that I know, including one of my cousins, currently serving our country and a colleague that often shares memories with me on breaks at our day job.
When my internal alarm clock, also known as my bladder, woke me up on Sunday morning, I knew that I was going to have to find my pen and notebook. Inspiration found me in the early morning on November 12th, and I know better than to let it be without writing it down. My early morning thoughts can be lost if I trust them to my memory alone.
I found my book and pen and started writing. The final result of my early morning scribbles are polished to share with the world, now, but it took me a few days to figure out how to get my message out in the right format.
I looked online to see how to submit it to local and online papers. That is harder than I thought it would be, and one had the restriction of no political letters. I asked for advice, and everyone said to put it on my blog. I wasn’t sure. To be honest, I didn’t even know if I should sign it before putting it out in the world, because as sad as it may be to read, and therefore write this, my message may not be taken as seriously when I sign my name at the bottom. I hate to admit it but being a woman with a message that needs to be delivered may not get the attention it deserves because a woman wrote it. I see it in publishing, and many female authors have pseudonyms or pen names to have a fair chance of publishing success. Others choose to use an initial instead of their whole name, and there are plenty of examples of this in the publishing industry.
My point here is not that I am fighting for equality. That is for another day, along with environmental issues, violence, abuse to oneself or others and a variety of things that are wrong in the world that we live in today. My letter was written to achieve a request for World Peace.
Do I believe it could happen? Yes, with prayer, guidance and humility. Humanity has the greatest potential to make changes that affect all of these things. Cynics will laugh and say it is not going to happen. I refuse to sit back and watch the world end without trying to do something to make it better.
Enter my blog. I am making my own world a little better every time I write. Especially when I have a plan, and surprisingly, even when I don’t. Sometimes I don’t have any ideas before I sit down to write, but I sit down anyway. I have three regular categories I am writing in every week, now, and I don’t want to let myself or my followers down. I just write. I make it important because it is important to me to keep building this blog up to be at its fullest potential and then break the next milestone with something even better. It lights me up, gives me something to look forward to, and makes me feel proud to hit that publish button.
World Peace is achievable, and it is an attainable goal. It wouldn’t be an easy thing to get the whole world to agree to stop fighting in wars, I am not kidding myself about that. It would be an extremely complicated thing to do, not that it would have to be that way. The reason it would be so complicated is that so many people would be involved in making it happen. They all have demands, rights, and opinions. It is hard for me to even imagine some of my friends at the same party together, but if I could make them all get along, I would love that. Essentially, that is the end goal. We don’t all have to like everyone all of the time, but we all would be better off if we could just all get along with each other.
World Peace is something that I pray for every day. It is something that matters to me and is close to my heart. I am asking you to read my letter below, and if it makes sense to you as something that more people need to see, then do not keep it to yourself. Share it wherever you can, as many times as you like. I believe that if people just read this, and stop for a minute to think about it, changes could happen. This blog has grown to be so much bigger and better because I am constantly working to make it that way. Think of what we could do if we work together on a project like this. We can take this letter, and make sure it goes where it needs to be. I know this in my heart, and I am trusting that after you read my letter, you will feel the same. I have to get this message out, I am counting on all of you to help me do that.
If you would like to share just the letter in a separate PDF file, it is here:
An Open Letter to the Leaders of the World
Thank you for reading, and for sharing if you choose to do so.
#TreasureSeekerTuesday
Treasure Seeker Tuesday: Photo by Tish MacWebber; Photo Edited by Noa Price
by Tish MacWebber | Nov 14, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Another weekend win for me this week! I was kidnapped on Friday night while driving my own car of my own free will and coerced into a girl’s night out with a friend. We hadn’t had a lot of fun It had been a while since we saw each other, so I decided it was worth it to spend time away from writing and be with a friend. We went out for dinner and a movie. It was a lot of fun.
Saturday had a slow start. I watched the Remembrance Day ceremony held in Ottawa on TV. I do appreciate the sacrifice that anyone and everyone made to give me the freedoms that I enjoy today. I also watched a show on the History Channel. It was a roundtable discussion of veterans and they were sharing some of their experiences. For the better part of 3 hours, I thought about my grandfather, listened to the stories, and watched the ceremony. I also was away from social media for those hours. It was how I wanted to remember, and I am incredibly thankful that I have the choice to do it in a way that felt personal to me. I had a root beer in honour of my grandfather, he used to drink root beer.
