Taking a deep breath

Choosing a topic for this week's blog was not an easy task. In the past months, I entered this "thoughts-full" mode and it is sometimes hard to be selective.

Here, I essentially write about my fitness experience, but there is more than training and dieting in the life of Debbie Rodrigues. There are the things I can control, and those that I cannot. There is happiness and there are the lessons. Who I am now is a reflection of my experiences and how I have been reacting to them throughout my 38 years of existence.

In general, I have this all-or-nothing attitude. Instead of first putting my feet in the water and slowly getting accustomed to its temperature, I jump in! Sincerely, it is a very rewarding way of life when it comes to things that are not influenced by others or the environment. Unfortunately when we "depend" on external agents, things frequently get messy.

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.

In my case, I had this pretty 'boring' plan for 2013. I did everything I could to go with the flow without thinking anything over. However, life had other plans to me.

Amongst some of the decisions I had to make in order to readapt, was changing my "Body Transformation" path. The idea was to be stage as fast as I could, doing anything necessary to achieve it the physique I dream of. My body did not like the idea though and after awhile, it started to play tricks on me. Since I'm not a Cylon and cannot jump into a more suitable body (Oops! Geek joke), I had to look for alternatives.

Therefore, the once "asap-plan" became a 2-year one. This more realistic approach itself already took a major weight off my back. I can breath again and enjoy my workouts like I haven't in a long, long time. And the results are already showing! Last week, I trained 6 days straight and even (finally!!!) included a session of Power Yoga to my routine.

Yoga Benefits

It does not have to be perfect to be enjoyable and to bring progress. In a world surrounded by negativity, we have to take charge of ourselves if we want to remain sane. There is suffering all around the globe, tragedies and cruelty; there is laziness, hate and arrogance. But there is also sunshine, the stars, nature and there is hope, kindness and love.

We cannot let the craziness and all the rush imposed by modern life take the best of us. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, take a deep and connect back with people and things that really matter. The rest... Well, let go of the rest.

Have a strong week!