The Power of Positivity

For the longest time I was one of those negative types. I never quite realized it until my sister asked me about it because she was getting e-mails & such asking if I was okay.

Well since then I started to make some changes in my life. I'm now in a much better place. Living a life that is pretty much drama free but tending to be a bit on the slow side as a result.

That's an okay side effect though, it's given me some time to take a step back and re-evaluate where my life is going. I've taken up the mantra that one friend posted "Re-Evaluate then Elevate."

The greatest thing that happened recently was going to a wedding in California for my friend & former co-worker Leslie Munro. The 6 hour drive to CA took me out of my comfort zone & took me to a new place I never had been before. I had a great time and met up with some old familiar faces. Sometimes you don't appreciate how great people are until they're gone. I also met some new faces and people I hope to keep in my life due to the fact that they are great, genuine, quality people. Those kind of people are sometimes hard to find in Las Vegas.

Another good thing I have done recently is making my Twitter account public (@shawndyke) & opening up my true personality to the world. I came to the decision that Twitter could be used to bring a little more positivity to the world. As a result I've reconnected with some old co-workers, made new random friends & even helped out a celebrity (Maria Menounos) stuck in Munich, Germany with an 8 hour layover.



It's an amazing forum and if used the right way can be a very powerful influence on people's lives. I know I personally love reading about what people are doing & commenting on it as well as encouraging people to realize they're true potential. I've also found inspiration from reading the tweets of others. One of my most recent inspirations was when I was having a "direct message" conversation with one of my former co-workers. In that online conversation we spoke more than we had in her entire time in Las Vegas. It's just amazing how online social networking can bring together people who would never meet in real life or people who had met and would just drift apart over time.

Today marks the first day of November and I have big plans for this month. There may not be a lot to write about as in going out partying & making a ton of memories. But this month is going to be remembered as a time when I push myself to the next level.

I have this natural talent for seeing the potential in others and for the longest time I knew that I had the potential to be someone better than I currently am. Now this month I'm going to do everything I can to tap into more of this potential and prove to the world that I'm not just talking the talk....I'll be walking the walk.

Big things are in the works for December. I'm hoping to debut a new & improved me. I'm coming out of my shell and going to take myself from being completely behind the scenes to quite possibly becoming a scene stealer!

Powering Through...and the Inspiration of Friends

As I continue my little self evolution I've come to realize that last week I had a weekend where I probably came close to rock bottom for a little while there.

The thing that had started was all that previous week I had been working out after work, I had kept on seeing results of losing a little bit here & there. Well then on Saturday morning I got on the scale & saw that I had regained it all somehow. Now I've watched on Biggest Loser & have seen that sometimes your body will do that where for whatever reason it will just retain some weight.

Well instead of thinking about that & staying positive I just took the weekend & treated myself like crap. The coup de grace was mixing a combo of 3 Monster Drinks & probably about a half or more of a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. It was fun for awhile but then after all was said & done I realized that I had just made myself self destruct once more.

So as I started this past Monday I made the decision until the day of October 15th rolls around I'm no longer drinking alcohol, energy drinks or Starbucks. The reason for this is that alcohol never really solves any problem but only goes to create more for me. I usually only drink while being a social creature but even then drinking like a crazy person usually leads me to eat a bunch of garbage that I don't really need. As for the energy drinks & Starbucks, it came down to the calories... I can't justify putting 200-400 calories in my body on a daily basis unneccesarily. It's really counter productive.

So this whole week I've been free of all 3 for the first time in I don't know how long. I've managed to take off about 4 pounds & I'm making progress at the gym so that's all that matters to me right now.

The other thing I'm going to start working on is trying to be a much more positive person... I've watched enough TV lately & I started to realize that people that are negative really annoy me & I will change the channel and try to keep them out of my life. Just like I had to end one "friendship" in the past week. I had to explain to the person that she's a great person but just not great for me. Reason being every time I talked to her she was complaining about something, whether it was work, her husband, her family or her general life situation. Now I understand that we all have our points in life when we are down, trust me I know I've written more than my fair share of those things but at some point you have to say enough is enough & find the positive in your life.

So as I've said before I'm inspired by my friends... One of my friends has a b/f that's currently deployed to Afghanistan for a year. But every time I talk to her & every time I see her she's a very out going & up beat person. Yeah every once in a while she has moments when she misses him but I think that's only to be expected.

