Reverb12 Day 6 - Intention

For the month of December I'm following a prompt-a-day format that I found on a blog I thoroughly enjoy, Tenaciously Yours. Explanation of #Reverb12 can be found here.

6. Dec 6th: Intention:  What were some of your mantras from 2012 and how did you come by them?  Will they remain the same for next year – if not, what new ones will you set?

I can think of only one. I was listening to a podcast done by Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser. I'm not a huge fan of her, but I am a huge fan of Bob Harper who was a guest on her show this particular episode. I've read his most recent book, Skinny Rules, which I really enjoyed. It changed my perception of weight loss and exercise. That book made me finally come to terms with the fact that exercise is just not enough. In fact, it plainly seems to not be the answer for weight loss at all. It is the answer to getting healthy... a healthy heart, mind, and body. But to paraphrase what Bob said, there's no amount of gym-work he could beat out of you to make up for a poor diet. Back to the podcast. Bob and Jillian were talking about things they loved and inspiration, and Bob mentioned a phrase he heard (if I remember correctly, while participating in CrossFit sessions):

"This is a game and I am going to win it."

I really took to that. Using it for weight loss and exercising and just anything in my life I was struggling with. Even the wedding! 

"This is a game and I am going to win it." 

And I have no one else to compete with! I, sadly, do very poorly with competition. I get so discouraged so easily. I'd like to be hardier so I'm working on being a better sport, but regardless, when it came to this game I was only competing with myself. 


I choose what winning means and there really isn't a 'losing' mark because this game just keeps going. I'm keeping this mantra for the next year because it reminds me to focus on my own journey and to keep going because there is no end to it. No matter what everyone else is doing, I cannot use them as a measuring stick to hold myself in comparison to... they are playing their own game.