Stretching

They say before you do any kind of exercise, you should stretch to get your muscles warmed up.

If you stretch you get limber, and are less likely to have an injury.

Stretching also feels good.

I need to do more physical stretching.  I always feel so much better when stretching to warm up and to cool down are part of my exercising regime.

These last three days I did lots of stretching, but not the physical kind of stretching.

This stretching was while I was on retreat.

I stretched my vision.

I stretched the understanding of my inner soul.

I stretched my friendship with my friend.

I stretched my outlook on where my life is going.

I stretched my creative pursuits.

I feel warmed up and ready to go.  I am ready to be strengthened in many ways.

In January I gathered with two other friends and we created vision boards for the year.  Since I am at about the half way mark of the year, I took the board off my wall to evaluate if anything on my vision board has happened.  I was presently surprised.

Here is a picture of my vision board.

On the board of two big pictures of vegetables and flowers.  I recently planted my vegetables, and a flower bed in our yard was recently brought under control by the grass invasion that had invaded the area.  The grass how now been subdued by plastic, cardboard and bark.

One of the phrases on my board says, "Eat Your Way Healthy".  I have made a commitment to not eat sugar or meat, other than fish and seafood this summer.  Hopefully this will contribute to a healthier lifestyle.

A large photo of potted flowers and plants is in the center of the board.  I plan on spending more time in my garden this summer, and cultivating the things growing in my yard.

"Circle of Friends" is another phrase on the board.  Each month since the beginning of the year, I have gathered with a circle of friends to help us all learn more about who we truly are as women.

Here are some of the quotes on dreams I put on the board:

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"--Eleanor Roosevelt

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it."--Goethe

"Dreams are illustrations....from the book your soul is writing about you."--Marsha Norman

I am dreaming.  I am believing my dreams can come true.  I am daring to dream.

My word I chose for the year is Purposeful.

The definition for the word I put on my board was, "having or showing determination or resolve."

I think my weekend was very Purposeful.  I showed determination and resolve to stretch my wings, limber up, and get ready to use my creative muscles.

It will take a while to process all I learned and experienced this weekend on my retreat.  But I do know I am glad I went, and hope to do it again soon.