I then took my time on social media, sending out a few things, to let people know I was back. I planned to clean my desk and the living room. While I was watching TV, I was thinking about the furniture arrangement. Roy had suggested a plan to move things around, but I wasn’t sold on his plan. I saw an alternative to it in my mind, and when I described it to Roy, he thought about it, and he liked it too. He modified the idea I had, but we are now on the same page and we started cleaning to prepare. Stores were closed on Saturday. That night he went out to hang with the guys. I worked on the cleaning.
I got up and wrote something Sunday morning. Early. I went back to bed, and I dreamed about the thing I wrote being stolen, changed, and passed off as the original work. I thought my life was in danger, but it was just my writing. After I got up I calmed down; and made breakfast. Then I waited and waited. Finally, we went to buy the DIY project supplies and a few other things we needed. Later on, much later on, Roy pulled out the saw he bought and started cutting wood. I made him stop, it was late and too noisy. He will finish another time. We want the room to be reorganized and ready for next Saturday. I am hosting a NaNoWriMo write-in and then heading out to watch my friend in a Karaoke competition. So next weekend will be busy, but I have time scheduled for writing! Finally. Once this room is moved around, then we can settle in for the winter, and enjoy living in it again.
There you have another busy weekend. I may not have things on time, but I am still writing, something, when I get a chance. How was your weekend?
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Nov 10, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name. If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story. The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors. I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.
This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.
Here is Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 37
This week I have not stepped on the scale, or measured inches. I did go to Zumba Monday and missed it Wednesday because of circumstances beyond my control. I hope to start going twice a week again starting Monday. The day I made it I had 5,187 steps. That might be the highest step count I have ever had at a Zumba class.
I mentioned that last week I was on the scale at the doctor’s office. I was up. I didn’t want to face it. Bahahahahaha! My chocolate chin is where it all went. I swear. I wasn’t going to put a number on it, but as I am sure that I lost half of it already, I can face it now. 😉 I had gone back up to 312 lbs. I knew things were bad, and not as bad as the worst, but I was right. Making small changes to ease myself back into eating more on plan than off plan is working. I am sure the 12 lb chocolate chin is 6lbs or even less right now.
If I don’t laugh at it, I will curl up in a ball and cry as I eat the rest of the Halloween chocolate and chips. I am going to have my Thursday glass of wine with some Smartfood Gouda & Chive popcorn. Maybe more wine if I want to, but not necessarily. I need to get back on track one meal, snack and day at a time. I am happy today that I made BigMac salad for lunch yesterday. It was SO good. I am probably having it for lunch tomorrow. I made a pot of chili tonight. I am trying. That is better than not trying, and I can live with that. I couldn’t live with a 12 lb chocolate chin.
I think it is time to look at a new NSV. If you are new here, that is a non-scale victory. I admittedly love chocolate. Chocoholic, right here. I can make chocolate treats on the plan. But I am thinking about something bigger. Bolder. Goal achievement status.
I keep seeing commercials that catch my attention. Something I saw tonight made me think I need to get focused, and I think I found my next reward. I am not going to have to only go to twoville for this, I am going to need to be in onederland. That big.
More than one goal. As if I am just working for the big one, I am not going to make it. If I set the goal too high, I will fail. I know it. I can plan clothes shopping trips as I need them in the short term. I am also gearing up to start wearing more makeup. So those things can be small goal rewards. This may have to be the end of the journey prize! What on earth am I planning?
Well, I think it is time to set my sights on some other forms of chocolate. The inedible kinds. There are chocolate coloured dogs. I want a dog. We aren’t ready yet…sad, I know, but it is a major decision, and I want to be sure that I am 100% ready for the responsibility of taking that dog home. I now have an idea. How do I make it bigger?
BLING! I make beaded jewellery, and I am working on my website to launch it. I am not expecting it to be an instant source of income (although I wouldn’t have a problem with that), but I rarely make jewellery for myself. Bigger. Have you figured it out yet?
Diamonds, my friends. I am going to talk to my husband and set some realistic goals, and buy myself some diamonds. But not just any diamonds. For this plan to work, it has to be chocolate diamonds. I want Bling rewards!
I might be too far into the wine to be rational at this point, but I don’t think so. I am planning to up my game and work hard for something tangible. Something that won’t affect my blood sugars, and won’t cause me to be morbidly obese anymore. I have been saying that I am worth it, and it is high time I start planning to show it. So there you have it. I am setting the chocolate bar for myself, 😉 and you know what? I am looking forward to saving up for something really special.
#TrustYourGut
P.S. I am on time with this one!
