Or to put it another way, happy 5th Birthday to Midsummer 365 Projects!

5 years is quite a milestone, especially when you consider that when I started this blog I was sporadic in my blogging history to say the least! I wasn’t sure what would happen when I started out on this endeavour, I really just wanted to be fitter and do more exercise!

I am trying hard right now not to just write the same post I wrote last year. Last year I told you how I had let some stuff slide (diet, blogging, cardio) and promised you I would start again and get it all back on track and fix everything. It was the best plan ever… go look!!  However…as with even the best laid plans of mice and men, things went awry…

There were a great many unforeseen circumstances this past 365 days and things absolutely didn’t go according to plan! I am not going to say I have failed because I have achieved a great many things this past year, just not necessarily the ones I originally intended!

There was no way that, this time last year, I could have predicted that I would spend the year in a fight with my own brain. Sometimes even an all out war with it to be honest! I couldn’t have predicted that my brain would make me believe that all my friends couldn’t care one way or the other whether I was there or not. That it would make me believe that I was a great big lump who shouldn’t be doing any of the things I am doing and that everyone knew it! I had no idea I would threaten my own brain with flame throwers in an attempt to get it back on my side, and in the end I would have to start taking anti anxiety medication, and stop taking it again in the space of 6 weeks. I really really had no idea that this anxiety could have such a physical effect. It makes it hard to even walk when it is at its worst, and I mean physically hard not just mentally hard to motivate yourself. Anxiety does something odd to muscles!

To be quite honest I am still having this fight, but it has receded now into an intermittent falling out rather than an all out war which is better, but I am still working on ways to counter the psycho in my own mind as well as overcome the weight gain that cam along with thinking that chocolate was the solution.

Chocolate is not the solution. Its yummy and not evil in moderation, but it can’t fix your brain no matter how many kilos you eat!!

Anyway, despite the war, and despite the MRI scans and suspected brain tumor (i don’t have one yay!) and unexplained dizziness, I have not given up the overall plan. I have recommitted again and again to different exercise based challenges. I have trained for a half marathon (until I stopped) I have run 10k races and lifted 100kg again for the first time in years! Giving up is not a thing I can do. Although I have learned that having a rest is not actually giving up!

I have somewhat belatedly remembered I need to eat well too in order to be fit, so I am in the process of retraining myself to stop all of the snacking.

Over the last year I have discovered a need for balance, I have been attempting to rediscover my creative side, and discovered a love for writing Japanese poetry. In english…Japanese style poetry in english! I have also, and this is huge for me, been accepted by a local art gallery, and given a space for a month to have a photography exhibition. 😀 😀

So, although the last year didn’t go according to plan, I have come out of it fighting.So that was last year, but what of the last 5?

5 years is quite a milestone for a blog written by a person who has never kept a blog going for more than 5 weeks before this one!
In all honesty I love this blog and my others, I am hugely pleased about what blogging has brought to my life. Most of it quite unexpected! I have new friends, a new (part time) profession, an art exhibition and, I have realised, a new love of writing! I have even discovered that when push comes to shove I can write in the style of an aristocratic male otter!

My aim for this blog and the original 365 project was to get fit enough to dance in a mask. Which I did. I still am, but only just. I have lost weight, and gained some back, I have got fit and lost some fitness again. But, these ups and downs are just to be expected as part of life. The main thing, as far as I am concerned is I am learning things about myself and my capabilities all the time. What I have gained from doing this far outweighs anything I have had to overcome!
It has become abundantly clear that this is far more than just a 365 day challenge. This is a 365 day of the year lifestyle. Exercise and blogging is now as much a part of me as Morris dancing, hat wearing and a penchant for giant boots! Because of all this, I was considering a blog name change. I was thinking of attempting to come up with something more catchy and exciting…
However…
After some consideration, I have decided that Midsummer365projects is here to stay. It is (as has been pointed out to me by a friend) used 365 (ok 365.25) days a year. It is focused now not only on the next 365 days but all of the 365 days of the year, then all of the 365 days of the next year. It is full of adventures and shenanigans and projects and challenges, some are 365 days long some are longer some shorter but it is undoubtedly a year round blog!

Also I can’t change the URL so I may as well have a title and a URL that match…

So what now?

Well, now I am going to carry on doing what I do best. I am going to carry on exercising every day (barring extreme unexplained circumstances), challenging myself on a regular basis and telling you all about it to keep myself accountable! (I have a new challenge waiting in the wings…I’ll tell you about it soon I promise!)

It is the best plan ever!! It must be, it has been working by and large so far!!

The one extra thing i will commit to now is adding more cardio into my regime. I need it to regain my peak dancing fitness and after all, I need to remain Fit Enough to Dance in a Mask!!

Here’s to the next 5 years 😀