beyond maintaining

So I haven't been blogging all that much...even after I said I was getting back into it after my trip. I have to be honest...lately I haven't had much interest in this whole weight loss journey. I haven't given up by any means. I've been treking along. I continue to watch what I eat and have a goal to exercise 3-5 times a week. But I haven't been giving it my all. I haven't been excited about it. Just been MAINTAINING. I saw a commercial today for some kind of weight loss company and the testimonial said "I've maintained my weight for 3 years!" Maintaining isn't lazy. There is work involved in maintaining. Some say they maintain their lawn. That is not easy work. Mowing, weeding, edging, watering. That's a lot of "ings." And as long as you maintain it, your lawn will always look like it always looks. Now, lets say you decide to plant some flowers, or grow an herb garden. Maybe you add a water feature. Then maybe you plant different flowers or add fruits and veggies to your garden. Then later you change the landscaping features. You're not just maintaining anymore, you're creating. And as long as you continue to create, your lawn will look differently, change, enhance, improve. Now, you can have a beautiful yard by maintaining it. BUT you won't experience the benefits of creativity, vision, and inspiration. You miss out on that thrill, delight, and satisfaction. Back to the weight thing. Yes, at some point you might reach your weight goal and you just want to work on maintaining it. But I still think there can be more to it. You could continue to educate yourself about food and exercise. You could mentor others. Work on other aspects of your health besides weight, like your blood pressure or cholesterol, or your emotional health and spiritual health (which very much affects your physical health). There is always more than just maintaining.

So...how do you move from maintaining to creating? I think creativity requires inspiration. BUT...I don't think it always begins with inspiration. Sometimes it takes some work before the inspiration comes. Take for example this blog post. I could have waited until I got some inspiration before writing but I didn't. I just started writing some sentences about how I was feeling and from there the inspiration came. So...what do I need to do next? I need to put in the work. I need to write blog posts, I need educate myself, I need to exercise harder, I need to talk to others who are doing the same, I need to work on other aspects of my health. And as I put in the work, I'll be inspired to do more and be more, to CREATE! That's kind of exciting. I'm even getting inspired as I write this! So go! Work! Move beyond maintaining to creating!