The Revitalization of my Life-Day 20

Today was a good day. Didn't have any complaints. Must keep moving forward. Didn't work out, but I did do some reading and encouraged myself to keep on keeping on.

On my way to sell some of my books instead of working out. Always trying to revitalize my life every and any way I can as long as the way is positive.


"Always uplift yourself so that you will know how to uplift others"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 19

Today was a rough one. Right when I was about to go workout, I started to feel bad. I had already put my clothes on so I said, "what the hell." I walked outside and begin to stretch and it had gotten dark. Well, that means rain and this was yet another excuse for me to just go inside and lay down. I told myself that it wasn't raining yet and this was not an excuse for me not working out. So I began to run.

While on my journey, I started thinking about the word drive. Where does it come from? Why is it in some and not all? I could have easily just used my excuses to not workout, but I didn't. I didn't do so because my drive to accomplish wouldn't let me. But what has given me the ability to not only have drive but keep it? I think I got my drive from an elder lady that never stopped doing just because of her age or illness. This lady that I speak of is my great grandmother. This is the woman that raised me. She was in her 70s and she never acted like she was. She would sometimes walk to church when she had a ride. She never said why she would do this but I think she did it to make her feel good about herself. She was determined to beat the odds of being old. Every time she would do something like this, it would just motivate me to do whatever it was that I was trying to accomplish. This has been instilled in me every since.

I still have to ask myself, what gives people the drive that they have to never quit no matter what? While I was running I came up with an answer. I think that it comes from seeing people without the necessary resources get done what they need to get done no matter what. It's bad enough that they don't have the necessities, but to have obstacles on top of that and never lose sight of their goal...AMAZING! This is what motivates me. Whenever I feel like I can't do something because of the way I feel, I think about those who don't have anything. The ones who don't have legs, but still get around. The ones that don't have any clothes. The ones that don't have any motivation from no one, not even family members because their family is deceased. The ones that have children and no husband/wife. The ones who had a dream and fulfilled it. These are the things that keep me going when I feel like I can't go anymore.

So I say to you today. Whenever you feel as if you can't get something done just because of how you feel, think about that lady you saw in the grocery store that had two small children without a husband with her workout clothes on. Think about that little old lady that still rides her bike. We are surrounded by plenty of people and situations to motivated us to make the things in our life better. This type of motivation will instill within you something that you didn't know that was inside of you...DRIVE!

"Motivation doesn't come from someone telling you what to do, it comes from them showing you that you can do it...Drive comes from seeing motivation it action"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 18 (Part 2)

When you are on a roll, you are on a roll and you have to take advantage of it. The post that I posted this morning inspired me to make something happen that wasn't suppose to happen...WORKING OUT! When I got off work, it was late and the sun had gone down and I figured that I would just wait until the morning to go running. I walked in the house, spoke to my wife and begin to change my work clothes. As I begin to do so, she asked me was I going running. I immediately thought to myself, "I didn't plan on it, but I guess it was still possible to do since she asked." I looked out the window and noticed that it was really getting dark outside, but then I thought about the many obstacles that WE place in our own way and this was one of them. Just because it was dark outside, didn't mean that I couldn't make my run...that's what they make street lights for.

As I begin my journey, I starting going into deep thought. I starting thinking about how easy it would have been for me to have just not put my workout clothes on and not run. But then I started thinking of how easy it was for me to do so. Then the epiphany came. When my wife asked me if I was going running, she noticed that it had become a part of my routine and this triggered her questioning me about it.

When something becomes part of our routine, it makes it more easy to get done. The hard part is making it become routine. I had the thought that I wanted my workout to become so involved with my routine that I do it even when I am on vacation; even when we just make short trips to visit friends for the weekend. If you can workout even when your in a state of relaxation, then you know that it's deeply embedded within your routine and that you have accomplished a great goal. Because real relaxation starts by knowing that you are maintaining your body to help maintain your mind.

