Starting somewhere

You know that moment when you feel inspired, you discover something so big and new and exciting you can't possibly wait one more second to share it with the world?! Then the buzz wears off and you realize, "holy crap this is a lot of work!" Ummmm. yes this is me in 85% of my life.

(horribly dark picture because I was reading it last night in bed with a night light.)

For anyone who knows me even just a little, knows I am passionate, I am fiery and full of a zest for life. I am always seeking after things that are good, and fun, and healthy, and pure; but sometimes in the midst of this Marry Poppins way of living I am quickly, and most often abruptly reminded that I cannot blink something into existence.  That really awesome inspiring relationship with the Lord that that person over there has, took work, a lot of it! And that really nice fit and healthy body I'm admiring requires maintenance, determination and a heck of a lot of consistency. I forget all too often that those things that I see that get me excited, they are often times the end result, the result of what came after a lot of hard work, and  after navigating through the huge learning curve that comes with starting something new.

They say all roads are paved with good intentions and the road of Heather Harty is no different. I want the best for myself and my family and I am willing to do whatever it is God is calling me to do to make that happen, but sometimes I jump in too fast, rearend over tea kettle, and I forget to start at the beginning. Taking things one step at a time.

For me it seems those things that I get most excited about are also the very things that bring out my extreme lack of patience. I believe we are all instant gratification seekers by nature, but I just might take that concept to a whole other level. I came, I saw, I conquered, except in my world it's more like, I came, I saw, I conquered, I got really really excited, but really overwhelmed, sometimes too overwhelmed to get even get started. I am so someone who feels like I have to be 100% prepared for anything that I'm about to do. I want to have all of the knowledge, all the supplies, and every and anything that I may even possibly need to do what it is I'm setting out for. I just have that innate need to be a master at something before I've ever tried it, or to have that 'just in case' item even if I will never actually use it. It's defintiely not my most favorite trait although sometimes it comes in handy. This new eating way of life is no different. Up until today I have felt so intimitdated with the knowledge I've been given so far, I have felt too overwhelmed to put any of it into motion.

I have had many conversations with Derek lately over the In's and outs of these health changes and we both finally came to a conclusion that made sense for us and our family. Our health, our food habits just like all other things in life must happen in a fluid organic motion, in moderation, and in faith. Which basically means I need to chill out and turn the pressure cooker down a few notches. My intentions are good, my approach is a little abrupt. Shocking I know.

So in honor of this gradual, toes in the shallow end, feel out the sand before you head goes under, kind of living, instead of plotting and planning exactly how it will go and what it will look like, I just decided to start somewhere. I made a decisive decision to stop waiting until I had all the information, till I felt qualified enough to get started, and instead just jumped right in.

Page 76 'Double Double Drive In Burgers.' My first Vegan meal, (although for the record we aren't trying to be vegan's) I made it all by myself, with a 1 year old by my side for over an hour. I spilled twice. I put garlic powder on potatoes when the the filter sprinkle lid wasn't on it, I almost burned myself, the house was covered in lentils, and my baby may or may not have almost choked twice from dried Cheerios's she somehow found under the dishwasher (yuck) even though I SWEAR I sweep daily (almost).

It was like watching a homemade backyard circus, where the finale is filled with a collapsing tent, and toppled over elephants, but praise the good Lord I did it!!! And not only did I do it but it was fanfreakintastik!!! It was clean eating, healthy (for the most part) wasn't pre-frozen or pre-made or loaded with a bunch of junk, it was an actual made from scratch homemade new lifestyle healthy meal and I did it, which is seriously dang near a miracle!

 

 

The food being so delicious was definitely a part of what made me beam with pride, but really I was most excited because I just got started. For once the excitement and intimidation of something new didn't veer me away from just getting out there and getting started. This time I just picked a page, threw caution to the wind, and got started on what ended up being the first of many fabulous meals.


I love moments like these because it really sums up the essence of life; live now, don't wait to get started tomorrow. You will never truly be more ready or qualified to get started than you are today. Ultimately life and it's lessons are learned as you go, they are learned from the doing, and the sometimes failing. You can read, google, and talk about it all day long but at some point you must get out in the field, you must start somewhere. My somewhere started today, and the smell of garlic and basil tells me it was a success!

Happy almost Tuesday.

xoxo