I was beyond honoured when my friend Kerry asked me to write a guest post on her blog, Winding Road. I really respect her writing. She is honest, funny, poignant and real in the words she shares with her audience.
When she reached out, my immediate answer was, YES! I’d love to!!
But then anxiety set in. What in the world was I going to write about?
As I began to take stock of my journey, I realized there were a few lessons I learned along the way. Lessons that transcend exercise, diet and weight loss — topics perhaps not everyone has as keen an interest in as I do.
I wanted to pick a big AHA! moment, a key learning, which might apply to life in general.
Taking things to extremes.
What’s that they say? Everything in moderation…
For me it was going from a largely sedentary life to one where I went balls-to-the-wall for nearly 9 months of hard-core daily workouts of 2 hours or more.
The softly swinging pendulum of my life started to feel more like an out-of-control wrecking ball, smashing with it my enthusiasm, my optimism and my desire to even continue on the path to my goal.Luckily, I was sufficiently tuned in to my own physical and mental well-being by this point in the journey to recognize this.
I knew I needed to regain balance in my life. I needed to get back to connecting to what was important for me.
If you’d like to learn more about how I turned that wrecking ball back into a manageable pendulum, please click over to read my post on Kerry’s blog here.
And then stay a while. Poke around a bit. Her posts really are awesome. I think there’s something there for everyone.
Thanks so much!
Get moving!
xoxo nancy
p.s. Note that I *could* have used any number of Miley-Wrecking-Ball images for the gratuitous nudity and shock factor. I see it as a sign of huge personal growth that I didn’t go there. 🙂
Related articles
- Freestyle Fridays Guest Post: Slowing the Swinging the Pendulum (kerryswindingroad.com)
- Slowing the Swinging Pendulum (myyearofsweat.wordpress.com)
Thank you for not going there with the Miley Cyrus song of the year. haha. And thank you for the very kind words and for being my first guest poster!!
It was an honour and a pleasure Kerry. Thanks for having me.
Nancy I admire that you have stayed the course for this long. When we are older it becomes about keeping the body healthy so that we can enjoy our lives. So all that strength, both in boy and mind gives you a great quality of life.
I have actually used some of the workouts to blend them into my own. So keep swinging the pendulum….um wrecking ball…
You’re so right Kelly. Now that I’m more in-the-groove of listening to my body, respecting it – while still continuing to push myself, I recognize that this is about achieving sustainable long term health and wellness. Not about fitting into a size 6.
As always, thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment. I really appreciate your words of wisdom.
That’s a great post Nancy! I on it commented over there 🙂
Thanks so much Mike. I’ll head over and check out your comment.
haha – also known as “commented on it” – somehow slipped into Yoda-mode there… WTF?
must be all that pent up frustration. it’s mixing your brain cells up like an omelet.
Congrats on being a guest blogger. I’ll be sure and head over to check it out. Never hold back on the ‘shock’ factor but I think we’re all a little Cyrus’d out, so thanks…..lol.
No kidding. That little trollop is everywhere.
Tell me how you really feel…..lol 🙂
🙂
I shall go and check out your post 🙂
I think I know what you mean about out of control wrecking ball mind you…
Yep, I knew you would get it Sam. 😉
It is very easy to slip into complete and utter obsession 😉
It most certainly is.
Like everything else, exercise is about balance. Too much of it, and we’ll start to hate and dread it. Not enough of it, and we’ll get jiggly and wiggly. 🙂
Pushing really hard feels good. But not every single day. Finding the balance of pushing past your limits while respecting your body and being good to it…that’s the magic right there!
Exactly. Some days are meant to be powerhouses. Others are meant to be calm maintenance.
Perfect analogy!
p.s. I finally downloaded The Seneca Scourge to my kindle. I look forward to reading during Elliptical days at home.
Ah, thank you! I appreciate your support. May your fingers keep turning those electronic pages while your legs pump and your heart rate soars!
That’s the plan. 🙂
Eighteen days 🙂 !!
19 including today. But who’s counting? 🙂
Hey – are you at BLR this week, or was that last week? How was it???
Hi Nancy! Such restraint–very impressive. Especially after the last post about the airlines 🙂 Congratulations on your guest post….i will definitely check it out! ~Kathy
Thanks Kathy – I appreciate it!
Now going.
You rock, sister!
Congratulations on your guest post, I’m clicking over now to take a look! And thanks for sparing us the Miley Cyrus moment. 😉
Believe me, there were about 5 million Miley shots for every real wrecking ball image. I had to hunt for this like a needle in a haystack!
I appreciate it. 🙂 Great post, it was nice to read a recap of your year of sweat from today’s perspective. You’re such an inspiration!
Thanks Lisa. Still working on my official year end recap, but this whole extremes vs moderation thing struck me as a topic that deserved its own post. 18 days and counting as if tomorrow!
Wow 18 days! I agree this topic deserves an in-depth discussion and I’m looking forward to your year end recap. 🙂
Thanks Lisa for your wonderful support and encouragement these past few months!
I really love the goal setting and I’m wondering how I might follow suit in the new year. You give me lots to think about. 🙂 Congratulations on guest posting. That’s a nice honor!
When I hear that I’ve inspired anyone to set a health-related goal it is unbelievably humbling. This Year of Sweat has provided me so many gifts, and this May rank among the most special to me. Thank you for your kind words.
Lmao “balls to the wall”. Love it! Your post was great btw. You are so inspiring and holding on when you wanted to quit is amazing. I’ve been there and it’s not easy to turn it around when you feel like that so well done!!! Xx
You are a fabulous cheerleader! Wish I could clink a champagne glass with you at the end of this.
Me too! I even have a lovely bottle of Bolli I got on my way back from overseas last year. It’s looking for a good excuse to be drunk! Why so far away Nancy? 😉
Gah! No kidding. I’ve got cousins in Perth. I will make it to Oz one day.
p.s. Do Aussies hate it when outsiders call it Oz?
lol well I can’t speak for EVERYONE but I don’t mind. If I use that term as a shortened version I call it AUS. Do Canadians hate it when outsides call it Canadia? Because that’s what some of us do. 🙂
Canadians only ever mind being called American. Everything else is okay. 🙂
haha
Bahahaha you DIDN’T use Miley, what?!?!?! You certainly are further down the scale of self-actualization than I am 😉 Okay, now I’m off to read the guest post!
It took significant amounts of self restraint. Trust.
Awesome guest post. We’ve managed to even make balance stressful, haven’t we? It’s good to remember it doesn’t have to be.
I loved that quote I included in the guest post: the key to balance is recognizing when you’ve lost it. I’m sure I just messed it up though. 3rd glass of wine. Things are getting foggy.
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Wait a minute – you’re saying that you have a photo of yourself naked on a wrecking ball and didn’t post it here?
SNORT!