Independence

We had a great weekend at the beach, celebrating the Fourth of July with family and friends.  A friend from Atlanta, who I only see this time of year at the beach, is a photographer.  As soon as he saw me this weekend, he handed me a picture that he took this time last year of me and said, "See how far you've come."  As hard as it is to look at that picture and share it on my blog, I feel like I should, so here goes:

Last July the Fourth, 2010

This Fourth of July, 2011

I am by no means finished with this journey.   I have a long ways to go. This is the time when I need to not rest on how good I feel, but dig down deeper and push harder.   On Independence Day I am declaring my freedom from old bad behaviors and the ways that created the person in that first picture.  I am going to visualize these bad behaviors as chains that bound me up in an unhealthy body and held me back last year from the freedom to enjoy my life the way I do now, and the way I will even more so in the future.

It was cool to see how far I've come and made it a lot easier to resist that homemade chocolate cheesecake!