Tag Archives: motivation

Focus, or Lack Thereof…

I have been having an unusual amount of trouble focusing as of late. This has been a growing phenomenon with me over the last 8 months or so. Focus was always my strong suit, especially when it came to work. My strong work ethic, combined with my need to succeed, often propelled me to great heights in my 20 year career. I feel like I still have a large amount of interest in what I do, as well as a need for success, but I just can’t seem to lock myself down and concentrate. My mind is all over the place, and I don’t know if that stems from unhappiness, or just masked disinterest. I’ve been trying to figure it out, but try as I might, I see no answers.

I rarely allow myself to get lost in daydreams, or become so unfocused on myself that I begin to let everything in my life start to fade. I find myself in this strange stage of my life, and everything about me is changing. I’m not sure if it’s for the best, or the opposite, to be honest.

For example, when I’m sitting in a meeting, that is very important and involves potential clients, I find myself drifting. I have to consciously force myself to sit up straight, listen to what people are saying and contribute with useful information. I almost feel like I have A.D.D. I have endured my share of ups and downs, whirlwind romances, breakups, career highs and lows, but this is simply mind boggling. In fact, I cannot remember a time in my life that I was this distracted! It’s scary!

Could it be a medical problem? Am I simply so I dissatisfied with my life that I am losing interest in everything around me? Have I reached a breaking point? Is it the fact that I am turning 37 in July? I wish I knew this answer because this is frustrating. While there are outside factors that have notably contributed to my lack of concentration, I cannot blame it all on those. I’ve been down this road and never lost myself in the process. I always worried about me, my life, my interests, my health. Well, besides my stint with heroin in my 20’s, but even that didn’t last more than a year, and I was able to pull myself out of the deepest abyss I’ve ever seen!

On top of that, I constantly feel like I’m being monitored and need to watch everything I say and do because of it. It’s frustrating for a person like me, because I am so forthcoming, honest and open. I have had to “put a lid on it” for almost 6 months now, in fears that anything I say can be misconstrued. Gah! There are some days that I get so angry about it that I literally want to choke someone. Do you know what it’s like to be a blog writer, who has been writing online for years, writes columns based on her life, blogs that have hundreds of thousands of followers and fans, yet have to censor yourself because 1 person is mentally off? It’s ridiculous. I know I shouldn’t care, and just live my life, but how do you do that? It’s almost selfish behavior, and I don’t want to cause any more waves then I have to, although I’m currently not doing ANYTHING WRONG!

In life there are positives and negatives, good and bad. In my life right now, I am dealing with lack of focus and motivation, and the one thing that always helps me sort out my feelings, I cannot do. That has me feeling angry, resentful, etc. I’ve learned to push it to the back burner as best as I can, and realize that some people just are who they are. I can only take solace in the fact that I have managed to surround myself with amazing, artistic, confident, and reasonable people. I guess that’s all that matters in the big picture. Right?

Anyway, I’m trying my absolute best to take the high road, center myself, focus on ME and what’s best for me and not worry about all of these outside bullshit factors that stress me out. It’s just not worth it. I’m forcing myself to do what I do best, and that’s make myself whole and happy. My home life is not in the best state it could be in, rightfully so. My work life is stressful, but I manage to separate that from my personal life, for the most part. My finances are not where they should be because I feel like I am financially supporting everyone, which is somewhat true, although my own fault. While I’ve lost a good amount of weight, and I am looking great, I am not feeling great. I am always tired, cranky, my weight fluctuates up and down like 15 lbs, which is not healthy. My diet changes often due to my stress factors on any given week. I need to have some consistency in my life. I need to create a workout schedule and stick to it, no matter how difficult. I need to set some financial boundaries with people, just because I have money it does not mean I should support everyone around me. I need set some social boundaries and let my friends know that I too have a life, and my life does not revolve around them and that fact that they all decided to have multiple children. I did not choose that life for a reason.

Ah, I don’t know. Things always manage to work themselves out in my life, but I feel like I’m getting to the point where I need to take more of a stand, and I will, it just takes time.

So, gone are the days where I waste my time worrying about everyone else. I need to focus on me and what’s best for my life. For real. Fuck everyone else for once.

Now if only I could stick to that, I’d be golden! πŸ™‚

Happy Memorial Day weekend, all! Enjoy your BBQ’s, beach time and fun.

XO

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A New Day, A New Outlook

Just coming off of a high from my trip last week, and spent my entire day yesterday unpacking, cleaning and pulling a million pieces of a disintegrated contact lens out of my eye (ouch!) While I was staring in the mirror trying not to lose my shit because my eyeball was on fire, I realized something…

I’M NOT LIVING MY LIFE THE WAY I WANT TO!

WTF am I doing? Life is too short to live unhappily, and to live somewhere you hate, and to not be around the people you love, adore and make you so fucking happy that it should be illegal! Yes, I am making moves to get the fuck out of this hellhole I call a hometown, but I’m not doing it fast enough. I look around my apartment and all I see is shit I do not need. I have a walk-in closet so filled with clothes and shoes that it is literally overflowing and spilling out onto the floor in my bedroom. My dresser is so packed with shit, that the drawers don’t even close any more, I have bookshelves filled with books I’ve already read and have no use for, I have a bathroom filled with make-up, hair products, skin products, curling irons, hair dryers, hair coloring tools, brushes, nail polish, soaps, etc, etc. A garage filled with more clothes and shoes and furniture and work out equipment I do not use because I belong to a gym that I pay an ungodly amount of money for every month! GAH!

All of this shit is weighing me down, man. I need to TRASH IT ALL, pack a suitcase or two, get in my fucking car and just GO. We work to pay bills, and buy ourselves a bunch of meaningless shit, and spend most of our days not smiling due to stress from work, life, bills, debt, bullshit. What is the point? I think I am having an existential crisis.

