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Friday Five and more…

Movin' it with Michelle

I’ve been out of the blogger land for a bit for several reasons.  I thought, “What a perfect Friday Five post!” The list is NOT all inclusive, and is all over the place.  Here goes…

1. After retiring from the Air Force in 2011 I found myself completely lost.  Insert cliché “Fish out of water” statement, HERE.  In struggling to find ME, I became a bit selfish.  I ran a lot, I signed up for lots of races, I dove in to my passions of writing, cooking and photography, I…I…I.  But wait…Oh yeah.  I have 2 kids and a husband, a house, and a career that also need tending too.  Pardon me while I slap my selfish self, now.

2. So I am runner who likes to write, cook, and several other things.  So what?  What makes me so much more interesting than anyone else.  Yeah…a whole lotta nothin’.

3. I’ve not been running more than a couples at a time since the Grandma’s Marathon in June.  I think 6+ hours on the course sucked the runner love out of me for a while.  So what will I blog about, if I am not signed up for a gazillion races?  Hmm…

4. I found in being so busy to grow my blog/page/creative career pursuit I was losing a lot of precious time with friends and family. I sort of got lost in social media land, and it more than sort of made me feel a tad sick.

5. I found myself very tired.  I was tired of not only reading the same things over and over in social media, and seeing the same selfies posted of the same work outs all while bragging themselves up over contests and awards, I was MORE exhausted trying to keep up with those pages and blogs as I found myself doing the very SAME thing…argh.

So I’ve stepped back, and reassessed where I want to be.  I still love spreading inspiration on my FB page with daily quotes and posters because nearly every day I get a “Thank you so much, I needed that,” type of comment.  I still love cataloging my recipes on the blog, and sharing my love for all things involved with food.  I still enjoy posting my workouts for a sense of accountability.  But I’ve STOPPED trying to compete with pages and blogs that clearly have me outnumbered tenfold.  “Comparison is the thief of joy” and I nearly let it steal MY joy.  Ack!  I need to practice what I preach, right?! I need to remember back to the reason WHY I started this blog/FB fan page which was to show people that even though you have struggles/face depression/suffer with life issues, YOU CAN KEEP MOVIN’ FORWARD. It’s up to you…

So thanks for bearing with me in my lack of posting.  I just needed a little break.  I am looking forward to the Fall, and some new upcoming challenges I plan on giving myself.  Yes…I am going to tackle my fear of baking.  STAY TUNED!  LOL

The best part of my week this week? The first day of Hip Hop for my youngest. THIS is what matters most to me. <3
The best part of my week this week? The first day of Hip Hop for my youngest. THIS is what matters most to me. ❤

Have a great weekend, y’all!  And thanks again!  ❤

Michelle

Published by Movin' it with Michelle

My name is Michelle and I am a retired Air Force Master Sergeant. I have found a passion for running, cooking, writing, photography and all things that move my love for life! I've ran 3 full marathons, with a PR of 4:25, and 17 half marathons with a PR of 2:00:11 (yup-missed sub 2 by 11 seconds, lol). Thanks for joining me on my journey!

45 thoughts on “Friday Five and more…”

  2. I totally know how you feel. As someone who is also in an “off season” with running right now, I have also felt weary from the constant comparison trap. It really does take a toll on you to repeatedly watch others excel while you are struggling, even if you want to be happy for them. So just know you are not alone! Social media can be such an awesome, wonderful thing (it’s how I met people like you!), but it has a very dark side. It helps us connect while also making us feel alienated at the same time. Very strange.

    I do hope you find time to blog because I’ll miss you if you don’t!

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  3. Love your honesty! I’ve been a bit neglectful of my blog this summer too, for many of the reasons you mention above! Running and training alone takes up so much of your free time, tack on maintaining an online presence (on top of a job and family etc) and it can be too much. That said, please don’t stop posting your recipes… because I loves them! 🙂

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  5. I think you are too hard on yourself. Yes there are some natural expectations from you, like your children need a mom. That I get. Everything else you can take it easy. Trust me on that. Life does go on. Especially this blog. You don’t owe anyone anything.

    I wont lie I look forward to your posts. I even follow you on Instagram and I love the quotes, but it is completely okay to not be so available to everyone and everything around you. (Direct quote from a friend of mine which changed my life).

    Have a great weekend.

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  7. Glad to have you back! It’s easy to get caught up in the blogging/social media world and to be quite honest it IS exhasuting as you said. Some times a good break is in order!

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  8. I think that many bloggers (me included), see/saw blogging as a way to work from home, add some extra income and have some fun, turn into something different and then when we see where it is leading. Stop, refocus and get back to what brought us to blogging in the first place. The old sugar plums and thoughts of I can do this too dance in our heads. Blog for you, on your schedule and you will have more fun and enjoy the online world much more. Keeping up with the “a” lister’s ain’t always what it is cracked up to be.

    Welcome back. 🙂

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  10. That was GREAT!! It’s hard fitting it all in…I KNOW!!
    I worry that my blog is the same ol’ s**t that NO ONE wants to read! I agree with you asking “what makes me so interesting?”. I find that reading blogs from people like me INSPIRING, and FUNNY, so keep it up as much as you can! You have a lot of fans out here!!! ❤️

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  13. I too was letting the blog world take too much of my time Michelle! So I made myself a schedule to limit my time on my computer and more time doing the things I have missed doing (playing piano, reading) and this also gives me more time with my family…Be true to yourself! 🙂

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  14. I haven’t been writing or reading blogs lately either. Partly due to the fact that I hurt my foot and couldn’t run my half, partly because I just feel exhausted from EVERYTHING, and partly because I’m putting my energy into my family/work. I aim for 3, sometimes 4 blog post a week and feel that’s enough. I’m trying hard not to join any MORE social media sites because I just don’t have the time.
    Good for you!

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  17. I hope you will find renewed joy in this thing called blogging. It can be something that works for you and you not for it. Try posting some of your Instagram pix to your blog which can be a great source of content. Keep on blogging my friend. Have a great week ahead.

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  18. It’s so hard to balance “real life” and “blog life.” Thankfully I have a job with a lot of, shall we say, down time, so I get a fair amount of stuff done at work (shh, don’t tell!). And it can definitely be hard to stop comparing myself to other blogs and bloggers, so I have a lot of conflict about where I am and what I want to be doing. I’m so glad you’ve found your priorities and are acting on them!

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  19. I like your blog just the way it is! And I agree with the whole comparison thing. I think the blogs I enjoy most, have their own individual personalities and not some cookie cutter mumbo jumbo. You keep it real and post fun recipes. Keep on keepin’ on sista!

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  20. I’m coming to this a little bit late, but I just wanted to say that, at the end of the day, your blog needs to be what you need it to be. In my own experience, I have had certain opportunities that I have chosen to pass up (both that were offered as well as choices that I just consciously made to take a different route) in order to keep myself happy and to keep my blog my space. I will never be the same old transformation Tuesday person or kissy face selfie unless I’m taking the piss out of myself.
    YOU.
    DO
    YOU.
    Period. End of story. I respect and admire that you took your time to figure out what you need and want to do. Don’t ever lose that. And I’m always here if you want to talk!

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  21. You are amazing just the way you are! We all need a little break sometimes. I myself feel like I don’t post enough and when I do it’s only related to training (it can get a little boring I know!). But I try not to let blogging/internet take over my life and what’s most important and I’m happy to hear you are doing the same ❤

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