Gratitude, Comment Love and Something Entirely Unrelated

Confession: The revision history on my last post is RIDICULOUS. I edited it over and over and just could not get it right.

It actually started off as my blogging anniversary post, and it was directed at those of you who come here and read and offer support. I wanted to tell you how much that has meant to me over the last year. How much it means to me now.

Writing about something as personal as depression—especially in the moment, as so many of my posts were—feels incredibly vulnerable. I wrote about those things because I needed to have them live somewhere other than inside my own head, but there was also a part of me that wanted to hear I wasn’t alone. And wow, am I ever NOT ALONE.

starling-flock

Image credit: Joffley on Flickr

Over the last year I have come to realize just how many people struggle with depression and anxiety, and I hate that there are just SO many. But I love that there is so much support out there too, and that it’s becoming more and more okay to admit to these things.

So in the end, after realizing that it simply wasn’t working, I wrote something more simple for that anniversary post and said what I really wanted to say, which is: Thank you for loving me. But I didn’t give up on the rabbit.

I played around with that post some more and eventually decided it was actually about something different. And then it got to a point where I thought it was good enough, so I published it.

And then you all took over.

I’ve had so many incredible comments and messages and re-tweets on that post. It seems I struck a nerve. I keep trying to respond to those comments, and I will, but right now I don’t really know what to say. It’s all making me feel a bit weepy.

So again: Thank you.

On a related note, if you want another glimpse into why it’s so important for us to write about depression and have it be acceptable, go and read the latest post by The Bloggess. Jenny, if you don’t know her already, is absolutely, stunningly hilarious. But she also deals with mental illness. She writes about that pretty openly, but this post really blows the doors off. Go, read, and give her some love.

And now sometimes entirely unrelated…

I wasn’t actually planning to post today because I signed up for NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) for January, where the goal is to write a post a day for the whole month. And after I signed up I decided that was crazy, so I intended to cheat (sort of) and just direct you to my Just.Be.Enough. post today. But then you were all so nice and I kind of got sidetracked writing this.

Anyway… I did write a post for Just.Be.Enough. today and it’s about Spanx. See? Entirely unrelated.

I’m going to close comments on this one, so please either visit me at Just.Be.Enough. or go and give Jenny some comment love. (She’s already got over 1,000 comments, but what’s a movement if not something that really takes off?)

R xo

To Make an End is to Make a Beginning

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.”

~T.S. Eliot

2011-2012-wave

Happy New Year. Wishing you all good things in 2012.

Thank you for being with me this year.

R xo

Striiver’s Log, Week 2

This is the second week of logging my activity with my Striiv fitness device and Coach Striiv kicked it up a notch this week. Here’s how it went down.

Wednesday 

Went to Calgary for the day and had to take my Striiv off at airport security. Damn, six precious steps not counted! Then when I got to the Calgary airport there was a moving sidewalk. I love those, but Coach Striiv wouldn’t let me on it. Had to walk on my own, she said. Gotta admit it felt kind of good powering past all the people standing there gliding along on the moving sidewalk.

On my way back I had some time to kill before boarding so I decided to wander down to Starbucks. Came across this:

Starbucks sign

How did they know?!

Thursday

Coach Striiv apparently doesn’t differentiate between normal walking steps and the running-around-like-a-chicken-with-head-cut-off kind. Crazy, ridiculous day. But I got enough credits to donate a day’s worth of fresh water to a child in South America!

Starting to obsess about building things in MyLand. Got greedy and built some cool things, but only have the foundation. My Tree of Ages is in place but I need more energy credits to get it to grow. Must focus.

foundation of Striiv's Tree of Ages

Getting started

Friday 

Last day of work. Walked up to get a hug from Rita, who’s nearing the end of The Year of Hugging Fearlessly. Great hug that put me in a good mood, so I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go for a walk. I even did some challenges. Coach Striiv was impressed.

Home from work and the husband was tired. Graciously offered to take the dog for a walk so he didn’t have to. Got some energy credits and ended up at over 10,000 steps for the day. (That’s harder than I would have thought. Noted, Coach Striiv.)

Saturday

Coach Striiv put the pressure on today, so I went for a run. Ran around the bog and somehow managed to end up on a big hill right in the middle of a hard challenge. Coach Striiv pushed me on. No stopping! It worked and I got to grow my Tree of Ages and my Greek Vineyard. Nice!

Striiv's Trees of Ages

After my run - enough to grow to the next stage!

Went out for dinner with friends, which turned into a bit of a bar hop. Stepped right through midnight and already had some credits toward Sunday. Partying does pay off!

Sunday

Hit the museum this morning for one last visit before we move. Some good walking but our visit was at a three-year-old’s pace so we didn’t stay too long.

Lots of packing in the afternoon, which doesn’t add up to many steps. I want credit for being on my feet all day, but Coach Striiv won’t budge. Threw in another dog walk with some challenges to get my step count up.

Striiv on a trail

Striiving through fall

Monday 

More packing. A little low on steps throughout the day until we started loading things into the moving container. Got energy credits and some extra for the stairs, so I guess there’s that. Then a dog walk again. Never been so motivated to walk this dog in my life.