True happiness is so fucking fleeting, and when you find it, in any form you need to hang onto it, fight for it, chase it and do everything you can to just be happy! Life is short. Before I know it, I will be too old, or dead, or sick, or whatever. It’s like skating. I strap on skates and I am the happiest person in the world. I’m burning massive amounts of calories, making my legs and muscles stronger, which releases endorphins, which makes us happy, which makes us healthy. Yet, I injure myself and I can’t skate so I just don’t. Really? I’m not a quitter, so again WTF am I doing? I decided this weekend that I need to find something new to occupy my time, a few new things, actually.

Rather than skating, I will run. A lot.

I am going to take up boxing. Yes, boxing. A great way to release my anger, frustration and stress. What is better than punching someone in the face? C’mon!

I’m starting burlesque and fire-eating training in June. Fuck it.

I’m taking a stand up comedy class, because I know I can rock that shit.

I am getting rid of all of this material bullshit, and donating it to charity. Let someone else enjoy my 700 pairs of heels. I don’t need so fucking MANY, although they are quite gorgeous.

I am going to workout until my body collapses from sheer exhaustion, and make this little body of mine so tight, and so muscular that you couldn’t knock me down if you tried.

In short, I do not have time for wallowing, depression, playing woe is me because I’m not currently in an ideal situation. I will get what I want, I will be happier, I will live where I want to be… you know why?

BECAUSE I’M NOT A FUCKING QUITTER.

That’s why…

And that’s all I have to say about that!

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My Adventures With The Master Cleanse

I am in the midst of my 3rd MC fast, and I am a big believer in fasting for numerous reasons…

#1 – It is good to push yourself to insane limits. Just when you think you can’t go anymore, something drives you to push through. There is nothing more humbling then depriving yourself of a basic need. It teaches you a whole new level of discipline and perseverance. It makes you tougher. It’s a lot like running or skating (both of which I do a lot of), just when you feel like you’ll collapse from exhaustion, you reach deep down and pull motivation out of nowhere, and when you’re finished, it is the greatest feeling EVER.

#2 – It’s healthy to give your digestive system a rest from solids every now and then. Your body works very hard every day to rid itself of toxins you breathe, eat, and drink. Your organs literally go on overtime to process all of that shit, then you pile a bunch of shitty food on top of it and wahlah! Here comes the lack of energy, lack of focus, and plain old depression. At least for me. When I fast, after day 4, I feel like a whole new person! Not only do I lose extreme amounts of weight rather quickly (I can lose up to 15 lbs in 7 days!), my skin glows, my hair shines, my body gets tighter, my eyes clearer, I focus better and I have all kinds of energy.

#3 – It’s like a “do-over” for your body. If you are currently addicted to anything, i.e., cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, carbs, or anything not great for you, a fast will quickly rid you of that and allow you start over – fresh!

So, today is Day 5 of my 3rd MC and I feel GREAT. I am handling this go-around way better then I handled the last one, which was the beginning of January. So far, in this round, I have dropped 7 lbs. and I am not even hungry! The January fast yielded a total of 22 lbs dropped, and a renewed sense of motivation! I wound up gaining back only 4-5 lbs when I went back to food.

While I have never been “fat,” I did gain a bit more weight than I should have after some medical complications back in September of 2011, when I put on 35 lbs in a very short period due to a couple of rounds of chemotherapy injections that made me retain water and literally swell! Of course, me being the “Polish Princess of Darkness” I could not get the weight loss side-effect. lol. At a mere 5’4” tall and a very petite, small frame – I should never weigh more than 120 (tops!) and I was pushing 150 for a minute there. #nothot

Anyways, the MC is basically a fast where you drink the following recipe:

Per 8 oz of water –

2 Tbsp GRADE B ORGANIC Maple Syrup

2 Tbsp ORGANIC fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/10 tsp of Cayenne pepper

How much are you supposed to drink? Divide your body weight by 2, and that’s how many oz you should consume at a minimum on a daily basis.

On top of that, you should either drink a laxative tea every night before bed, or upon waking in the am mix 1 pint of lukewarm spring water with 2 tbsp of NATURAL SEA SALT (no other kind of salt!) and drink that down quickly. Yes, it’s horrible and I opt for the tea and only do the Salt Water Flush on the weekends. Stay close to a bathroom, kids because 20 minutes after you finish that you literally piss out of your ass for 2 straight hours. Gross? Maybe… but you feel amazing when it’s all over (besides a burning asshole – buy baby wipes!) and it really speeds up the detoxification and weight loss process.

Some side-effects that I have noticed:

  • Raging headaches for the first 4 days
  • Your bum burns from the cayenne pepper your ingesting (yes, I am serious)
  • Fatigue for the first 3 days
  • Pale for the first 3 days (And I am almost alabaster as it is)
  • I get chest pains on the right side. I saw a doc about it, it’s nothing. Just stress in my case.
  • My TMJ is terrible for the first 3 days. I walk around with my jaw locked. After day 4? Relaxation city!
  • You piss like a racehorse every 20 minutes.

That’s about it. In short, I love it and how it makes me feel. Who needs food?

OK, well I do. I love to cook it, eat it and enjoy it. I do this once per quarter, though, for about 10-15 days each time. Y’all should try it! If you have the willpower to do it, it’s worth it! You feel accomplished, healthy, look amazing, etc.

Now I leave you with my favorite training montage! Rocky motivates me to get ripped, man. I am back in the gym – HARDCORE – tomorrow. Gotta get in sick shape, fix this damaged knee, and get my ass on skates again. I have speed records to SHATTER.

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