Day 55 - Happy Birthday to me!

Well here it is, my birthday and, though I did not reach my full list of goals, I absolutely look and feel better, and have a different mindset about food and my body, and those are the best presents I can give myself. The mind has to change before the body, so the body is still under construction, but I am continuing to make progress and am certainly looking better than I did on Day 1.
Last night we went out to Hibachi for my birthday so I went a little overboard there, but I know now that one meal isn't going to kill me, even a few meals off track, and it's the attitude that I am still further than I was and that this is a lifestyle that keeps me going and eating well MOST days. You can't beat yourself up for every little slip up, or have the attitude of "ruining my diet" because that's all wrong. And that is one of the most important things I've learned. On my 30th birthday next year, I want to be in such good shape I won't even recognize myself. I want today's picture to remind me of "before". I want to continue to love the journey. I will do all of that. I am becoming what my mind can envision now, one good decision at a time, and one less time I beat myself up for "cheating". This is my life. I eat well, I exercise, I enjoy both. I listen to what my body tells me - when I'm full, when I'm sore, when I'm tired - and decide when to ignore it. It's all part of the game, and if we don't live for the process, what are we doing every day? Waiting for some perfect ending to some statistical goal? It will never happen. Because during the journey, we change and our perception of the results change. And I believe that most people are naturally achievers, if given the right set of motivators, so we have to continue to have goals to live happily. Therefore, we always want to be in the process of creating our next achievement, raising our standards, because if we don't, we are at the end of our journey and what's there? Nothing I want to see for a very long time. So enjoy every day, because life is just a series of minutes, hours, days, months, years, and before you know it, you've wished your life away waiting to get somewhere when all you have is today. Right now. Live with purpose, on purpose, and in the moment. Otherwise, it will pass you by.
So today my birthday present is THE PRESENT - letting go of the past and the future, remembering that, as much as I want to achieve as I go through life, I can only affect what I do right now and the only way to get where I want to go is make the right decisions now and be happy with every one.