All of this was triggered by my wife just asking a simple question...thank you God for a woman of her statue!!!

"Great is my life, because of my wife"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 18

Well, today is not over yet, but I haven't taken my run and worked my muscles. The reason being is because I woke up this morning with something heavy on my heart. I had a dream about my mother and in the dream I wrote her a poem and this is what the poem said:

I've Never

I've traveled the world
I've tasted exotic foods
I've made over 10,000 in one pay check
I've made a woman cry
I've made people laugh
I've seen people die
I've seen lives saved
I've prayed for a long time
I've been prayed for
I've helped someone in need
I've been helped when needed
I've written a book
I've fallen in love
I've made love
I've said I was sorry
I've given my last
I've never heard my mother say "I Love You"
I've never told her face to face that I Love her.

I've done all of these things, but I have never heard my mother say that she loves me...reason being is because my mother is deceased and she died when I was only 6 years of age.

But last night in my dream, I heard her say, "I Love You" for the first time in my life and it was amazing. I felt a sensastion run through my body that made me feel like I was standing on top of the highest mountain over looking the ocean and a cool breeze passed me by and I slightly smiled, strectched my arms wide and slowly fell into the ocean without a care in the world. An amazing moment it was, so amazing that it didn't feel like a dream at all.

My heart was a little to heavy to run this morning, so I decided to share this episode of my life with you. Letting someone know about an amazing experience is more revitalizing than a run around the neighborhood. If your mother is stll living, give her a call today and tell her you love her and watch how you fell when she tells you that she loves you. If you don't talk to your mother like this, call her anyway and tell her to tell you that she loves you. It will have the same affect because love has no sense of direction nor a sense of how it's suppose to be said because the power of it lies within the word itself.

"Love that is given is a gift
Love that is made is a pleasure
But Love that is received is a lifetime"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day17

Once again, I am on top of my A-Game. I worked out again without even thinking about it. It was like it was just a part of my life. A great feeling it is, but I can't help but wonder how did this change just come about so quickly. Well, at least it felt like it came quickly, but in actuallity, it didn't. You see, I have been trying to get back into a daily workout routine for about a year. Yes, an entire year! I always wanted to get back into my old routine, but with losing my job and gaining one that had a crazy schedule, I just couldn't seem to get on track. The one thing that I never stop doing throughout this whole ordeal was thinking about how I wanted to get back to working out. I would picture myself running and doing pushups and sit-ups. Throughout this year of wanting, I would sometimes do these things I envisioned, but I never could keep it consistant. The only consisitancy I had was the thinking about doing it and visualizing myself actaully doing it.

The power of vision is more POWERFUL than most people think. Everything that is around us today first begin as a vision in someones head. None of us ever thought that there would be a phone without any buttons, I know I didn't. But there was one person that did at it happened.

When we visualize things happeneing in our life, we can't just leave them in our minds. We have to take them to the next level by putting them into reality. It won't be easy and it won't be fast, but the reward from it once it is out of your head and actually in your life will be overwhelming. It will make all of your surroundings so much more vivid and exhiliratiing. Take the time today, not tomorrow, but right now after you read this and bring one of thse visions that you have to reality. Don't think that it's outrageous and that you don't have the resources to make it happen, because you do...all you have to do is grab a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and right it down. This is the first step to bringing your vision into reality!


"If you can visualize yourself eating BlueBell ice cream and it happens, you can do the same about any of your dreams, but you have to have the same beleif as you did about the BlueBell ice cream"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 16

Well, I must say that I really feel good! WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will be proud to know that I started working out again. Yes, I finally broke the cycle that I was on. It was like an EPIPHANY! In order fro you to understand this great feeling that I have, I have to tell you how it happened.

