before and after

Hello friends!  How was your weekend?  For your Sunday night viewing pleasure, allow me to show you a few before and after photos.

Friday, my pantry:

It had looked like this for months - I didn't even know what was in there any more!!  I just kept buying more stuff at the supermarket every week, and shoving it in on top of what was already there, never thinking that maybe if I sorted out what was already in there things might be easier!

Thirty minutes later:

Not a lot of effort, as it turned out, and look how good it looks now!  Went grocery shopping afterwards and only bought what I needed, saving about £15 in the process, whoo hoo!

And it turned out I had 3 jars of peanut butter.

Saturday, I had a haircut:

Before...obviously!  Hadn't even brushed it!

Afterwards!  Blonder!  Planning to go platinum for the big 30...but we'll see ;)

And now, a trip into the archives.  Who could forget this before photo:

This was me in March 2005.  Holding a cookie dough cheesecake, the most significant accomplishment in my life up to that point.  I was 23 in this picture.  I look about 10 years older than that!

This was me, yesterday:

Still here after five years at goal, going strong, finding new goals to kick.  Training for a marathon, fitter than I have ever been.  Life is far from perfect, I assure you, but I just have happier and healthier ways of dealing with things.  I can't remember the last time I made a cheesecake :)

Do you know what all these before and afters have in common?

Between each before photo and every after photo, there was a choice.

A choice to leave the pantry in its messy, disorganised state so I would continue wasting money by buying stuff I didn't need and wasting food by not storing it properly, or spend half an hour tidying it up to make life a bit easier and to feel good about having one corner of this tiny flat that isn't a pig sty :)

A choice to let my tiger stripe get bigger, my split ends split even more, and continue feeling a bit manky in general, or to mosey along to the hairdressers, freshen everything up and feel fabulous.

And as for the last two photos, well, I still had a choice.  Did I want to keep living a life I was so tired of, where I was bored, bitter, fed up and desperate to be healthy and attractive?  Or did I want to do something about it?  Did I want to end up where I was headed, or did I want to find out who I really was and what I wanted to do with my life?

Eventually it got to the point where there was only one answer!  It took a bit longer than cleaning out the pantry or getting a full head of blonde foils, but I got there, and have stayed there.

It can be as simple as cleaning out a cupboard, getting a haircut, walking to work instead of catching the bus......little choices, a little bit of effort, done continuously....and before you know it, you'll be getting up at 6am to train for a marathon :P (I never saw that coming!)

Every philosopher, poet and songwriter in the world has said it, and it's true.  Lots of little things turn into something enormous in the end.  The power to go from before to after is yours! :)