Mountain Highs and Valley Lows

So I'm into my third week and this is the first time I'm feeling less than super-psyched. My first valley. It really sucks coming down from the mountain high, but I am determined to navigate this valley to get back up there!

 
I don't hate anything I am doing, it's just the first moment where I feel like I am so far away from any real change and tangible results. And I choose to recognise that is true, but I am so much closer to those results than I was three weeks ago, and if I falter I won't reach them at all.

So to help me get through this I find myself analysing where I am with my goals so far and where I am not. Perhaps a few ways to help me would be shifting some focus or changing things up.

I have been running and doing strength training on alternate days, with one or two days a week off.

Maybe I will do short update posts with my Quest levels, just to have it for posterity. Well maybe not quite that far ahead, but at least for my own reference :)

I feel it might be time to level up on my strength training. I will take time this week to check out the more advanced workout on NerdFitness.

Also since I haven't been studying much my Temptation-bundling with that hasn't been happening. Although the socialising and exercising bundle is going strong. So focusing on my study schedule this week to get going by next week will also help.

I also think a bit more focus on shifting daily eating habits to healthier options is another thing I can focus on. I usually only buy rye and wholewheat bread but to cut down on consumption of grains I have found a recipe for coconut bread to have as a replacement option. Thanks Coconut Mama for the recipe. Also doing things like planting more vegetables and herbs in our backyard, which I am already using. Roasting pumpkin seeds (yum) and focussing on buying more viable "paleo" snacks for those moments when you're hungry and need something to keep you from making a terrible choice like burgers and fries.. I do, of necessity, have a cheat day and that has worked well for me. So there is no guilt when I really do feel overwhelming urge to indulge, and I'm back on track by next day without setbacks.

So overall just sticking to little changes daily, trying to schedule as much exercise as I can daily and implementing stiking-to-it-iveness. Yes I know its not a word but I got a badge with that (or similar) name from Khan Academy and like the sound of it :) 

A shout out to my now-over-300 Twitter followers, it really helps me connecting with people. And to you reading this blog. I might not know you, but writing this for you keeps me focussed too.

Then lastly, and probably most importantly, I will keep up the focus on the amazing work The A21 Campaign does. And remember how this might be a long term project, but when I get to do the Comrades to raise awareness for them.. What a great mountain high that will be! A smaller and attainable sooner high will be taking part in the Walk For Freedom.

There wasn't one in my area last year and there doesn't seem to be one this year either, so I have decided to host one and this has me flying out of the valley already :) By the time I get my application done I bet I'll be soaring over the mountain tops! You can support this amazing stand by joining a walk or if there isn't one near you, do what I am doing and make it happen!

In Her Shoes

Up until now I have talked about what I was going to be doing without going into any detail about why. Today I'm sharing what motivated and moved me to be doing this.

I only started really becoming aware of the plight of trafficked victims when I had names and faces to superimpose on the impersonal idea I previously had of trafficking. It's sad really that we are so inundated with so much bad in the world that often we shut off everything until something breaks through our defenses and affects us somehow. We are shocked out of complacency or ignorance and only then can respond. It was over 10 years ago and I knew someone who told me what he had found speaking to women who worked at a strip club.

They told him how they were lured with adverts in newspapers for work in another country in the Hospitality Industry. They applied for jobs, went for interviews and then when their flight landed they learned the truth of their situation. They had been recruited by the Bulgarian or Russian or some other Mob! Their passports were taken from them and they had to "work" by prostituting themselves to "buy" them back. Seems simple enough to just go to the police right? Wrong. They were drugged, raped, their lives were threatened and then their families lives were threatened. The Mob had their family member's details from the job applications. So a cycle of abuse, drugs and fear ensued. 

Eventually some got away, maybe they became too old or bought back their freedom somehow. But by then they didn't feel they would ever be able to face their families again. They were broken and hollowed out by the abuse and didn't feel worthy of a new start. They couldn't find a sliver of hope to believe that they could even start again. They turned to stripping, which to their mind was better than prostitution, because how do they account for a gap of years and skills in their CV applying for another job?

I was blown away. Then I did what no "good" girl would and went with him to the club to meet some of these women. At first I was extremely uncomfortable and having to refuse a lap dance or three didn't help, but then I ended up spending quite a while chatting to some of the women about their every day lives. 

 I quickly forgot the surroundings and having a dance background we discussed issues only a dancer would understand, like the joys and pains of choreography, music and injuries. Some had children, some couldn't because of complications from forced abortions in the past. Some even had relationships, I don't know why I was surprised by this, but I was. What was not surprising was that the relationships were toxic. One young woman had gotten out of prostitution and was clean, off all drugs. But when her new boyfriend, who still used drugs, complained that she was always too tired after a night of working at the club to keep him happy, she started doing drugs again to up her energy levels and save the relationship. Sounds ridiculous until you realise that this is someone who suffered years of abuse and had no sense of self worth and just wanted to hold onto what little affection she had in her life. 

As I sat there talking to these women I realised that despite their tragic circumstances, they were just trying to pick up what pieces of themselves they could and make some sort of life. I also realised that society was not helping them much at all. That was one of those days when I was changed, in one of those ways that takes years to discover exactly the depth and nature of the change.

So this is turning out to be quite a long post, but that is when I came face to face with this injustice and have had a heart to help these victims ever since. I have always wanted to do more to help than my circumstances this far have allowed, which is how this project came to be. 

If this is your first visit to my blog, check out my first post here to read all about my "Walk In Her Shoes" experience inspired by The A21 Campaign. You can go check out their website, they have a list of 21 ways to help. Everyone can contribute somehow: whether it's to write a letter, raise awareness or donate money, every little bit counts. This is a video clip from their website called "In Her Shoes"