Going Up, Up, Up

Be ready to live and it'll be ripped right out of my hands
Maybe someday we'll take a ride
We'll go up, up, up and everything will be just fine

As I was procrastinating from my work tonight, I came across this awesome video about this amazing AMAZING kid. You need to watch this video. SERIOUSLY.

Zach Sobiech was diagnosed with terminal osteosarcoma (a rare form of bone cancer) in 2012 and recently passed away. When diagnosed, he decided to forgo more treatments and potential amputations in favor of living his life as fully as possible. One of the things he did was turn to music to express himself and leave his own legacy on the world.

Watching this, I'm reminded of just how much I have been blessed with. I am so incredibly lucky in my life and I so often lose sight of that. So often the problems I have seem so important and so earth shakingly large when really they are completely inconsequential. What do I have to complain about? I am alive and healthy and loved. That is everything. That right there is everything.

Every once in a while we need to remember this - we need to refocus on what is important. We need to remember that life is precious and is FULL of beautiful moments. I need to start living better - like my time here is limited. Because it is.

Put your hand on your heart. Do you feel it beating? Do you? You're ALIVE right now. How amazing is that? You have time to do things. You have this moment and the next and the next. But don't wait for the next moment - seize one right now to take full advantage of your life as it is right now.

Tell the people you love how much they mean to you. Do the things that make you happy. Approach every day not as a burden or something to get through, but as an opportunity to find beauty or happiness and sow these things in the lives of others. Do not be bound by fear - fear of being judged, fear of failing, fear of the unknown. Embrace your own power and love what you are. The right people will love you too.

So even though it's 1:40 AM and I still have half a paper to write, laundry to do, studying, and sleeping to do before practice tomorrow I am so happy in this moment to be alive and ready to make even more changes in my life.

This life is precious. Don't waste it.

Also check out Zach's song "Clouds" - sweet, charming, sad, and happy all at once.

Resistance

I'm breathing fast
I've never felt my heart like this
It's sinking in my head
I've lost my chances to resist

Take one guess based on those words: yup. Day one was a bust! You know I just was doing so good until dinner and then wouldn't you know it PECAN PIE. yikes. Let's just say my willpower crumbled like a sand castle underneath a destructive beach goer's foot. Needless to say it's back to the drawing board tomorrow.

On the flip side, I had a pretty good practice today so there's that!

And now onto more important things - things the theoretical people who read this blog might want to know about.

Here's another jam - super old! But super good. It's catchy and synthy which is awesome. And I also really like the somewhat vague yet inspiring lyrics. Take a listen for yourself and let me know what you think. Look for big things from these guys in the years to come.

The Journey Begins..

Starting tomorrow,
Come on a journey with me. No this isn't the kind of journey you're thinking of. It's much less fun and/or trippy than what you are probably picturing.

Starting tomorrow I'm going 21 days with no dessert and proper size portions. Blah blah blah not another girl with a blog talking about DIETING. NO.

First of all, I am strongly opposed to dieting in general. I mean look at the word - the first three letters spell DIE. But here's the thing - I'm an elite level swimmer and that means I need to take extra good care of my body. Plus, I also don't really have a lot of physical gifts - I'm 5'6 and have tiny hands and feet. I also am not naturally very long and lean, HENCE I need all the help I can get to compete with the 6'1 size 12 feet girls that I race against. HENCE I need to make sure I fuel myself properly.

Now I'm kind of a food nerd. I've read about 3 books about the benefits of eating raw/eating Paleo. Basically if you know anything about health and nutrition these days, experts are saying that we need to eat whole, unprocessed foods and food that isn't cooked is better for you (but don't go around just eating raw eggs and meat now!). Anyways, so I know how I should be eating but I also LOVE LOVE LOVE to eat junk food and really any food that's bad for you. SO.

I need to fix this because like I said I need all the help I can get. Starting tomorrow, I will take this 21 day journey and let you (proverbial "you" since I pretty much know for a fact no one reads this!) know how it all goes. Hopefully I'll begin to feel better (as in more energetic, better fueled) and feel better about myself! Keep your fingers crossed that I'll have the power to say no to many of my favorite things!

And here's a little athlete inspiration: