As part of the 13 in 13, we were asked to describe what our world would be like if it were exactly as we wanted it. I love to dream and imagine, and once I started writing about how my “perfect life” would look, the words just kept flowing, and I decided to make it a separate post.
I decided not to go too far into the future, just 8 months from now, in August 2013:
After 13 years of teaching, I’ve just been able to retire in order to concentrate on pursing other interests. Many of my friends have mentioned that I’d be great as a health educator, and I’ve taken the necessary steps to build that as a part time job, beginning this fall. My financial situation has improved dramatically, and I’m very happy that work can be a smaller part of my life than it ever has before. I like helping people, offering solid, direct ideas and advice, but I also really enjoy living the rest of my life. I’ve been able to design the heath education so that I can incorporate the areas I’m most interested in: I’ll assist people with meal planning and overall kitchen organization, giving cooking tips, and nutrition information; and leading the bi-monthly WlS support group meetings in my area. I also work at the bariatric center that I went to, offering encouragement to new patients that are struggling to lose the required weight, as I did. Shifting from teaching high school into health education has been the perfect fit for me.
“The rest of my life” is fantastic. I finally qualified for WLS and got the VSG in late March. It’s been four months since surgery, and I’ve already lost 85 pounds, which still amazes me. They say the first year is the time when most of the weight comes off, most of that in the first 6 months. So I know my weight loss will slow down eventually, but I’m going to ride this out for as long as it lasts. The first few months were a bit surreal, but now I’m able to eat just about anything I want, but a much smaller portion. Fitness has finally become a part of my daily life. I move my body every single day, and I like planning fun new adventures with friends and family that center around fitness. Now that I’m able to move more easily, Zumba has become an even bigger part of my workout regime than it was before. I’ve decided to get certified as a Zumba instructor so that I can start teaching my own classes at the community center. I really want to focus on helping overweight people realize how fun Zumba can be. It’s all about the right modifications, and I want to show them those, because I know that Zumba can be frustrating at first. I’m also beginning training for my first sprint-Tri, which I’m set to complete in early 2014. The most amazing thing about losing weight and getting fit is how freeing it is.
Now that I’m only working part time, and fitting it into the rest of my life, rather than making my life fit into work, I’ve been able to travel a bit and have more vacations scheduled in the near future. In fact, I’ll be heading to New York City in October! I can’t wait to see all of the sites and sounds. I’m going to make a pitstop to see a few friends, including CTLB and my high school BFF, Laurie, since they both live back east. After that, who knows? My goal is to go to a new place once every 3 months.
The other big thing is that I just created a new profile on Match.com and have been going on a few dates. It’s been exciting to meet new guys and get a bit of male attention. I’m going to play the field until I find the guy that I feel is really worth getting exclusive with. I haven’t waited this long to delve into dating to go with the first guy who responds to my ad. Who knows if I’ll meet “The One,” but I think I’m going to have fun figuring that out.
Writing about how I’d like my life to be was a blast, and it definitely speaks to the way I’d like to design my life in the future. Maybe not all of that in the next 8 months, but absolutely in the next few years. This exercise was a great way to show me what I value, what direction I want to take my life, and what I should me moving towards. It absolutely fits in with this year’s mantra of Refresh.
I loved this image and the message enough that I’m overlooking the misspelling.
Bella on the Beach 