Meliora

Hello, My name is Sam and I was initially here about a year ago under the name Seraph. I had a game plan and everything, but life decided to take some interesting twist and turns that resulted in said game plan being thrown out the window while I put out fires. Now I'm back. Once again life has given me some unexpected situations to handle, but this time, they're for the better and they all seem to be lining up with what I had initially wanted to start undertaking a year ago with Nerd Fitness; I now have a doctor that understands my medical conditions and works with them for the better, a job that is very fulfilling with opportunities for significant advancement and personal satisfaction if I can take the steps I need to on my end, a relationship with someone that is very supportive through the good times and the bad, and a hard deadline to really motivate me to get my act together so that I am financially (and otherwise) independent, whereas I am not right now. I have two years to get everything in order that I need to because of outside factors, and I strongly believe that Nerd Fitness will help me get there. My main goals are to get physically healthier by losing a significant amount of weight among other things, manage my mental and emotional states better, become financially independent, get my own place, get promoted and certified in my field, finish writing a novel, and push myself out of my comfort zone so I can truly live my life instead of hiding away in my room any chance I get. The name I've chosen for my alter ego echoes the latter sentiment as Meliora is Latin for better, more precisely, for the pursuit of better. I suppose I should share some random facts about me aside from the struggles that brought me here. I was born and raised in Texas, though I have also lived in North Dakota and Mississippi. I turned 30 this year. I work in the wine industry for my day job, though I am an aspiring writer on the side. I'm a huge nerd when it comes to space, the ocean, video games, anime, and books. Mass Effect is my favorite video game series of all time. I even have a tattoo for it, as well as a Hunger Games one. My next tattoo will probably be Harry Potter related because I have to represent one of my original fandoms. Weirdly enough, I don't care for Star Wars all that much (I'm sorry). I'm definitely more of a Star Trek girl. I also have a corgi named Lord Mizington Esquire the Third, a.k.a., Miz. And yes, for you wrestling fans, he is indeed awesome.

I actually use audiobooks to help me fall asleep when I have bouts of insomnia, so that probably won't work for me. Whoops. I do really like the idea of picking out special water bottle to incentivize me to drink more. Thank you for the feedback and the welcome. Good luck with your own goals! Thank you! I actually have a friend that has offered to help me learn to drive. She lives 40 minutes away, so that makes it hard to get together for lessons, but it's also part of why she wants to teach me so she won't have to do all of the driving to hang out. As for other things I'm doing, I am focusing more on my writing since I do want that to be my career, but I'm also taking as many hours as work will give me so I can start saving up a nest egg for a car, my own place, etc. while I don't have to worry about paying rent or utilities for the moment. Thank you to everyone else for the welcome and encouragement! I'll be posting weekly recaps on Sundays, most likely in the afternoon.

As formal as the title for this topic is, I can assure you I am anything but. My name is Samyah, but most people call me Sam. Yes, we make great sidekicks, I know, but that's not what I'm here for, though I am more than willing to help a fellow member of The Rebellion out if I am able. At the time of writing this, I am a few months shy of 30. For all of you that have already hit 30 and beyond, and all of those around my age now, you might be acquainted with the feeling I've been having, a feeling of not enough. Not being enough. Not doing enough. Not having enough. Well, I have actually had enough, just not in the same context as intended above. I am tired of those feelings which I can only assume get worse over time from personal experience and watching the lives of others. So I am here, publicly announcing to a bunch of strangers that I have issues, a lot of them... like announcing weird things to strangers, but I am here to work on them. To grow, to change. To still be myself, but the best version of myself that I can be. So what does that entail for me? Well, in no particular order: I want a fulfilling career. For me this means getting out of the customer service life. I went from working retail to pouring wine in a swanky little winery. It's a step up to be sure, but it's not fulfilling and it isn't what I want to do with my life, because I want to be a writer. I'm currently working on my first novel as well as a poetry project on Instagram. I want to see the world. I want to learn more about other cultures and I want to learn more about my father's culture in his homeland of Jordan. I want to experience everything the world has to offer and I can't do that from my small Texas town. I want to learn. I have a passion for knowledge, plain and simple, and I'm pretty weird to boot, so you know I would have been right at home in Ravenclaw. So to indulge that side of me, I want to pick up new hobbies, skills, and information however I can. I want to lose weight, get in shape, and be healthy. It's harder to live life to its fullest when you're bogged down mentally and physically by health issues like being overweight. Plus, it's bound to be a shorter life if I don't take care of myself. I want to become independent, financially and otherwise. I hate feeling like a burden to other people, but I can't afford to live alone on what I currently make. On top of that, I have a terrible phobia when it comes to driving, so I never learned how. There's no public transportation where I live, so becoming independent without driving is near impossible. I want to give back. No matter how bad I may consider my circumstances, even at my lowest points, it has always been relatively comfortable. There are many people that can't say the same and if I ever get to the point where I can not only take care of myself the way that I should, but help others along the way whether it's with my time in volunteering or donating to worthy causes, then of course I want to do that.

[Main Quest] ★ Ardently Stick to a Predetermined Workout Plan by: Going on a Brisk 20 Minute Walk 3 Times a Week Completing 2 Tai Chi Sessions Each Week Completing a Yoga Session Every Single Morning, or Evening if Time is Short in the Morning on Days I Work or Have Other Obligations [Support Quests] ★ Improve My Time Management and Productivity by: Removing Unnecessary Social Media Apps from My Phone Follow a Set Sleep Schedule, Up by 6am, in Bed No Later than 10pm Only Indulge in Pastimes like Video Games and TV After Important and Necessary Tasks are Done for the Day with the Exception of 15 Minute Breaks for Every 2 Hours of Focused Work and Efforts ★ Cut Out All Beverages Other than Water and Tea by: Eliminate Temptation at Work by Bringing Along My Own Drinks Drink at Least 8 Glasses of Water at Regular Intervals to Prevent Temptation from Thirst Drink Caffeinated Tea When in Need of an Energy Boost Usually Gotten from Other Beverages ★ Eat Small Portions at Regular Intervals to Prevent Binge Eating by: Preparing Quick Snacks Ahead of Time to Just Grab and Go Plan Main Meals in Advance Eliminate "Can't Stop" Junk Food from the House, Such as Potato Chips and Sweets [About Me] When not masquerading as a fledgling superhero, I go by the name Samyah. Most people call me Sam. Maybe that's part of the reason why I've always felt like the sidekick in a story instead of the hero. Now I'm staring down the last few months of my 20s and I'm compelled to change that. It's time for me to change from wanting and wishing that I could do things, whether it be get in shape or write a book, to actually doing them. I've already begun to make little changes here and there, some of them inspired by the Level Up Your Life book, such as joining The Rebellion and participating in this challenge, and some of them just from listening to what my soul has been singing to be for a long time under the din of my day to day life. So here's goes nothing. Except it isn't nothing. It's definitely something. Something big.