The Quest

(One of the Reasons) Why I Blog

As you know, the name of my blog is Leading the Good Life. This sounds kind of general, so I thought I'd let you in on what I was envisioning for it.

When deciding what I wanted my blog to be about, healthy living was an obvious choice. I like running and training for races, and I'm a vegetarian that likes to cook and eat well. Plus, most of the blogs I read are healthy living blogs and I wanted to be part of that community.

But in order to stand out in the blog world, you need a voice and individuality. I took a look at my favorite blogs, and each has their own spin on healthy living: some bloggers are good at showing how to manage your time, others add insight to our body image crisis, some are focused on weight loss, some on trying new foods and recipes, and still others talk about raising healthy kids. As I brainstormed what is important to me, I kept coming back to one main theme - finding happiness. This is NOT because I feel like an expert on the subject. It's because I know I have some work to do in this area, and I thought blogging about it would help me learn a thing or two about myself.

Why I Bring This Up

I feel like I spent my entire Summer running around: I've been running (literally) to train for the marathon. We've been to 5 weddings. We've gone on 3 trips. And work has been uber-draining. Once you factor in eating, sleeping, and showering, it feels like every minute of my life has been full since May. And to be perfectly honest, it has made me kinda crabby.

As I look back over the past few months, I realize one really important thing. I have not been taking care of myself. Although I've done a lot of fun stuff and spent a lot of time with my friends, I've worn myself too thin.

Now that I've crossed the finish line of the marathon, kissed the cheeks of all the beautiful brides and grooms, packed and unpacked my suitcases, and made it through the major work deadlines of the season, I'm going to make some time for me. I need to figure out how to balance my life so I am happy and healthy. And then I need to do it.

This is hard. It's hard to admit that you're not happy. And the quest for happiness seems so intimidating and borderless.

But I have a (rough) plan.

The tagline of my blog is "Striving to make conscious choices on a daily basis." I chose this because I realized it's too easy to just pass through life. All of a sudden you turn around and 5, 10, 20 years have gone by. I want to live my life. I want to define it. I want to experience it.

In an effort to give each day more purpose, I am going to incorporate some daily reflection. Just some time to think about different aspects of my life. It doesn't have to be deep or life-changing, just a little conversation with myself to help make me more present. And to serve as guidance, I am going to include a little 'friend' of mine...

I bought myself a whole box of fortune cookies!

Now don't get me wrong. I don't expect to find the meaning of life in a box of cookies. I just thought it would be a fun way to help encourage me to think about a variety things. Life is supposed to be fun, right?!

That being said, how appropriate is my fortune for today?!

Love it!

So, thanks for putting up with all of my wordy posts lately. I could tell something was brewing, and I'm happy to have a place to express myself. I'm excited about this 'project' and to discover what just may come of it!