Please don’t take what I’m about to say in a depressing manner. We only have one shot at life. One. Then we die and can no longer be a part of this world.

That is the cold, hard truth. We like to pretend we can avoid it or that second chances abound. When it boils down to it, though, they don’t. Second chances don’t truly exist because we can never go back to reclaim any lost time or change the past. We can only strive to make the best decisions from this moment forward.

How exactly does this fit in with self love? Well, if we want to live the most fulfilling and satisfied lives as possible we need to love ourselves. We can waste our lives away with worry, regret, doubt, and negativity. We can spend too much time concerned with trivial matters of what size pants we wear or what other people think of our hopes and dreams. Instead of taking the reins and making life the best possible, we float along lost and broken.

Each day we choose what to focus our energy on – relationships that mean the most to us, how we look in the mirror, working hard at a personal goal, the fight we had with a friend, and on and on. We decide whether to end our days feeling like we experienced life or like it slipped by. I always try to keep the perspective that at the end of my life I won’t care about how flat my stomach was or awards I received. I will care if I lived with joy and surrounded myself with love.

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Fortunately, I don’t know when the end of my life will come. And that means I have to start making my life something I’m happy with right now. Why waste a single moment? We need to keep what truly provides a fulfilling life in perspective. Live that way today.

What can you focus on today so you end your day knowing you cultivated your best life? What should you ignore that tries to rob you of joy?

“Although time seems to fly by, it never travels faster than one day at a time. Each day is a new opportunity to live your life to the fullest.” – Steve Maraboli

Yesterday afternoon I faced this on the forecast for this morning’s run:

40% chance of rain. Scattered thunderstorms. Very humid. Ugliness.

I concocted a game plan so I wouldn’t just scrap my long run this week - especially because I likely will not get the chance for a long run during FitBloggin next week. Unless someone has plans to go out early Saturday or Sunday morning? After having fun with Cathe, trampolines, and a fun run 5K the day or two before? Any takers? Anyone? No? <--- only partially joking

I decided I would either have to a) face the chance of rain, b) hit up the treadmill if there are storms, or c) put off my run until Sunday after church when I normally await my rest. Guess which option won out?

 

The weather didn’t call for any more storms, just scattered showers – so I headed on out. And accomplished a new distance record to boot. That’s why I’m “raising the roof” in the above picture…if you could even tell what I was doing. Excitement for hitting 8 miles is what that is. I honestly felt like I could have gone MORE. I wanted to go more. Heck - “Firework” (my give-me-energy song) even came on right when I hit 8 miles. Alas…the desire for safe mileage increases won out and I stopped at eight. Feeling great at eight. I finished the run up in 1:13:34 for an average 9:12 pace. Woo!

Having a plan helps amp me up and stay focused. Planning keeps my game face on. You could say its how I work out smarter. Speaking of which – I loved all the ways you shared that you workout smarter in the comments section of the heart rate monitor giveaway. Here were some popular ones from many of you:

• incorporating HIIT (high intensity interval training)
• resting regularly to avoid injury and over-training
• adding strength training in to your workouts <--- you know I’m a fan!
• doing a variety of activities
• fueling and hydrating properly
• planning and scheduling workouts
• keeping them fun

Great thinking, friends! Although I’m sure you really just want to hear who won the giveaways. Well – I’ve kept you waiting long enough. The winners are…

4all Workout Top Winner = #110 Alexa @ Alexa’s Tales

Duo Heart Rate Monitor Winner = #120 Reader Danielle

Congrats, ladies! Please email me with your contact information so I can be sure you get your prizes! 🙂

With that…we will head on to the FFF Features of the Week. Happy weekend, y’all! 🙂

Featured Personal Post – Month 4 Progress Update

I still can’t believe how much this recent month showed me about progress.

Featured Moment – Registering for My Next Race

Featured Meal – Grilled Goat Cheese Sandwich + Soup

Featured Cuteness – Baby B Hitting 4 Months Old

Featured Reading – New Blogs to Check Out

Jess @ The Search For Daly Authenticity

I love Jess! She is such a sweetheart and always has great content. She just handled a big move with the utmost grace and positivity – still sharing her bright attitude along the way. Give her some love!

Kara @ It’s A Dog Lick Baby World

Cute baby. Crazy awesome runner. Quite the sense of humor. AKA – great blog!

Kelly @ Beneath It All

Girlfriend just got engaged!  Congrats again, Kelly!!! Plus, she is spunky and always shares her fun life with an upbeat attitude. Lots of running and workout fun along the way!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Share some love with someone…and with yourself too. You deserve it!

• What is a blog you recently discovered and love? Or one you believe is a hidden treasure in the abundance of healthy living blogs?