New year, new..blog?

There is something about "new" aspects in life that is exciting. Maybe it is just purely for the fact that it provides an outlet outside of our usual routine, or prevents us from getting into a boring "rut," but I think whether it's a hobby, or a new favorite song, the possibilities are endless when you open yourself up to new opportunities.

I like to think of New Years as a reminder that each day is a chance to work toward a goal, or be a better person, or whatever it may be that you want to accomplish. However, I don't think that New Years is a chance to procrastinate on all of your goals, only to work toward them for the first few weeks, and then leave them behind in the "resolution pile" along with everyone else's fitness aspirations and unfulfilled promises to quit this habit or start a new one.

That being said, I'd like to take this new opportunity to continue writing for The Daily Challenge, but not in the confines of what I've normally been writing about. I spent the past year and a half blogging about positivity and happiness and while it was incredibly rewarding, I want to shift gears to be more open and inclusive to new perspectives that do not necessarily fit into that category. I love music, art, traveling and reading, and I want to include these new topics into my blog. The way I see it - the new Daily Challenge is to find something so inspiring and uplifting that I can't wait to get home and share it with all of you, my dear readers.

In the meantime, check out my friend/fellow blogger's incredible heartwarming post. Guaranteed to make you smile!


Peace and love.
-C

Objects in life are closer than they appear

Have you ever noticed how the side-view mirrors on your car say something like "objects in mirror are closer than they appear"?

Well I was thinking about that today and realized that I think that can apply to anything in your life. What is it that you want to accomplish? What is something that you'd like to do? Replace "objects" with something fitting to your own life. For me, I'd say "a positive attitude every day is closer than it may appear." It's as simple as that - telling yourself, and setting your mind to think something, and you can have it! All of it is closer than you may think.

What would you say is "closer than it may appear" in your own life? Take a moment to reflect on something that you'd like to do, or something that you may think is a far-fetched thought, whether it be a goal, a habit, or a lifestyle adjustment - and face the reality that it's within you reach! All you have to do is realize it.

The rewards of goal setting

I discovered today how rewarding it is to set goals, and more importantly, to work toward achieving them with other people. My friend and I decided a couple of weeks ago that we wanted to run a 5K and hurried to sign up for the Feb. 27 OC Hope & Harmony walk. Soon after, I found that we were pushing each other to run farther and faster than I might have done on my own (I can't speak for her too but I'd like to think it was mutual!) Suddenly it was "race day" and all our hard work and preparation was going to be tested. We arrived at the site around 7:15 a.m. to the midst of what I would categorize as "torrential downpour." It did not stop raining for the entire 45 minutes we were waiting for the 8 a.m. start time. Soaking wet, drenched to the bone, freezing cold, and completely not in the right mind set to start the race, we stood on the starting line waiting for the whistle to blow. At that moment the skies opened up and it was almost as if someone had dumped an entire bucket of water on our heads because it started to rain even harder! It was unbelievable but at that point we had to laugh because there was nothing else we could do. The most amazing part is though as soon as the whistle blew to signify the start, it stopped raining for the entire duration of the race. So even though we were still wet and cold, it was no longer raining which was a really good thing. The best part is we were able to out-run our goal by three minutes, and we finished within a few seconds of each other. It was a very rewarding feeling to exceed our expectations and to have each other as motivation to do our very best. The moral of the story? Set a goal for yourself, find a friend to join you, and you may be surprised by your results!