Happy in my own skin

Hiya peeps, in complete contrast from last nights offering, I woke up a completely different person today. Every day is a fresh new start for me. Funny innit, how moods can change throughout the day. This morning I feel empowered to do something. Not walking though, it is still murky. After a stroll down the garden and finding everything is damp with the heavy mist forming droplets and falling like rain making everything wet, I'll do something indoors today.

I feel quite empowered, that I have made a decision. I like that word, empowered, gives me a feeling of being in control, I like that, being in control. Not that I want to control anyone else, I can't be held responsible for how other people control or not control their lives. I can't control external issues all around me. Empowerment is a personal issue. One can only be responsible for one's own empowerment, heck that's me talking posh, one this and one that, ha ha.

Carol Sarler has written in The Mail about how she realized she was fat and decided to lose weight by not dieting. Her answer is that weight control is all down to willpower, she set herself the goal of losing one pound a week for 42 weeks. She did it, what she says is a lot of common sense. Often common sense is the answer, people go all round the houses to seek out a solution, and there it is staring you in the face, good old common sense. Here is a quote on hunger pangs. She says will power is all you need to ignore them.
Carol says, 'You are fat because you gave your stomach too much and now you're giving it too little. Of course it's going to growl.' Makes sense to me, ignore the growls.

I feel empowered to maintain my current weight and fitness levels. I don't want to be super fit because that takes hard work, and many hours of training, both of which I am not willing to commit to. Common sense tells me I am pretty much ok as I am, watching my diet, and some exercise, is fine for me.

Time management is empowering to me. Having given so much of my time to various employers through the years, taking orders, doing exactly what they wanted me to do, I now feel liberated to do exactly as I please. Don't get me wrong, I was never a slave to my job, when I stopped enjoying the work I was doing, I moved on to a new employer. Towards the end that wasn't possible as jobs were hard to come by. I dealt with it by making my leisure time more enjoyable and interesting so I had something to look forward to when I wasn't behind the wheel of a big truck. Then of course as I have previously mentioned I decided to claw back more of my life when I went on to part time employment. I deliberately took more control which was hugely empowering.

Having less money coming into the house was not a problem. I didn't feel trapped, or limited in any way, I actually felt liberated. Having less money meant having less to worry about. The challenge of managing my personal finances was another way I could take control. I have a strong willpower and can easily say no when presented with a all kinds of temptations put in front of me.

I can control most things about what I do while I am on this planet, but one thing I cannot control is how I leave it. It is my theory that by becoming more self sufficient, becoming more empowered to take charge of my own decisions, to not rely on others but to manage through my own resources, will better prepare me for the last journey I will make. I have navigated my way through my life mostly alone. Through my own efforts I have worked to earn my own money, paid my way, and bought a house. Walking long distances alone is further preparation for that last journey. No one will be coming with me, no one saying let's go together, no one holding my hand and saying let's get off now. I will be facing that last journey on my own.

So, the word empowerment is important to me. What's the opposite? Not being empowered means giving your life to someone else, handing over responsibility, saying tell me what to do. The supermarket tells me to fill my trolley with crap. I don't. Social networking sites invite me to sign up, join us, keep in touch with the whole chuffin world. I don't. Less is best, my little old blog is enough for me.

Now I feel liberated, having got that off my chesticles, having put down here in my own words exactly how I feel. Empowerment is a wonderful word, one that everyone should learn. No more blaming someone else for what happens to you. Go forth and take charge, and come back tomorrow happy in your own skin, not struggling to fit into someone else's.          
Toodle pip.