I have been doing a little soul searching the last few days. Trying to figure out what is important. The first obvious answer is my family and friends. That is a no brainer, and is not going to change anytime soon!

But after family and friends, what are my priorities? These can vary from person to person, and can change throughout the course of a lifetime.

Lately I somehow came into politics. Don't ask me how- I am not quite sure. All I knew was that I heard about this Ron Paul guy running for president, and the more I read about him, the more I liked him. I rarely read anything "bad" about him, and the things that were "bad" were poorly backed up, and to be expected (all politicians have something that people can say poorly about them, whether it's true or not). His ideals made sense to me- promoting liberty and personal freedom. Less policing of our country, and getting our priorities back in order. So I found myself listening, and doing what I felt I needed to do- get involved. I went to our precinct caucus to cast my vote- when I was 1 of 3 people to show up in our precinct, I volunteered to be a delegate to our legislative district convention, even though I didn't really understand what I was signing up for. At the legislative district convention, I became a delegate that would represent us at our Washington State Convention as well. I would have gladly gone to the National Convention in Florida as well if I had the time, money, or enough votes to do so.

My point is that somehow I found something that was meaningful to me. Something I was (and still am) passionate about, and something I could focus my time and energy into. While I still plan to pursue this passion for making a difference within our government (Ron Paul is about "done" in WA state, but his Liberty Campaign is not), I still find myself trying to figure out what to do next.

I am thinking that a revamp of my general health is a good place to start. I have struggled with my weight since having my son in January 2010. I had managed to maintain a fairly healthy weight just before becoming pregnant, but having a baby changes a lot about your body, and I just can't seem to accept the differences and get used to them. I have a LOT less time to myself, and surprisingly a lot less energy. Either that, or I spend so much TIME channeling all of my ENERGY into my family and housework that I have none left for myself. Either way, it's been difficult for me, to say the least, to get to a point where I could call myself healthy.

The frustrating part is that I do eat pretty healthy- I stopped buying most of the processed crap a long time ago, I always have a house full of fresh fruits and veggies, and I rarely drink any sugary juices or sodas. I have cut back on my sweet tooth indulgences a lot, and I don't count calories but I am pretty aware of what is going into my body. So in order to lose weight, I have to do a lot more than just eat healthier and exercise more- I have to figure out what is causing me to hold on to this baby weight and stop doing it!!!

I am thinking about doing a detox diet next week. Nothing too crazy- I looked into the "master cleanse" and to be honest it scared the crap out of me (no pun intended. If you don't understand what I mean, google "master cleanse" and you will see what I mean about crap LOL). I just checked out a book from the library called The Inside-Out Diet. It was written by a naturopath who has a blog that deals with alternative medicine. Don't get me wrong- I can appreciate modern medicine for what it is worth. But I am a firm believer in trying to fix my minor ailments (fatigue, weight gain, etc.) with diet and exercise first. Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food."

Working on my diet and starting an exercise routine are only going to go so far, as far as soul searching and such. But for right now I think it's something I am missing. I am hoping to get my body back in order, so I can have lots of energy and keep up with my crazy two year old. Overall I am hoping to feel like I have a little control over myself again. And maybe become a little bit healthier mentally as well. Body, mind, spirit. These things go hand in hand.