HAPPY LITTLE ENDORPHINS

This week I lost my gym and my assistant. The gym is being replaced with another gym. The assistant will be back eventually......

 I am reflecting on stressful change. The thought of losing the gym was difficult at best. The gym is where I leave my stress. I love happy little endorphins dancing in my head! Who knew that I would love weight lifting as much as I do? I didn't. 

 In  October 1986 I decided that I would get serious about going to a gym. I have always walked. I have taken the occasional exercise class. I have tried Curves. I liked Curves, I just got bored with going round and round in a circle.

 The gym offered me variety. The gym offered me an opportunity to work with a trainer. The gym offered me free weights!!

I signed up with a trainer that I have known over the years. Our children grew up in the same school and classes and even some of the same sports. 

 We decided that I would come in three times a week for one hour. Little did I know how life changing that decision would be!

 The first weeks were horrific. I was in pain everyday. It was not fun. I wanted fun and "easy" good health, not pain! In my mind I called my trainer the "Queen of Pain". QP for short.

 I made some life changing decisions during that time. I decided that I would conquer and deal with the pain. I decided never to be embarrassed that I was the "oldest, fattest girl at the gym". I decided that no matter how much I hated an exercise, that I would not say anything  that might influence my trainer and  I would do my best to excel at it. I decided that the three hours a week were to be "written in stone" in my life and I would work around them with my job and my family. This was my time. I decided that I would always find the money to make this happen. I decided to laugh at myself. 

 I discovered that I love weight lifting. I discovered that I love endorphins. I discovered that the loved ones in my life love that fact that I go to the gym. I discovered that I love the trainer and the job she does. 

 A new gym is a new chapter in my life. New routines. New machines. New people.  Change. I am sure that even though this change is painful, as all change is, that it will bring new discoveries.

 My bookkeeper, assistant, and friend has gone on an eight week leave of  absence. The biggest change is that her job will roll over on to me.  Waa waa waa. She has worked with me off and on for decades. I am spoiled. I depend on her. 

 I will do the job, try not to whine too much,  and God willing, she will be back in June. 

 Until then, I really need the "happy little endorphins"!

CAUGHT

They caught the young man who threatened us. It fills me with a sense of relief and a lot of questions. He was arrested on the charge of "conspiracy to commit felony robbery". He forever changed his life and ours by a threat.
 Is he truly evil? Has he done many things to lead up to this point? Is he just a wanna be that thought he could use a gun and steal from others? 
 He had a job in a local deli. He is only 26. Was he looking for excitement? To impress his friends? Was he desperate? Did he really understand the seriousness of the whole situation? Will this arrest wake him up? Will it change his life for the better?
 His threat changed our lives. We act differently, we see customers differently. We think about our future differently. 
 I know that many paths are presented to us as we walk through life. Daily we choose our direction. We choose good or evil. I will pray for him. I will pray that his life is forever changed to the good.
 I will know that my life is forever changed because he made me more aware of evil.