[Sponsored Post] What Propels You?

(Image Courtsey: jaqian via a Creative Commons License approved for commercial use)

A few months ago, I saw a picture of myself as taken by one of the kids. It showed me spinning my little girl around. It was a joyous moment. My little girl’s face was full of ecstatic delight. My face, on the other hand, showed strain and effort. I was not enjoying myself. I was struggling to keep up with the moment. Because I was in general poor health.

That made me realize a couple of things. First, I need to start exercising. Second, I need to do it for the kids.

It is hard to get out and moving when you are set into a routine. It is hard to break out of it. Human beings are generally very resistant to change and so it was with me. But I kept that photo in mind.

I started with a few jogs around the local park. The first day, I felt good. It was easy. I thought, why couldn’t I do this everyday? I realized the answer the third, the fourth and the fifth day. If the first day was easy, the next few days were like trying to move with bricks around my ankles. The body had realized what I was trying to do and it didn’t like it. But I kept that photo in mind.

Finally, after a whole month of daily punishing jogs, I felt that the body was ready to respond. It rewarded me by giving me more energy during the day and making the stomach line a little less noticeable. I was still tempted to relapse. There were days when it was raining and when the timing didn’t seem right. But I kept that photo in mind.

My goal is to take a similar photo in a few months time and see if I am enjoying the moment as much as my daughter is.

Propel Zero – in bottles and convenient powder packs – gives you vitamins C & E, B vitamins, and antioxidants. So you can replenish, energize, and protect with zero calories and no added color.

It’s what keeps you going – so you can do what moves you. Join the conversation about What Propels You on Facebook now.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Propel Zero via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Propel Zero.

Read These Next

Traditional cross stitch designs and samplers with a primitive twist are the specialty of The Sub Rosa Design, an Etsy shop based in Hungary.

The largest section in the store is the Halloween/Thanksgiving section, which includes plenty of witches, crows and pumpkins. One that caught my eye is called Pumpkin Angel, a primitive design that looks like a woman with a pumpkin head with wings standing by a gate with pots of sunflowers.

The design is 199 by 67 stitches, which comes out to about 6.8 by 4 inches/17.5 by 10 cm stitched on 32 count linen as shown.

There are also a lot of Christmas patterns, heavy on Santa and snowmen and reindeer. The Easter and spring section includes projects with birds, lambs and rabbits with an old-fashioned feel.

There’s also a large number of sampler cross stitch patterns, taken from historical designs with their original stitchers names and dates on them. I like Lily Hall’s floral design that was originally stitched in 1884. It’s so fun to look at these (or stitch them!) and think about the women (or more accurately probably children learning to stitch) who made the originals and what their lives were like all those years ago. And how cool it is that we’re still doing the exact same thing all these years later!

In addition to holiday and sampler themed projects, there are also patriotic (Americana) designs, a few projects with bees, and a couple of patterns called Sweet Rosie, which seems to be a character stitched in the projects.

You can check out all of their designs at The Sub Rosa Design. If you check them out I’d love to know what patterns you try and how it goes for you!

Have a cross stitch designer you love who should be in the spotlight? Let me know in the comments.

[Photo: The Sub Rosa Design]

Read These Next

Have you read?