Getting down and dirty...

I'm hanging my head in shame over the picture I'm about to post.  But I'm posting it anyway.  Because there's something that I think people need to understand (Heidi and Wendy, I'm talking to you-and quite a few others too!).  So, here it is, my living room on Day 14 of my challenge:

Notice the toys scattered everywhere?  The yarn piled on the couch?  The sippy cup in the middle of the floor?  The unvacuumed carpet?  The general chaos?  Yup, figured you would.  My house is NEVER like this!  I hate that I'm sharing this and if someone asked to stop by my home right now, I'd make excuses and bar them from coming in!  Not how I usually am.  I'm usually one to welcome others with open arms, throw the door wide, and offer them refreshments while they sit down and relax in my cozy little home.  Want to know my point in sharing this?  Notice that not once during the last 14 days have I said that I couldn't go for a walk because the house was dirty and needed to be cleaned?  The housework is on hold until my walk is over.  Now that is a huge change for me!  Housework used to be one of my many excuses for not exercising. "Sorry, honey, can't go to the gym tonight.  The laundry needs to be done."  Or the dishes, or the vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, dusting.  You pick, I've used them all.  During my challenge, I'm learning to put my own body's needs first.  Because you know what the reality is?  The house is not going to have a heart attack if I don't pick it up every day and vacuum the floors every time they get dirty.  My body, on the other hand, just might have a heart attack if I don't give it exercise and treat it better.  It's as black-and-white as that.  A dirty house may not be something to be proud of, but it's not nearly as bad as poor physical health.  Your kids will not remember that your floor was steam-cleaned daily, that everything had its place.  They will remember if you took them on walks everyday and taught them to love nature and the beauty they could find outside their front door.

Tomorrow is my half-way point!  Reaching this point has inspired me to ask a question of all of you.....who wants to finish the challenge with me?  15 days of activity.  It doesn't have to be anything big.  Heck, I'll be happy if you all put your brooms down and walk around the block just once each day!  If you want to walk around the block 10 times, even better for you!  I promise you, if you do join me in the last 15 days of my challenge, you won't regret it!