Celebrate the Small Stuff

It is so important to celebrate not only the big victories in one's daily life, but the small ones as well.  Case in point : we received quite a bit of snow overnight and this morning was trash day. Due to snow last week, we slept in and missed trash day entirely. I don't know about you, but the two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year's are probably the most trash we put out all year... Filled an entire can (so not normal for us).  Anyway, as many of you know, I'm expecting a baby in three weeks or so.

Warning...Small side rant: Throughout my pregnancy everyone keeps telling me, "take it easy, you're doing too much."  I have to be honest. Every time I hear this, it really pisses me off. I'm pregnant, not recovering from major surgery or a mega ordeal that affected my body drastically... yet.  While pregnant, I wish people could realize that I know my body and my limits. I will definitely know and feel it if I overdo things. When I need to take a break or a nap I will.  I will definitely suffer for not listening to my body, so please, just trust my judgement and that of the other pregnant overachieving women in your lives.   Americans tend to be one of very few cultures in the world that makes a big stink about this.  I think the rest of the world is smarter in their  thinking: let the lady take it easy for a while after she gives birth.  Its a major ordeal to recover from and she is going to need some help for a few weeks.  

Back to the point: This morning I woke up and realized I had to get the trash out. I'm in nesting mode, so needless to say I'm cleaning a ton and clutter is driving me insane. The trash needed to go away. So I chucked on my boots and picked up a shovel. Before I realized it, I had shoveled the entire driveway. I wheeled the trash out just in the nick of time, as the truck was coming around the corner. Woohoo!  I felt like doing a cartwheel, except my lack of balance these days and my large protruding belly spoke to my common sense and prevented me from doing so.

Instead of celebratory gymnastics,  I'll be  treating myself to a good nourishing breakfast: a cinnamon raisin ezekial muffin with almond butter and a glass of green juice.  I'm turning today into a "hooray for me" day, so naturally I will be relaxing in my kitchen (and maybe do a little prenatal yoga). I 'm going to make a nice loaf of banana raspberry oatmeal bread for future snacking and a yummy pot black eyed pea stew  for dinner, while jamming out to some of my favorite tunes. Goal setting is so much easier when you celebrate the things you do every day.  Its amazing the difference a little bit of positive reinforcement makes when you get some every day. So yes, celebrate your big accomplishments, but don't forget to reward yourself for the little ones too. It will make the week fly by and your gratitude jar will be overflowing at the end of the year.

P.S. for those of you who are curious, I will be posting the banana bread and stew recipes later in the week on my pinterest board: LIB recipes.   You can follow me on pinterest.com/LifeinBalanceHC