Welcome back to Carol's Corner. Sorry I had to take a little break. All rested up today. Pick up my hubby at the airport Tuesday evening, so then he can resume his photographer's duties. This picture was at the local diner again. I'm going to show you a sideway's view because the yoke in back makes this an interesting top.

 

 

 

The laced yoke and sleeve and being longer in back make for a more interesting top and glams it up a bit. Jo Ellen Jatczak won this with her entry of, “Lace It Up.”

I also decided to glam this outfit up a bit with my jewelry accessories as in the bracelet, the long necklace and the earrings. I chose a blue toned FitBit Band that blends with the blues in the top.

Then I chose these three shades of clasp covers that pick up other colors in the top and then we're good to go.

Love this quote from the late Albert Eistein. In fact, he seems to have lots of inspirational quotes. This could be used in many different ways in our journey. To succeed we have to have a proper balance of many things: diet, exercise, emotional stability, and the right amount of rest; to name a few. When just one is out of whack it can throw everything off. Take our emotions for instance. We all know in this journey that there is such a thing as emotional eating. Some are more prone to this than others and it is something we all need to be aware of.

We need to learn what our emotional triggers are and do everything we can to not let them have a negative impact on what we are trying to accomplish. Letting our emotions, especially negative ones, get the better of us can send us into a downward spiral of poor decisions or, for some, right into a bout of depression and that is never a good thing.

The first thing that goes is usually what we choose to eat. This is where the downward spiral is apt to start. Especially, when we are upset about something someone said or did; we let food be our emotional crutch instead of addressing whatever or whoever upset us in the first place. Then, we are disgusted with ourself but instead of stopping there, we usually just keep on making the wrong choices. The next thing to suffer is usually our exercise regimen. Probably because we haven't been eating right we don't feel as good physically or emotionally; we then decide to take a break from exercising. Wrong choice big time! This is when you need to up your exercise not stop it. They say success comes from 80% diet and 20% exercise, but consider what it means if your diet is going downhill and you're not exercising at the same time.

My eating has not been what it should be, but I know this is when I can't let my exercise go, instead I probably should try increasing it when possible. I might not want to workout, but I won't allow myself to go there. I force myself to exercise whether I want to or not and I always know that is the right decision. Think about this. If you let both diet and exercise go, you are probably going to become depressed and with depression you make worse decisions for yourself. Oh, and we all know by now that exercise is one of the best ways to curb anxiety and depression. To me, exercise is a must no matter what; it should be for you too.

Then, of course, there is proper rest, one which is not my strong suit, but I have noticed one thing lately. When I get adequate sleep, my resting blood sugar is far better then if I have not. Also, I don't know if this is something many of you are aware of: Did you know that if you don't sleep, that your weight will not budge from what it was at the end of your day? So, if you have a night that you don't sleep you are starting your day with a weight deficit; which is something that I have first hand knowledge of. I know this because of the many tests and results from my own experience.

So, as you can see we need a proper balance in all areas in order to keep moving in the right direction. We cannot allow ourselves to be at a standstill. Make an inventory and see what areas you are lacking balance in. Don't fall into the trap that will send you into a downward spiral. As long as you keep moving forward you will be successful. Whatever you do, don't ever give up!! Remember The Little Engine That Could? “I think I can, I think I can,” and before you know it you will be saying, “I know I can, I know I can.” Till next time, God Bless.