I had come home from work with my usual feeling-tired, thinking a lot, not motivated. When I walked through the door, I didn't have working out on my mind because I usually work out in the mornings. The evening working out has been out of my vocabulary for a while now. I cam in spoke to my wife and immediately hit the sofa. I remembered that I had just bought a new book to read-Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert-and I began to read it. She was speaking about how down she was when she realized that she wanted a divorce and how she first had a conversation with God at the age of 32. I continued to read until I realized that I had chores to do. I put in a load of clothes and begin folding the ones that were already clean. (yes, I do laundry and I love it!) While I was folding the clothes, I saw my gym shorts and thought to myself, "I could just stop what I am doing right now, put on those shorts and workout and then come back and begin my chores." Well, this is exactly what I did. This particular run was probably one of the most inspirational runs that i have ever had. My mind was at ease and every time I tried to think about something, it wouldn't happen. It's like my mind wouldn't let thoughts enter because it was on such a high off being inspired that it wanted to stay there as long as it possibly could. For the duration of my run, I was not here on earth. I journeyed to a place that I have been wanting to visit all of my life. A place of serenity while here on earth around all of this chaos. Ahhhhhh, it was like drinking a cold glass of tea in August in Mobile Alabama at 3pm...so refreshing!

When I came from my workout, I immediately took a shower and while I was in the shower I begin to pray and just thank God for giving me the ability to just jump into doing the positive things that I want to do within my life. I thanked him for the small things like, breathing, walking ,tasting, feeling, thinking, loving, etc. Just everything that I could possibly think of that was small and that goes unnoticed in our daily life. Sometimes you have to listen to that little voice that doesn't make sense to the average person, but makes complete sense to you. This voice just might be the voice of reason, the voice of change, the voice of inspiration, the voice of God!

Doing the small things to make a big difference is what is needed in order to gain some consistency. It takes a woman nine months to birth a child, 21 years before that child becomes of legal age and gains a sense of reason. What makes you think that you can get the things you want done in your life in a matter of weeks or months even. Take your time and pay attention to the small things that need to get done, and maybe, just maybe they will create an avenue that will make the bigger things easier to accomplish. (If this sounds familiar, it's because I probably said this line in another one of my blog post.)

"Lesson's can only be learned by those who are willing to listen...my ears are open"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 15

Today is a off day for me from working out, but I have been off from it for so long that it doesn't matter. But I am treating it as if I am working out. Some times you have to make believe and act as if you are doing something because eventually, you will.

While I was at work yesterday, two things happened to me; well actually three. The first thing was that I saw a couple in their late eighties walking through Wal-Mart together and the guy was holding the lady by her waist. You know, the way we use to do when we were in high school to let everyone know this is my girl. When I saw this, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. To see someone who could barely walk, place his arm around the woman that he loves as if they were teenagers just made me believe that you can stay in love forever. The flame that they lite so many years ago, still burns. I guess LOVE is what you make it and if you make it forever, it will last that love.

After viewing this, I went to lunch. While I was on my lunch break, i begin to read a book called The Secret. I have read the book once already, but I decided to read it again because it's a very inspirational book that has a biblical base. As I begin to read it, I realized that I hadn't fully put my faith into action like I was capable of doing. I begin to realize that I needed to start imagining as if I were a kid again. Creative thinking is what makes all of these great inventions and book that we use and read everyday. But in order for your dreams to come true you have to believe in them. I wrote out a list of things that I wanted to accomplish and the weird thing about this, is that I felt good while doing it and after. Well, this morning when I went to go put on my pants, I found some money in my pocket. It was only $9, but hey, money is money. I think that I am on the right track, just have to keep believing.

As I began my day, I got a text from my cousin telling me to read a post on one of our mutual friends facebook page. I figured it had to be interesting because she text me, so I decided to read it. I can't explain it to you, so I decided to place it in this blog. This was a Note posted by Stephanie Hamilton Brown

MARRIAGE

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.

When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife's divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside
the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office.... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind...I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead.
My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push thru with the divorce.-- At least, in the eyes of our son--- I'm a loving husband....