Another friend was put on a shift where she never saw her husband but after a discussion about how they could make it work she seems to be happy now or at least doing her best to make it work.

One of my other friends always comes to work and he's extremely positive & in fact his whole family is positive. They have to be 3 of the greatest people I have ever met and each one individually is special enough to light up a room. I love it though when you get all 3 of them together because they blow the roof off a place.

One of my friends moved from Vegas to Florida & is now headed off to my hometown of Great Falls, Montana. She told me about the fact that at one point she didn't treat herself well but now she's moving on with her life & taking it in a new positive direction and I couldn't be happier for her.

Another friend, well I call her a friend, technically I'm just a follower of hers on Twitter but she's a friend of a friend and as they say, any friend of yours is a friend of mine! She had a really rough week but in the end she spent time with some of her great friends & she's bounced back perfectly fine.

That's what we all need to do. Just surround ourselves with the best people, people that are positive and want to see us succeed just as much as they want themselves to succeed. People that don't use you & abuse you but push you & inspire you. Yet when you feel like you're falling down they're there to grab your hand & lift you back up to where you need to be.

Those were just a few of my great friends stories. I know I probably don't tell them enough how much I appreciate each & everyone of them but I truly do.

Everyone has a story but how many of those stories are mostly positive? My story has had it's ups & downs but I'm working hard to make myself like my great friends who just see the best in everything. That's why I'm always there for all of my friends as much as I can be and the friends of friends on occasion. But even I have to have my limits & know that I can't help everyone, some people just need to figure things out for themselves. You can point them in the right direction but it's their choice if they want to go that way.

Negativity is like an anchor, either you need to just pull it up and start your ship moving on a new adventure or you can continue to let it drag you down and hold you back.

Well I say "Anchors aweigh!" This adventure, this chapter of my life has just begun. I'm excited for what the future will bring even though I'm not quite sure what that will be!

Self Ultimatum: Put Up or Shut Up

This is my blog update to make it known publically what I've been letting people know privately.

I've thought about it, I've talked about it & I've written about it.... Well now it's time for me to put up or shut up. By the end of this year at the least I will weigh under 200 pounds for the first time since I don't know when. My real goal will be to be between 180 & 190 by the end of the year.

If I'm not below 200 pounds by the end of the year though I might be thinking about it, but I won't be talking about it or writing about it anymore. Eventually a person starts to sound like a broken record repeating the same thing over & over and not doing anything about it.

I've made an ultimatum with myself to get this done by the end of the year. I can only watch myself self destruct for so long.

Since I have made the ultimatum about not talking about it if I fail, I'm going to say that I will not fail. I'm not saying what I normally say, "I don't plan on failing" or "I'm going to do my best to not fail." I'm saying I won't fail. I know I can do this & I know with perseverence I can do it.

I just got done with my first post work workout & this is only the first of many more to come. I know what has caused me to fail in the past & I will not let those things be an excuse for me failing again.

Anyways this is a brief blog but I just wanted everyone to know where I stand right now. I'm not the best of gamblers so take this betting advice with a grain of salt. I'd say put money on me completing the goal because I haven't been this determined to do anything before...

Day 1 of Putting Up or Shutting Up: COMPLETE

Breaking Down & Rebuilding Me

My last blog detailed me getting back on the fitness wagon & taking control back in my life. Well I can safely say that I have missed the wagon.

Things haven't been going the way I planned. This past Thursday at work, I had what I'm calling a mental breakdown. The stresses that have been a part of my life both personally & professionally finally took their toll & I just had all I could take. I honestly came about 30 seconds from vocalizing the thought that was in my head which was simply... "I quit..."

Thankfully those words weren't ever stated and nothing of the sort like that happened. Some people noticed on Thursday & Friday that I wasn't doing so well, some others either didn't notice or didn't care.

Life lately is being put in perspective for me. Some of the problems I have been having, have the simplest solutions yet I can't seem to follow through with it right now. I know what my problem is, my problem is this... I'm a people pleaser, I'd rather not start an argument because I'm probably the least confrontational person in the world. I care more about others feelings then I do about my own. I'd rather not start a fight because I'd rather people just be happy and not think badly of me.

I keep a lot of things bottled up, I'd rather not bother anyone about my problems. Then sometimes I address my problems with everyone except for the person I should truly address with the problem. For the past 31 years, I've been pretty good about solving my own problems... I'm in the process now of solving my own problems once more...

