Commitment Challenges

These past few days have been doozies!

I’ve been treating today, January 8^th, as my start date for my better habits this year.  I mentioned one of those would be exercising at least three times a week.

A group of five of us got together to do a six week challenge to eat better and exercise.  Everyone is doing it differently but we’ve all shared what our own personal rules are (no alcohol or no sugar or no carbs, whatever) and we’re holding each other accountable.  We’ve each paid in $20 and the most successful at the end gets the money.

However, all this eating better and planning work outs hit major roadblocks. Because, of course.

First, my car is aging less than gracefully.  Some things are broken and I’d hoped to have them fixed this weekend while at a meeting in College Station.

Alas, the parts weren’t ready so my friend and I went to pick up the car Saturday afternoon.  The shop was closed and we could not find the keys ANYWHERE.  We looked and looked but no luck.

We drove home to get the spare set only to realize my home key was on the car key chain and my hubby had taken the kids to the ranch.

Sigh.

I did find a way into the house and we carpooled back to the shop to pick up the car.

Okay, first hurdle managed (I do still have to get my car back to the shop somehow this week…).

Second, we’ve had plumbing problems since the remodel.  In the past two months, we’ve had plumbers out multiple times to unclog the line which was causing the toilets to leak and the shower to back up with (skip past this if you’re easily grossed out) sewage.  My brand new, marble-tiled, walk in steam shower.

Well, the plumbing decided to explode yesterday.

I’m humming along in the kitchen all afternoon cooking ALL OF THE FOOD for this week, healthy habits sure require a lot of attention, when the family arrived home from the ranch.  Little bit reports all the toilets are leaking.

While this had not occurred Sunday morning, sure enough, I walked into the bathrooms and water was seeping out from the toilet BASES.  Ugh.  It did not smell good.  I could smell my bathroom before I made it all the way back to my bedroom and when I rounded the corner I saw sewage had come up from my shower drain all over my new shower floor.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

I stop cooking.  Report to my husband it’s pretty dire.  We couldn’t use showers or toilets.  Luckily, our dear family friends/neighbors had already invited us to dinner and little bit showered there.

I had to call in to work to say I’d be working from home because all the plumbers and contractors had to show up because I WANT A RESOLUTION TO THIS NONSENSE.

Okay, second obstacle – not yet hurdled but at least moving.

Third, I went to bed early knowing I had to be up around 4:30 to pick up my friend and drive to this new 5 am M/W/F boot camp I’m trying.  Despite my retiring at 9:30, I COULD NOT SLEEP.  Nothing doing.  The more I tried, the less I could rest.

A storm moved in at 1 am and raged until about 3 am.  All of which I was awake for.  Fun.  When I finally drifted off at 3:30, my dear hubby’s hunting alarm goes off at 4!!!! Four AM.

Okay, third obstacle – not quite hurdled but at least it’s behind me.

Nevertheless, I got up at 4:30, loaded my mat and weights and water and picked up my fellow glutton for punishment.  We were quite the sight.  We prefer meeting after the sun is up.

The boot camp went well.  If by well I mean we survived it and now I’m super sore as a result of being utterly out of shape.

I ate my eggs for breakfast (my diet limitations are no sugars or alcohol).

I have all my dinner meals prepped for the week, and I’m going to prep lunches today.

Between my husband and my accountability group, I’m committed.

Commitment.

That’s our life application in the kids Sunday School this month.  Each month, because I teach their 2^nd grade Sunday School class, we study four Bible lessons around a concept.  How perfect that this month is commitment?  We even have yellow stretchy bracelets to remind us to keep our commitment and a little paper calendar to check off that we accomplished a step toward our goal.

We’re teaching the kids this bottom line: Commitment – Making a plan and putting it into practice.

Plan. Practice. That’s what it takes.

No one ever said commitment would be free of complications.  In fact, we’d all have no problem committing to challenges if we knew it would be easy.  Why do you think I’ve put this off for so long?

But road blocks or not, I’m in.

Even better, I’m in with friends.

The Bible reminds us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” which I’m totally going to rely on because I’m tired.

Really tired.

But committed.

Let’s do this.