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!

If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you.

If you do, you just might save a marriage.
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

A CHRIST-CENTERED MARRIAGE IS A MARRIAGE THAT IS SURE TO LAST A LIFETIME.

So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.-Matthew 19:6

Speechless! I was the same way. After this, I can't even place my signature quote. I will just let this marinate for a while. Have a good day!

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 14

I am tired of singing the same ole song, but I have to keep singing it until I start doing what I suppose to be doing...working out. And you guessed it, I didn't do it this morning. I woke up late and believe me that is not a good excuse, but it is what happened. But I can still be proud of myself because I did take advantage of a small opportunity. Every morning when I awake, I don't greet my mate. I am not a Scrooge, but it takes me a minute to get myself together and I really just don't talk in the morning. I use that time to get my thoughts together and think about what I need to do for the day. The reason for me making this change is because I talked to my wife last night and I asked her what was her ideal day of a married woman. I took mental notes and made it my business to change what I wasn't doing and start doing it. So when I got up this morning and looked at her beautiful face, I said, "good morning and how are you doing this morning?" Felt really good because I knew that I had done something that she wanted me to and I saw that I could make adjustments within my daily routine to accommodate her needs.

Sometimes we have to sit and talk and ask questions to really find out what needs to be done. The other half of this is that the other person has to be honest about whats going on. That old saying really is true...it does take two. We have to put our wants to the side sometimes and figure out what the other half wants and maybe, just maybe improving yourself to fit their needs will automatically create an environment that will take care of your wants!

"Take care of their needs and they will take care of your wants"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 13

Well, another day another blessing. I awoke this morning with accomplishing some of my short term goals on my mind. I made a list of things I needed to do to get my life in order. It consist of ten things and they are very small, but I think that they are very vital to making big things happen within my life. The first ting that I have on my list is to organize my clothes in my closet. I feel that if you have your clothes in order, this will give you more time in the morning when you are getting ready. This may be the key to me working out. Some of the ideas that I come up with seem so simple sometimes, but if they are done they make such a great impact on my life.

Make you a to do list that you can accomplish immediately. Don't worry about the BIG things, just get the small stuff done and it will make room for the BIG things to get done. It can be as small as sweeping off the front porch or even rearranging furniture.

It's just like we tell kids when they are in school and they are trying to learn everything that they can. We tell them, take your time and learn it one thing at a time. We should take our own advice. I know it's meant for kids, but it's designed for adults. Become a leader this morning and do something small to organize your life a little bit better and once that task is done, do another little one and one day you will wake up and say, I have done all of the little things and there are no BIG things to do!

"Big things are nothing but a whole bunch of little things"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 12

Well, once again I didn't workout but believe me, I am going to start back. On yesterday I had an epiphany about the simple things in life that we hardly pay attention to during rough times in our lives. I was driving down the road headed to pick up a payment from a personalized poem I did for a client. While driving, I came up a train on the tracks. I starting thinking to myself, "man, this had to stop when I really need to get somewhere." Well, the train soon passed by and I was on my way. All of a sudden, a dog runs out into the street. I had no time to swerve, so I hit him. I felt really bad because I didn't know if it was someones dog. I stop my car and got out and looked at me car, it was damaged. The front bumper cracked and the signal light gone. Now to get you to understand why this really bothered me i have to tell you another story. Just a few weeks ago, my tire blew out and damaged...yep you guessed it, my front bumper and the signal light. you see, I had just had this bumper replaced and i was just devastated. But here is where my epiphany began.

I didn't make my appointment with my client and as I was headed back home right pass the sight where I hit the dog and i thought to myself, "I'm glad that it wasn't worse than it was." I could have swerved and hit a car head on. This could have caused for me to total my car and even get injured. Yea, I had just had my bumper replaced, but what's a bumper when you have a whole car and your life.

