“You can write a different story” she said. “Journal daily and change your life’s blueprint.”

I was first introduced to journaling by my personal trainer, Anna.

She, two of my partners in pain and I were chatting at the local café after an unusually grueling workout. We were revisiting our goals. Three of us wanted to lose weight. We wanted to feel good in our bodies, to be able to move with ease and rapidity, and above all, to regain that sexy look and feel we had before we married, before we bore children, before we became someone other than ourselves. We laughed at the very idea. Right! Well a drop in one dress size would be nice, we agreed.

A strange look came over Anna’s face. Hard to describe. I can still see it to this day. Earnest. Strong, yet kind. Her gaze met each of ours, one by one. Absent of any glibness she said those words and thus threw a gauntlet at our feet.

A dare to write a different life story.