Living on a Prayer

I am going to post a terrible photo today...not as terrible as yesterday's photos, but not good quality and the model doesn't look so great in the photo. But it will give you an idea where I am in my weight loss.

I tried taking photos last night...with my iPhone...in my closet. They turned out pretty bad. This is as good as it got...

Not a good shot...not a good photo.

OK, but you get an idea of what I look like. Mind you I took this photo...by myself...in my closet...with my iPhone...AFTER working out at bootcamp...hair is a mess, make-up non-existant...and I don't really know how to take a photo of myself.

Maybe I will try again...but for now, sorry as this is, it will do...and I only did it because I said I would yesterday.

So...a lot of you read my blog yesterday. That raw, honest, here's how it feels and looks like (the photos) blog.

Whew...

Glad it is behind me.

I've thought about posting those photos for some time now but wasn't ready. I was yesterday. Not sure I would have been today.

Today I did a great spin class with J'taime Jamie and then had an awesome workout with Dimples. Poor baby, he had to stand in the rain to train me but he smiled and said it was fine and I am a lucky girl that he is as dedicated (or more so) than me. Most trainers would have said "too bad" but he kept me going...

did I mention that the cold front was blowing through? along with the rain?

I'm lucky to have found him...

I cleaned up (and dried up and warmed up)and headed to the middle school so that I could find out if GOTT had announced the cast for the spring musical (he hadn't...I'm going to have some tears to dry tomorrow...). I'm subbing tomorrow for the art teacher (love that!)so I met with her and then I headed home for OPRAH TIME!!!!

Oprah is doing her Australia shows...a place I would love to visit. On this show she had Bon Jovi with her.

I swear that man gets hotter by the minute...

that is so not fair...

anyway...he sang 2 songs..."It's my Life" and "Livin on a Prayer".

As I, and Oprah's audience, sang along with the chorus, I was struck by how good the words really were...at least with the chorus and bridge. The "Tommy and Gina" stuff is just filler to me...I like the good parts:

We gotta hold on to what we've got
It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
We got each other and that's a lot
For love we'll give it a shot!

Oh, we're half way there
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it I swear
Oh oh, livin' on a prayer
Livin' on a prayer!

We gotta hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got



So here is my little bit of philosphy...courtesy of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora...

We gotta hold on to what we've got

yes, we do...because what we have is what we have...we need to make the most of it.

It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not

Here is disagree with Jon and Richie, just a little bit...because sometimes we NEED to make it...I definitely plan to make it to my goal weight stay healthy...but sometimes it is good enough to try...

We've got each other and that's a lot for love...we'll give it a shot!

Right now I have all of you, and my family and friends, and Dimples, and JayVee, and J'taime Jaime, and Spinderella, and the Tamster (I gave TamTam a new name), and GOTT, and TTG, and the Amazing Katherine...and...well, I have a whole team of support...

But we have each other...I'm here for you...for those who just read this blog, and for those who hav asked me how I have done it, and for those who call me to say "help!" and for the women who followed me in the buffet line yesterday to see what I ate...

And I do it all out of love...and I feel your love and support...and when you have someone...anyone...backing you, well give it a shot...no matter what it is...

Now as for the rest of the song...being halfway there and living on a prayer is how I am about 99% of the time.

If not for prayer I couldn't function.

I pray all the time...for myself...for my loved ones...for my friends...for random strangers...

I believe in the power of prayer.

I have thankfully never needed the power of prayer to help me live...but I have used it to ask for others to live.

In most cases, they didn't...

But I don't blame God for that...and I am glad I prayed for them...because covering someone with prayer is like a blanket of love.

And God hears those prayers and answers them...just not always the answers we want.

But it shouldn't stop us from praying...

Sometimes when I don't know what to pray, I just pray "The Lords Prayer". It is the perfect prayer. I also find myself often saying the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi...it's pretty perfect too.

The words to the prayer of St. Francis are at the bottom of this blog. They are words to live by...they are what I try to do with this blog sometimes...

And now the last part of the song:

We gotta hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got

Now that part...

That is how I feel each and every time I work out or spin...

I'm in a lot better shape today than I was yesterday and than I was last month, etc.

Dimples has amped it up for me...and it shows in my cardio work as well as my strength.

But I have to admit that every time I get ready to do cardio, spin, or train I have to tell myself that ready or not I need to hold on and JUST DO IT!

I sound like a Nike commercial, I know...

I told Dimples today about my new plan...that I was NOT going to say that I coulnd't do something. He liked that plan.

And yes, it is working for me...I just said "yes" to everything he had me do today. Thankfully it did NOT involve lifting 20 pound weights while balancing myself like a tripod...but it did involve a lot of running and pulling.

I was praying by the end of it...

Tomorrow I am giving my body and my knee a well-deserved break. I'm going to take the day off from working out and training. Dimples is ok with it and so am I.

I'm learning not to over-do so much...not to be quite so OCD with it all but to keep up with my program and eat as I should...

Because if I do it all like I should...listen to Dimples...eat right...work out hard each and every time...rest when my body needs it...and pray...

and hold on to what I've got...

I will get to where I need to be...sooner or later...

And that is a lot.

Inspiration Song: "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. Still one of the best damn rock and roll songs ever written. And yes, because Jon Bon Jovi gets sexier and hotter and more gorgeous by the minute...

Bye Darlings...pray...just pray...

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

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