Life slaps me in the face. Twice.

[Jennifer Ocean]

Hey people!

 

Just checking in here. Been a while…

 

Ok, so I joined up back in July, on the 29th. The forums are my substitute for Facebook, so I was doing some posting, doing some planning, and really getting into the Academy and it’s structure. I made some quests, read a bunch of articles, and was doing good. Fantastic program, really. I was getting my eating restructured and changing some smaller habits, and everything was going well.

 

And then life intervened.

 

“Feel like everything is going your way? Well, here’s a major change in your employment! Enjoy!”

 

At the time of original posting, I was an assistant in the preschool wing of the school I work for. I had been an assistant there for 9 years. 9 YEARS! Aside from a couple semesters in college (tutorial level, doesn’t count), this was the only job I had ever had. I loved working with the little kids, you guys! So what happened? Well, enrollment was down this year, and there was a lot of staff reshuffling. My position in the preschool disappeared. However, 9 years of giving 110% counted for something, and my boss approached me with an offer to move to a different area. How would I feel about being a teacher’s assistant in the elementary? Perhaps to fourth graders?

 

I panicked, and panicked hard. Thankfully, my boss had set up the meeting with the elementary principal before mentioning this possibility to me, so I only had mere hours to panic rather than days. That afternoon I was in the office accepting a new position in the elementary. Panic gave way to acceptance, and then stress. Major stress. And with it, everything I was doing for the Academy disappeared.

 

Anyway, the weeks passed, and I grew more comfortable with the job, learning the ins and out at the elementary level, getting to know the teacher I work with (He’s great), the kids in my class (a good bunch overall), and all of the other aspects of the job. Stress melted into enjoyment. I love my new position. It’s so much fun, and the days don’t drag the same way they did when I was working with four-year-olds. I began to think about the Academy again, and getting back to making some real progress. Life was displeased by this choice, evidently.

 

“Damn, you didn’t breakdown completely at the job change thing. Gotta think of something better. I know! Since you enjoy the job so much, let’s interrupt that! It’s Hurricane Time, baby!”

 

That’s right, guys, I live in Florida. Specifically, the area of Florida where Hurricane Irma decided to make landfall. It’s been bad, I’ll admit. We stayed in the area for the storm: rode it out. Thankfully, the house is undamaged. However, we took heavy damage to our landscaping, losing several nice trees. The front of my neighborhood was flooded with a foot of water for 3 days after the storm. One of our neighborhood entrances was (and still is) blocked by two downed power lines. We went four days without power. We are still on boiled water notice, and our towns sewer system is so messed up they may have to shut off the water system entirely to let it settle down. We’ve been conserving water. I haven’t showered in two days.

 

But over the last two days, a semblance of normality has returned. I may get to go back to work soon. We have power, and more importantly, air conditioning. Gas is available again. Grocery stores are open. Our yard and trees are cleaned up. I'm going to shower tomorrow.

 

Now, I realized something in all of this. When I got the job change, I stopped all Academy stuff on the premise that I would resume when life went back to normal. During the hurricane, it was the excuse that conditions just weren’t regular enough to worry about the Academy. And ok, yeah, a hurricane is a pretty extreme event to weather (lol), but I realized that this is where small changes come into play. The Academy is not an all or nothing ‘diet program’. It’s meant to be worked into your life even during moments of crisis or weakness. Let me isolate my little epiphany here for emphasis.

 

Life is never going to be ‘just perfect’ when it comes to making lifestyle changes.

 

Now, I still can’t take regular daily showers. And I’m not supposed to flush my toilet too often right now, or do laundry and dishes. And drinking water from the tap might kill me. And oh yes, I see that other storm out in the Atlantic taking aim at Florida. Way too early to say where it’s going, but the possibility is there. And what can I do? I can get back on track with small changes. I can respawn and start anew.

 

Most importantly, I can remind myself that nothing has to happen quickly. One of my hobbies before the storm was keeping saltwater fish. (They all died in the storm. I had to take the tank down. 75 gallons. Not going to go back to it anytime soon.) And a well-known saying is: “Only bad things happen fast in this hobby.” That applies here too, I think. Small changes that build on each other are easier to keep up during stressful times than major changes.

 

Anyway, I didn’t mean to write out a frickin’ novel. Just wanted to check in, let everyone know I’m still hanging in with the Academy, enjoying it quite a bit. Consider this my respawn. I’m going to restart with confidence. Look for a Challenge Thread to go up soon in the Level 1 area. The timing is perfect for starting some small goals. I’ll be starting a Battle Log soon as well to track all of my bigger Academy quests and levels (and progress!). Thanks for reading!

 

~Shadow Stormtide

 

[godjira1]

life is hard. honestly. but we have to learn how to deal with it nonetheless. acknowledgement of that is the key to contentment, at least in my book. 

 

good luck!

[Zahirah]

I'm also in southwest Florida, though we got incredibly lucky this time around with Irma.  I'm so sorry to hear about your current situation, I can definitely empathize after Charlie way back in the day.  Especially with that hanging over you, it's hard to get back into the swing of things.  You're absolutely right, small changes will sustain bigger ones. Being patient and compassionate with ourselves when life kicks us in the shins is hard, but it helps.

Whenever you get up and going on here, I'd love to follow along.