Tuesday 

Last day of the challenge. More packing (when does it end?) and some stairs. The toddler got antsy in the afternoon so I took him and the dog out for a walk. Did some challenges, even though it was pouring rain. Coach Striiv has this motivation thing down to an art.

Ended up at almost 47,000 steps by the end of the week. I donated three days’ worth of water and collected a whole bunch of trophies.

I really like this Striiv – it’s a great motivator with enough different things to keep it interesting. I love the MyLand game (similar in concept to Farmville for those who are familiar with that, though not nearly as annoying) but I really want to get far enough to unlock the next level. I guess I’m going to have to keep walking the dog!

 

I was not compensated for this but I would like to thank Striiv for providing the device to support our Just.Be.Enough. challenge. 

Want a Striiv of your own? You have the change to win one, along with some other cool prizes, at our Twitter party on November 29th. See the Striiv wrap-up post on Just.Be.Enough. for details. You’ll also have a second chance by linking up with Be Enough Me on Monday, November 28. The prompt for this week is: What are you striving for?

Striiver’s Log, Week 1

Nov. 9, 2011 – Day 1 (Wednesday)

Arrived home from work to find my Striiv had arrived after being, presumably, held up in customs. There was much rejoicing! Opened the box. Whoa, this thing is cool. It’s got a touch screen, settings that can be customized, and a game. And other stuff. Definitely as cool as it seemed in the video.

Later that day: Hmm, the Striiv appears not to be magic. I tried to use it to entice the small, screaming boy to pee before bed and he wasn’t interested. He didn’t even want to help me build stuff in MyLand with the few coins I had earned already. Ah well, I’m going to chalk it up to exhaustion and be glad he’s not going to try to steal my precious Striiv.

office desk

My Striiv in its Lego nest.


Nov. 10, 2011 – Day 2 (Thursday)
Thursday before a holiday Friday, which makes it jeans day at work. The Striiv fits perfectly into the little coin pocket. I didn’t even know it was there! It did its job though, carefully counting steps as I went for lunch with a departing colleague and then later up to the coffee shop for treats. Good thing for the social outings. Sitting at my desk didn’t earn me much, and my poor Striiv had to entertain itself for a while playing with my foam office Lego.

 

Nov. 11, 2011 – Day 3 (Friday)

Spent the whole day packing today. There are approximately 12 steps between the kitchen and the garage, so packed upstairs instead. More work, but more steps too. Even so, by the end of the day I didn’t have as many steps as I would have hoped so I moved some boxes while my husband sat on the couch. The Striiv noticed and I felt morally superior. This ended up being my highest-step day, so the extra work was worth it.

 

Nov. 12, 2011 – Day 4 (Saturday)

A whole morning of cleaning before our going-away party in the afternoon. Note to self: cleaning doesn’t involve very many steps. Best not to do it in future.

 

Nov. 13, 2011 – Day 5 (Sunday)

Hey, I get more credit for running than walking! (I really need to pay attention to the instruction booklet.) Escaped the house today for an afternoon walk when I got sick of packing and felt ambitious so I ran the last section. As a result of my motivational little white device, the dog was treated to an extra long walk and I got some extra lightning-bolt energy credits on my Striiv.

 

Nov. 14, 2011 – Day 6 (Monday)

Productive day at work, but my Striiv got bored. I made up for it by taking the dog, and the Striiv, for a walk in the evening. Hills in the moonlight – nice.

BC Legislature

My Striiv visits the BC Parliament buildings

 

Nov. 15, 2011 – Day 7 (Tuesday)

Very tempted to take my car to a meeting this morning, but the Striiv was watching me. “Walk,” it whispered, so I did. Good thing too – it was beautiful and sunny and the scenery was worth it. Over lunchtime on my way back to the office, I took a little detour to enjoy the sun and take some pictures. The Striiv rewarded me handsomely.

 

My first official week of Striiving to Be Enough got me a total of 31,847 steps. Two observations: (1) We really do have to make an effort to get moving – the average office worker’s average day involves a lot of time sitting on one’s bum, and (2) In Striiv’s MyLand game, money does appear to grow on trees. But only if you move enough to grow and build stuff. Funny how that works.

As of this writing, I’m 130 steps away from my next trophy. Think I can get that in tonight?

***

Make sure you visit Just.Be.Enough. on Wednesday to catch up on the other challengers’ Striiv to Be Enough updates and next week the site will have information on our Striiv giveaway at the end of November as well as our very first Twitter party where yet another Striiv device will be given away, along with some other fabulous giveaways from brands that support Striiv’s mission to create a “movement around movement.”  The Twitter party is scheduled for Tuesday, November 29th at 8 pm. Mark your calendars now so you don’t miss it.

In case  you can’t wait for the giveaway or Twitter party, Striiv is being showcased on HSN this month. They are offering a fabulous bundle: just $99.95 for the Striiv device, clip, key ring and screen protectors (normally $129.95). But if you’re feeling lucky, I might have a little giveaway of my own coming up here in a couple of weeks.

 

The Just.Be.Enough. team is partnering with Striiv on a month-long challenge. Striiv provided the JBE challengers with the devices and no compensation was received. All opinions are our own.

30 gifts for 30 strangers [video]

This is just happy – 2 minutes and 45 seconds of happy – and I wanted to share it with you.