Santa, San Juan

I said that this blog is more about life gain than weight loss.  One of the things that adds value to my life is travel.  My passion for travel was ignited by my dad who loved to whisk us off, on any given weekend, to Gettysburg for a civil war reenactment or to the Outer Banks for multi-family fun, or to New York for a Broadway show followed by an off-Broadway show and a huge chunk of Junior's cheesecake for the 5 of us to share.  

While I love to travel our beautiful United States, my love for diverse cultures draws me to more far flung locales, most recently, gorgeous Puerto Rico.  I was totally stressed out before I left for the gateway to the Caribbean, but all of that tension blew away with the first island breeze. 

Lobby at the Casa Blanca Hotel

We stayed at the Casablanca Hotel, an amazing Moroccan inspired boutique establishment in the heart of San Juan Antiguo or Old San Juan.  I am a lover of "Old Towns" and "Downtowns". Cobblestones streets, ancient narrow architecture and wrought iron balconies are the essence of history and romance to me. There is little I like better than peeking into some little alleyway or "callejon" in Spanish and finding a hidden spice shop or an artist painting the distant view of the Atlantic.  This place is not especially magical.  It's not incredibly exotic.  It just has a down home, feel-good, close to your heart allure that I never thought I needed or would miss.  But I do.  And that's why I am going to do whatever I need have to in order to get back to Puerto Rico every year.

Whew! I'm back.  Man, I've been going through some major transitions - family, home, career, everything.  I'm just now catching my breath and could not wait one more second to share with you where I am in my journey.   Basically, I've been letting life derail my health goals.  NO MORE! (exclaimed with a heavy French accent, head toss and gratuitous hand wave).

Life happens.  So, am I gonna continue to let it happen to me or am I gonna put a happenin' on it?  This is the question I've been asking myself for the last week as I prayed about procrastination and excuses and why do I do that crap?  Well, honestly, I don't have the answer to that question.  What I do have is another question - "Who frikkin' cares?" What difference does it make "why" I'm doing something over and over that's ruining my life?  If someone is punching you in your face until your bloody, are you gonna be like, "Hey dude, why are you punching me like that?"  HELL NAW!  You're gonna be like, "WTF, why am I standing here letting dude punch me like this?"  And then you're gonna do something about it...run, duck, punch the fool back - something! That's one lesson I took from Krav Maga, fighting for your life in the street ain't pretty.  

So bump the pretty package with the neatly wrapped psycho-answers.  Fugeddahboutit! It's time to rip into that thing and do a number on the crap that's doing a number on you. That's why I'm a Beachbody coach.  That's why I'm doing Hot Hula 3 times a week. That's why I made myself write this post when I wanted to ditch the whole thing and move to another country.  

I was talking to a loved one recently about my tendency to start things that I don't finish.  I decided to take a whole new look on it and say, "I'm gonna keep trying until I find the thing that is for me.  I'm not gonna quit."  Dead having never finished is better than dead having never tried.  So, I'm on a journey to a healthier, wealthier me.  It's a personal challenge to garner some "no matter what" achievements.  It's a personal challenge that I extend to you.  It begins Aug. 5th and lasts for 30 days.  

If you're game hit me up on FB. Go to www.facebook.com/ChangeIsGoodChallengeGroup and tell us what change you'd like to make and why you think the challenge will help you.