Memories

[I just realized that with a title like that, it brings to mind someone singing on stage wearing a (literal) cat suit...  Yes, I love musicals and am referring to Cats.]

Today started off with a very interesting situation at church...  I got there early for Praise Band rehearsal (as always), took something out to my car and then ended up walking back in with another member of the Band.  As we walked in, the smoke alarm in the kitchen started going off.  He and I went to check it out as there was smoke pouring out of the oven.  Church was having an Easter pot-luck after the service and someone had put something into the oven (without checking the oven first for spill-over) and they walked away.  There was food that had spilled in the bottom of the oven that was causing the smoke.  We turned off the oven and shut the door, opened the windows/doors in the kitchen area and we attempted to fan the smoke out of the kitchen.  While I was helping with all of this, I knew it wasn't the best idea since, while I don't have asthma, I have been known to have an asthmatic reaction to smoke.  When the smoke was clearing, I opted to leave in order to catch my breath.  I did say that while having to deal with the smoke was an annoyance, it at least kept me from smelling he lilies that were everywhere in the sanctuary (I'm allergic to lilies).  Everyone was thankful that things didn't end up worse than a kitchen full of smoke.  So, needless to say, it was an interesting start to Easter Sunday...  [When I told my youngest brother about it, he came up with the BEST alliteration: Panicking praising participants presuming possible problems preceding praise pageantry.]

I guess it's all about making memories.  The smoke filled church kitchen is probably not something I will soon forget and I'm sure it's a memory that will come to mind each Easter Sunday.  Something else that always comes to mind during Holy Week is music.  As I've written before, I come from a very musically inclined family (we each sing) and every year we would each have our Easter season songs that we would sing.  While each song was powerful in there own way, there were two in particular that my Dad would pick from (depending on when he was asked to sing) and those songs are ones that to this day I can hear him singing.  Because I was thinking about those particular songs this past week, I decided to look for them on iTunes and they were both there!  After I downloaded them, I of course had to listen to them right away.  To my surprise, even after all of the time it's been since I've listened to them, I still remembered all of the words and the feelings Dad always evoked when he sang them came to me again (and I could honestly hear him singing them in my head).

Memories are a powerful thing.  The good memories help remind us who we are and the not so good memories help remind us how much we've overcome and how far we've come.  Maybe I'm writing that as much for myself as I'm writing it for one of you readers out there.  I often don't remind myself enough or give myself enough credit for how far I've come.  There are times where, looking back on some things, I should have given myself more credit rather than beating myself up over them.

One example that comes to mind is, I know that I need to get back on track weight loss/exercise wise.  On the other hand, I need to take care of my knee (which is slowly but surely feeling better).  I have been referring to myself as being "lazy" but instead I should realize that taking care of myself now will be better for me in the long run.  For me, I know that there are times that I get hyper-focused on exercise when I get my mind set on a goal but I also don't want to cause permanent damage in order to reach said goals.  As Mom reminded me when I was talking on the phone with her today, I can refocus my efforts when it comes to the food I'm eating and then go back to the exercise when the knee is feeling 100% (or at least 100% for me).  That being said, rather than beating myself up over being "lazy," I just need to remind myself of how far I've come and that I can reach my goals -- I just have to learn how to be patient...

I guess what I need to do is just keep reminding myself to make those memories and look back on them from time to time -- the memories that have made me who I am and who I'd like to be.