It's a beautiful day ...

I woke up at 4:16 am on the dot this morning and my mind was racing ... thoughts of... am I going to exercise? What did I eat yesterday? What did I drink yesterday? I need to get work done. Thoughts of loving myself. Hating myself. Then convincing myself I love myself again. Does anyone else do this?

I know thoughts rule your world and I'm the type of person that has to get my head straight before I get out of bed in the morning before my feet hit the floor. I finally got up, drank a glass of water and stood there looking at my curled up sweet chocolate lab thinking, "I need to walk you." I've had this thought for weeks. He patiently sleeps in his bed, waiting for me to walk him ... sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. He has a huge backyard to play in with the other dogs, so I never feel too bad ... but then again, I do. Deep down I know I should be walking that precious 4-legged gift that life gave me. I haven't weighed myself in a few months and was scared to, I finally did and the number seemed a little higher than I remember last, lol. I have come to the conclusion that if I have a dog in my life then that's a clue of what I should be doing as exercise...walking. Dogs were meant to walk and I get joy out of seeing him enjoy the outdoors - so it's a win win situation. I crawled back in bed and laid back down with my fun-loving niece, Julia, who spent the night, again my thoughts racing, so I just laid there thinking about change.

I finally got up at 6:00 am, made me a hot cup of coffee - got on Pinterest and came across a tumblr called Undressed Skeleton (not sure what the name means except she went from overweight to beautifully thin) but this blog inspired me so much because it's almost exactly what I woke up thinking about my life at 4 am, that tears came to my eyes as I read her about me page because I could so relate. I knew today I was supposed to walk my dog, write a blog and start doing things that made me feel good, instead of drinking wine, eating out all the time and watching the latest housewives episode (don't get me wrong, I will still do those things) but today is a game changer. I must fill my life with more of the healthy things instead of the "pleasurable" things that consume 90% of my life. Balance is sooo key.

That's why I decided to call this blog, It's a Paradise Life ... (I wanted to name it My Paradise Life, but it was already taken.) Today is a new day... a new day of creating my own paradise with my lab, Knox, who is helping me do just that... I think I will be a lot happier and I know he will be too.