<h2>I've been struggling lately.</h2>
Seems to be a common thing with me, right? No matter how on-top-of-it I might try to be, it seems I'm always missing the mark somewhere. It's probably a result of me trying to do too much with, quite simply... too little time in the day. I know I've got my challenges, and I know EXACTLY what's working against me, just like (I'm sure) many of you do too. Just because I KNOW, though, doesn't mean I always win the fight. Lately, I've found myself... a little lost.
<h3>Yes, I understand that's vague.</h3>
But honestly, sometimes a simple explanation is enough. I've mostly figured out the answer here. I took some time the past couple of  weekends to really try and get a handle on this. Now, I think I've got it. This time... <strong>it's going to be different.</strong><!--more-->
<h2><em>"Thou Shalt Not Covet"</em></h2>
<strong><em>You knew this was coming - stay with me here.</em></strong> No, I'm most certainly NOT trying to open up a religious discussion can-of-worms. There's enough debate in the hidden meanings of Bibles and Korans and Torahs to last freaking <em>eons </em>(don't believe me? Read a history book). I find, though, that despite major differences... many (if not most) religious texts tend to have a lot of the same <em>basic</em> moral guidance. Y'know, the kind of stuff <em>we should be living by</em> on a daily basis. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">The easy stuff - </span>
<ul>
 	<li>Don't Kill People</li>
 	<li>Don't Steal Stuff</li>
 	<li>Listen To Your Parents</li>
 	<li>Treat Others How You'd Want Them To Treat You</li>
 	<li>the list goes on</li>
</ul>
Basic and easy, right? <i>Yeah, I figured that out too</i>... and it happened in such a way that I realized...
<h2>This is my "Come to Jesus" moment.</h2>
People who've "lost their way" often "find God" or have that epic, emotional "come to Jesus" moment. It's where they realize they've "strayed from the path" and religion brings them back home. To the straight-and-narrow. To their <em>true purpose</em> in life. <strong>Yes,</strong> I realize this is kind of an incredible use of hyperbole, but it's the best way I can think to describe this. As cheesy or grandiose as it may sound... in some small way...<em> that's the sort of place I'm at right now.</em> Not through religion, not like I'm actually "finding Jesus" right now (I did say this isn't a religious discussion, right?)... But that sort of coming-to-your-senses and finding "the way".  It happened over two distinct moments.
<h3><strong><img class="size-medium wp-image-856 alignright" src="http://sothisisfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/PhotoGrid_1485406145886-300x300.png" alt="podcast episode 22" width="300" height="300" />The first moment was innocent enough...</strong></h3>
I was trying to figure out how to justify a podcast episode idea I had. Megan, my Mom and I were getting ready to go to the <a href="http://www.hopheadevents.com/events/south-shore-food-wine-expo/">South Shore Food &amp; Wine Expo</a>, and I was stuck. Aside from the fact that it was a GREAT event we wanted to go to... the point was for me to blog and podcast about it. Problem was... I found myself asking if it would lose me readers and listeners. I was trying to find a way to spin it to fit the "health and fitness" niche. And I found myself wondering... <em>WHY do I need to spin it? </em>It wasn't so much like a punch to the mouth... rather this nagging... <em>something</em>.
<h3>The second moment hit me like a ton of bricks.</h3>
I was on Instagram sharing content, finding people to follow, <em>doing my thing</em>... and I stumbled across something. Someone people were raving about. I followed the links and found a site that seemed to be growing well. This site had fantastic engagement, virtually 100% user-generated content... and even its own ambassador program! And I found myself incredibly jealous. <strong>And that's when it hit me.</strong>

What that guy's doing <em>isn't my thing</em>. That's not what So THIS Is Fitness is even MEANT to be... <em>so why am I jealous of him?</em> Like honestly... it's not even CLOSE to what I'm trying to do. The ONLY similarity is that it's running-related and there are event reviews. Then I realized I've been looking at virtually everyone who's doing something similar to me... and getting jealous. <em>Envious</em>. I've been so caught up with what THEY'RE doing... spending so much time trying to figure out how to capitalize on what THEY figured out... that I'm not worrying about ME, and how to improve MY thing.
<h2>This is where the Bible lesson comes in.</h2>
Most religious texts have some of the same simple messages and life lessons, right? "<strong>Thou shalt not covet" - </strong>it's one of the Ten Commandments. It's supposed to be one of the ten basic moral guiding principals to lead your life by. Regardless of your religion, or whether or not you even <em>are</em> religious, I think we can all agree - <em>"don't be jealous of what someone else has" </em>should be easy enough... right? Well, that's the realization I had. I find myself noticing this all over the place now, actually. I just recently had a long discussion with a couple of different people about someone, for lack of a better phrase, committing this same sin. Worrying about what everyone else is doing instead of worrying about what's REALLY important.
<h3>So it's time I take my own advice.</h3>
<img class="size-medium wp-image-862 alignright" src="http://sothisisfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/IMG_20161201_091700-300x300.jpg" alt="transformation photo - 130 lb weight loss" width="300" height="300" />I know who I am, I know what I want, and I know what So THIS Is Fitness is meant to be. I need to bring focus back to where this all started, why I put it out there, and what it's really meant to be. My "core mission", so to speak.