Glorious Triumphs or Gray Twilight?

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." ~Theodore Roosevelt.

Gray twilight, huh? I know this place. It's somewhere we settle into. It's our comfortable spot--our old mattress, if you will, that after years has come to know the exact form of our body and has even conformed to our shape (or out-of-shape). Eventually this old mattress will cause us sleepless nights and a backache in the morning.

I've had many areas of gray twilight in my life. Some I've found my way out of. Others I've wandered back into. But one thing's for certain: eventually I get tired of waking up with a backache and do something about it!

I've never been afraid to "dare mighty things." When I was a kid, more than anything I wanted to be a mom. Eight has always been my lucky number, so I wanted to have 4 boys and 4 girls--crazy, I know! Well, today I'm the mother of nine--lucky me. I have 4 sons and 5 daughters (I can hear God laughing now). I love each and every one of my very unique children--they are the oxygen I breathe and the beat of my heart. Has my experience in motherhood been full of glorious triumphs? Yup, all nine of them. Has it been checkered by failure? Nearly every day in one form of another. Would I have it any other way? Never.

Five weeks ago I began to dare mighty things again. After losing 50 pounds nearly four years ago, only to gain 20 of it back this past year, I decided to not only lose the 20 pounds I'd "found," but to lose another 10 on top of it, and get in the best shape of my life. After all, the big "4-9" is next month, I'm not getting any younger, and even though 4 of my "kids" are now adults, I need to be here and healthy for them. So my husband Paco and I started in on the Body By Vi 90-day weight-loss challenge. (For more information go to www.tamitorero.myvi.net)

A week and a half into the challenge my dad passed away. Hands down, this was the most difficult time I've ever endured in my life, confirming even more so the importance of my presence in my children's lives. After a whirlwind trip to Idaho for the funeral, I found myself back home with my kids and back at work. Regardless of the still-raw emotions of losing a parent, life must go on...and it did. Yet through all of this, as well as the hustle and bustle of the holidays and the stress of work, I've managed to lose 12 pounds and Paco has lost 15 by supplementing one or two meals a day with the Visalus shakes. We still have about 7 weeks to go, but we're on track.

Let me ask you something: Are you stuck in a gray twilight? Are you comfortable there, or is your back starting to ache? I challenge you today to dare mighty things. Life is full of glorious triumphs just waiting for the opportunity to happen. What is your choice?