In trying situations we tend forget about what we have and focus on what we loss. I believe that when things happen like this, it's God way of putting our faith to the test. Seeing if we have being studying his word, not knowing when he might give us a pop quiz. When adversities come our way, we have to pay attention to what is right in front of us and not something that is not. I was hurt when the accident first happened, but after a about an hour or so, I came to the realization that it could have been worse. I just hope that I passed my pop quiz! (I did pray for forgiveness when I started thinking about my car and not the dog)

"Life is life and you can't change the word, but you can change what it means to you"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life-Day 11

Once again, no workout but I am going to get back to it. I decided not to workout today for a good reason. The same reason I touched on yesterday, devoting my time to my wife. I was awakened this morning with the thought of sacrifice on my mind. This stemmed from an incident that happened last night. Me and my wife were watching a movie (Invictus-great movie by the way) and when the movie went off, she asked me "do you want to watch the other one that I got?" I admit, I was sleepy and I had to go to work the next morning as well. But I thought about the vow that I made on yesterday and I told her to put it in and lets watch it. I know that its very small, but I figure if I take care of the small things right now, then everything will be all right in the future.

Once I got up and I realized that I had made a small sacrifice for my wife, I felt good. By me feeling good about myself and what I had done, I decided to keep it going. I cancelled my writing appointment and decided to do some cleaning around the house. I did a little dusting and a little vacuuming and folded clothes. Even if she never says a word about what I did, I will still feel good about it because I know what I did was right.

Some times we have to just do things because they are just the right thing to do. Just like I said yesterday, don't expect anything in return...just do it because you want to, just because its the right thing to do in your situation.


"When you clean, you have to make sure you clean the areas that people can't see"-K.J Swint

The Revitalization of my Life--Day 10

Today there was no workout. I know, I have been trying to get back into a routine, but it does take some time. I am not giving up though. This is one of the key ingredients to revitalizing your life, never give up when your routine is altered; you have to alter yourself to fit your new routine.

As I ponder about this, I came up with a plan that involves revitalizing my life completely. I decided to take a vow to dedicate all of my time to my wife and my writing. I realized yesterday that she needs more attention than I am giving her. I was told by many people who are married that your spouse comes first. This will be the first sacrifice that I make within my marriage. I don't think it will be the last but at least I am taking the initiative to make a difference for the better and not for the worse in the beginning.

It's not about who does what sometimes but more so about whether or not it gets done. If we stop looking for things to be done by the other person and just start doing things on our own without looking for anything in return, I think that we (couples, married people) will begin to see a difference in our relationship. It's not about yourself when you are involved with another person...it's not about them...it's about the both of you. Take the time to take that extra step and make something happen within your relationship and don't look for anything in return except self gratification.

"Happiness is not real happiness until your happy with just being you"-K.J Swint

The Revitilization of my Life-Day 9

Well, it's been a minute, but I am back on track. I had to take some time off because of a special moment in my life...one that I will cherish for the rest of my life. On July 3rd 2010, I got married to a beautiful woman. When I tell you she looked wonderful walking down the aisle, she really did. She had feathers in her hair that made her look as if doves were flying around her. It was amazing! Well, now I have added another part to my life. I am now someones husband and I have to take care of my better half better than I take care of myself.

Today as I awake, I begin to think about the days to come within my marriage. Thinking about the future as far as kids, finances, new home, etc. But then a voice spoke to me and said, "the future is then, the present is now." I didn't get it at first but then I thought about it for a while and then it hit me. It's o.k. to think about the future and prepare for it, but you also have to pay attention to the present...what you have right now because sometimes if you pay attention the the present, it will take care of the future.

A part of revitalizing ones life sometimes involves the uplifting of another. SO that is why I plan on uplifting not only my wife on a daily basis, but all of those that I come in contact with. Stepping outside of myself to step inside of someone else is probably one of the best things I can do the revitalize my own life.