Shhhhhh.BAM!

Being the type of person that I am (that is, the addictive, impulsive type), when I find something I enjoy, I tend to focus all my energy on it, getting very actively involved. You would have seen it with my photography thing last year, but believe me, I've done it with many other things in life.

Some things, I continue with. Some I don't (you should see my guitar collection! I can play maybe two songs...) Some, I come back to a long way down the track. Some things (this is, I believe, the shortest of my lists), I actually stick with.

I'm just one of those people. I like experiencing new things, and I tend to get bored (or maybe just restless) when I do the same thing for too long (Don't tell Anthony that! 17 years is probably my record for sticking with something!)
It was a problem for me at school too, because I also loved (love) meeting new people. There was an expectation at school (I guess there probably still is) that when you found a group of friends, you stuck with them forever. It wasn't that I didn't like the friends I had, or that I didn't want to hang out with them, it was just that I liked hanging out with the others too.

But I digress. My current 'passion' is Sh'Bam (Anthony calls it Sham WOW!). I've mentioned it briefly already. I must say I'm absolutely hooked. Sh'Bam is a Les Mills class that I've been doing for about 6 weeks. It's a dance-based workout, a little like Zumba, but easier and not as focused on Latin music. It's kind of like going to a Blue-Light disco to workout. And it's so much fun! No matter what kind of mood I'm in when I arrive, I end up with a huge smile on my face by the end. Always wanting more too.

It's not the first time I've gotten hooked on exercise. You might even remember last year I was talking the same way about Zumba (which I would still be doing, if they ran it at my gym. I just can't justify the expense on top of my gym membership).

I've always liked dancing. It could be the steady diet of Hollywood musicals that I grew up on (thanks dad!), or perhaps because I'm a musical person anyway. I've always been a little disappointed that Anthony isn't a dancer, but I never really let that stop me dancing (luckily he's not the jealous type!) I used to love the blue light discos when I was a kid, and have been caught many a time dancing in the loungeroom!

So I'm hooked. I'm currently getting to 2-3 Sh'Bam classes a week, but would probably go every day if I could. It's doing some good things for my body: I feel better and I'm sure that some of the fat is coming off. But more importantly, it's doing great things for my mental health.



As I said, every time I go, I end up with a huge grin on my face. And it's pretty hard to do that some times. Especially lately. I've been so fed up with everything lately (which I'm sure was reflected in my blog). I seemed to be doing everything for everyone else, but getting nothing back. I've been completely ignored by people that should know better, and too supportive of people who definitely haven't earned it. I've spent too long on work stuff that wasn't really all that meaningful and, worst of all, have been neglecting myself. There's nothing worse than neglecting yourself to do stuff for other people.

If you ever pay attention to self-help stuff, you'll notice they talk a lot about looking after yourself.  I'm very aware of that and these days, I usually do it pretty well, but lately I haven't been. But Sh'Bam is a good way for me to get back into it. I'm definitely hooked. I don't know how long it will last, but while it does, I'm gonna through myself whole-heartedly into it. I'm not going to let anything get in the way of going. It might mean I upset some people, but it's not about them. It's about me. Because when I look after myself, everyone benefits.