It's called LIFE...

It's hard to believe I haven't blogged in nearly a year to the date. Time sure does fly! In the past I found that blogging here at SP can be healing, bring suggestions and advice - both wanted & unwanted, and a place to connect with fellow Sparkers. I reflected on why I hadn't blogged in so long and realized that 2019 was a non-stop year, bringing many major challenges and the death of a friend who became a sister in every sense but bloodline. At best it was a difficult and sad year. Thinking about all that has happened, I am not even sure about what I want to share. Perhaps I should start with the only team to which I devoted any time - and not the time I should have spent - the seasonal 5% Challenges.

As their name states, the challenge is to lose 5% of your body weight within the 8 weeks of the challenge. I have participated in them since winter of 2014. In some of them I have been successful, or close to success. The one thing they did was keep me from gaining back any of the original 54 lbs I lost. That leaves me with a few questions:
Why wasn't I successful in all of them? What did I do to help me not regain any of what I lost? What were the setbacks I had during them? Was I a responsible teammate? Did I participate in the activities the leaders arranged? Did I just write a plan or did I actually incorporate any of it in my life? The mechanism is simple - eat healthy, exercise, participate in the weekly "Living the Good Life (LTGL)" challenge, & report everyday on a team thread. If you do these things, you get a team of 30+ people spurring, motivating, kicking you into gear to help you be successful. The mantra for it is simple to me: You get back what you put into it. Yep. That simple.

It's a new year - 2020. We don't quite live the Jetsons' lifestyle as we thought. So much is familiar...and yet January 1st brings new opportunities, new 5% Challenges, new tasks, new joys and new sadness. It's called LIFE. So I am off on my 2020 life adventure!

BLESSINGS:
1. Katie, my feline teacher
2. The 5% Challenges and their leaders who devote a lot of time to us
3. No winter precipitation accumulated today
4. We are one day closer to spring.
5. The gift of the internet if used for good