Life After Setbacks + Motivating Monday Link-Up

It's so hard to pick yourself back up after an epic fail. Don't I know! Especially after my 4th of July eating weekend. What a joke! You'd think that because I had finally reached a fairly good milestone for me (I lost 1 lb. last week! Woo hoo!) that I'd be so so careful over the weekend. But nooooo, I took that as permission to indulge myself! I must admit that we had a great time! We attended the 'Stadium of Fire' Fireworks show and concert starring 'Journey'! And before that, had a wonderful meal and desserts galore! It should NOT have been a big deal to pick it back up and go forward the very next day. But even today, Monday July 6th, I'm struggling to keep it together. After all, look at all those leftovers--the potato salad, the punch bowl cake, the meat, the pie, etc. etc. I blame holidays for my diet fails! Seriously, every time I get close to succeeding, a holiday or birthday rolls around!

But failed diets are probably the least important of all less-than-fun turns of events in life. I love this quote attributed to J.K. Rowling. She said, "Is fat really the worst thing a human being can be? Is fat worse than vindictive, jealous, shallow, vain, boring, evil, or cruel? Not to me!" Agreed!

Back to less-than-fun turns of events--What about that raise or cash windfall that never materializes? What about an unexpected illness that happens in your family or to yourself? What about a car or some other kind of accident? The ever-dreaded natural or man-made disaster that throws everything off?

It's still so close to the 4th of July. I'm wondering, are we a better nation than ever? Or are we a nation that has already seen its best days? Regardless, we have military personnel who have put their own lives on hold so they can serve us. It is really inconvenient to find oneself suddenly, for instance, missing a limb. One day  you're walking, the next day nothing works. But so often we sub-consciously think "Well, that's what they signed up for" and move along. But it's not what they signed up for. They signed up to come back home after their turn in the field. They sign up to be able to continue their lives once they finish serving. They have to pick it back up somehow too and that's one of the most difficult things a human being has to face. Not only is the body wounded, but so is the mind. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is real, apparently. Consider this true story of two brothers, both coming home from the military wounded and battle-scarred.(Christian references included) photo credit

Today is Motivating Monday!  We all need a little motivation!  I, for one, love to explore other sites for motivating, mostly non-sponsored posts, tips, pictures and videos!  If I happen to find a great one, I'll link it up and share it with you here and on Twitter via the #MotivatingMonday hashtag!  It's like being featured!  Sometimes I miss some amazing posts.  So, in addition, if you'd like to link up yourself, you can do that too!  I'll visit your site, comment, promote and publicize! Don't be shy--I'm really very supportive!  Remember, any link to your posts helps your blog numbers increase!