I'm taking this weekend, just relaxing at my apartment and reminding myself of who I want to be. This is going to be a process, it won't be solved in one night, one weekend or even probably a week. It will take a while and I have to realize that, nothing great happens over night.

One day soon I'm going to start chasing the dream again, I'm not 100% sure what that dream is or who it will involve. I just know for now I need to just concentrate on me, my family & having the people in my life that are best for me. Just because you have 184 friends on Facebook doesn't really mean they'll be there for you if you needed them. I honestly would try & be there for everyone of them and expect nothing in return.

That is another one of my problems, my generosity... If I constantly am doubting whether people are true friends or if they're just taking advantage of my generous nature then I need to just learn it's time to say no, good bye, hope you have a great life.

A line that keeps going through my head lately is Dr Phil's famous quote of: "How's that working for you?"

Well there have definitely been some things in my life that haven't really been working for me, yet I continue to allow them to keep happening. Confrontation is a part of life & I can't continue to avoid it because bottling it all up for too long eventually leads to it exploding and destroying everything I worked so hard to build.

I will rebuild me, I will make me stronger... That that doesn't kill me will only make me stronger... Change is a part of my life & I need to really make a change in my life. I've talked the talk, now it's up to me & only me to walk the walk.

30 Days, 30 Nights

There's only so long that you can live on the glory of past accomplishments. Last year at this time I was on a journey to lose some major weight. I was able to drop about 40 pounds.

Since then I fell back on to old habits and gained some of the weight back. About 10-15 pounds I put back on over the course of the year. The funny thing was this past week some co-workers commented to me about how much weight I had lost.

It was funny in that I hadn't had anyone comment on that in awhile... The last time was when I saw my family again and they definitely noticed a big change in me. I definitely haven't felt like I did anything to lose weight in a long time though.

Well the time has come to again put up or shut up. I can't keep on living on the past glory, it's time to get back to completing that goal I started a year & a half ago.

The goal is simple to drop the rest of the weight I had been meaning to drop but I'm going to set the time frame to only 30 days.

In 30 days, my friends/co-workers Matt & Eddie are having their yearly birthday party. Last year I remember it being a special time since a lot of people noticed that I had made a big change in my life. I currently weigh about the same amount as I did last year for the birthday party last year.

So for the next 30 days I will be giving up the party life, unless it's for a legitimate reason like a best friends birthday. I'm going to layoff the sweets and the junk food and begin once again to truly realize my potential.

I write this blog so that I can be held accountable. This has been a goal that I have wanted to accomplish for a long time and it's time I put in the work to finish it. My friends watched me start this journey last year & this year I'm going to do everything in my power to complete it.

The journey won't be easy to complete but it is a necessary journey to complete...

Starting tomorrow night after work my journey begins again.... 30 days to go....

Remembering Grandpa...

On Monday morning I received a phone call from my father letting me know that my grandpa, Stan Connors, up in Kalispell, Montana had passed away. This still came as a bit of a shock despite the fact that I had been pre-warned that the doctors said they didn’t think he had much time left. My grandfather had been dealing with a lot of health issues, the main was dementia. Then about a week to two weeks ago he had an accident and fell and broke his hip. It was at that point that the doctors decided that surgery was not an option since the rehab would be nearly impossible and that they expected that he didn’t have much time left…

I will always remember my grandfather for the family vacations that we went up to Kalispell and stayed with him and grandma up in Kalispell. We made the trip so often that I’m pretty sure I could still drive up there and make the way to where the old house used to be. Grandpa was the man that introduced me to baseball, to Cubs Baseball, we used to watch the games on his TV every summer. During some of the games Grandpa would close his eyes while listening to the game. Sometimes as I was a little one I was tricked in that Grandpa wasn’t sleeping but still listening to the game! I learned a lot about baseball and a lot about life while visiting my grandparents.

I remember one of the highlights in my youth was when I stayed up there one summer I was allowed to drive the riding lawn mower. I being the kid I was drove it like a race car speeding around the front yard and not doing a very good job of mowing the lawn. I also know I ate a lot of ice cream that summer, funny now that I barely eat any ice cream maybe I just really over did it that much up there!

I will always remember my grandfather for the great man that he was. I’m happy that I didn’t see him during his later years while the dementia and everything was setting in. It makes it easier for me to just remember him the way he was and for the way in my heart he will always be.

Grandpa you will be missed, but now you can watch all of the Cubs games from up in heaven, maybe this might actually be the year…