Wishful Wednesday

Joining in over at The Seattle Smith's for a quick silly Wishful Wednesday. Come on over for some fun reminiscing.

I wish I could back and spend one day working at a job from my youth and it would be... Summer Day Camp at the YMCA!

(note: this is actually a picture from our church's VBS last year - I'm on the bottom right- because all my day camp pictures are hard copies and I don't have a scanner)

It's true, I was a summer day camp counselor for three years. I always felt that being a day camp counselor wasn't as "hard core" as being a counselor at an overnight camp, but honestly, I don't think I missed out on very much.

As a day camp counselor, I got to play, hike, climb, dance, ride, experiment.... and send the kids home at the end of the day. It wasn't always the cat's meow (temper tantrums, potty issues, snitty bosses, taking six-year olds on a hard hike), but it was pretty much a hoot hanging out with kids all day. I still laugh at some of the things kids said and did. One of my favorite parts about being a high school Spanish teacher is that we often get to do elementary-like things- so it's no surprise to me that I would find it fun to go back for one day. (But seriously, just one day. I'm a high school teacher for a reason!)

What is weird is that now, several years later, some of those same daycamp kiddos have turned into high school students and have been in my Spanish classes. They think it's weird to transition to calling me "Senorita" instead of "Miss Beth," and I think it's weird that those two stages of my life have collided.

On a semi-related thought (you'll hopefully track me in a minute), God did some nice talking to me today about Wishing. I was wishing that things were different at work as I was driving home, just wishing. Wishing is harmless, right?

I was wishing that I could teach some different classes next year. I was wishing that perhaps some changes would be made in our department. I was wishing that jobs would change.

Just wishing.

And then God reminded me that that kind of wishing does me no good at all (unlike the fun and silly wishing going on at Wishful Wednesday). The kind of wishing I was doing actually sounds a whole lot like discontentment.

Yikes. Discontentment. Not a great thing to be focusing on and living with.

And discontentment is friends with some people I don't want in my life, like envy, bitterness, and pride.

So my goal is to choose contentment- to keep working on not dwelling on the "what ifs," "if onlys," and "I wish's," and to instead focus on the positive, the beautiful, and the blessings.

Good reminder, God. Thanks.

(But I still like wishing for fun things, like someone to buy me a cup of coffee or the miraculous restoration of my kitchen!)

Wishful Wednesday and More

Today's topic: Wishful Wednesday: Diets.

I've never linked up with Wishful Wednesday before, but it looks fun- the whole idea being a "wish" to get you through the middle of the week. Although the topic of a diet is not necessarily something I'm excited about, I have some unexpected free time this morning and thought I might as well write about something new!

But first, you ask, why do I have some unexpected free time?

Oh let me tell you.

It's April 7, and my school district (and a few others) is having a snow day. I know many of you had big snow during the winter and were snowed in for days on end, but we had a pretty mild winter here with very few inches of snow. That is, until the last week in March, our Spring Break, where we had a blizzard with over a foot of snow in about two hours, and today, where we're having a snow day in April. I wish I could say that's rare for here, but of course, that's actually the way things always seem to go here.

But anyway, Back to Wishful Wednesday: Diets.

I wish had the willpower to stay on one particular diet, and it would be..... Self-Control!

Now, I know, that's not a real diet. Yes, I also realize that willpower and self-control in the same sentence is a bit redundant. But I'm serious.

I've taken nutrition classes. I've worked at a gym where I had free access to health information and exercise classes. I have a mom who reads up on everything and is really quite smart about health and nutrition. I've even been healthy before - when I came home from college, I got into a good groove of eating semi-reasonably (I still ate Chipotle at least once a week, but I ate a lot of other good stuff and didn't snack too much) and I worked out semi-regularly. I felt good, and I looked pretty good.

The last few years I've fallen off the healthy wagon, I think. I'm not fat, by any means, but I have inherited a belly-full "problem" from my dad- gain weight? Oh sure, let's put it right on the belly and no where else. That, of course, lends people to wondering if I'm pregnant. No, I'm not, thank you very much. It also makes me think I really need to work on that belly issue before I do get pregnant, so I can feel better then.

The main issue is that I don't feel healthy.

So I wish I had the self-control to snack less or to take the time to prepare healthy snacks. I wish I had the self-control to make the time to go to the gym (Husband and I just got a membership to Gold's- he's already been a few times, but I've been so busy I haven't gone yet. Maybe this afternoon, when the snow has stopped but we're still out of school). I wish I had the self-control to just do it.

Good news is, self-control isn't a fad that is going to go away any time soon..... so if I can just get going, I think I'll be able to do it. So healthy snacks and exercise, here I come.

At least, I wish.