The Invitation

When the email came through, I had two simultaneously competing thoughts "Oh my Dog. This can't be real - SQWEEE!" and "Holy COW - what the hell have I gotten myself into?"

The first I'd heard of Project Purpose was in an email that came through my email on May 30th. The subject line professed

"Change your lifestyle! Apply today for Project Purpose."

Like most people with an active email address, spam arrives on occasion professing that the life changing solution to all of my problems or what ails me lies within - read all about it!

I very nearly marked the email as spam and went about my day. What stopped me was that the sender was the Fort Collins Coloradoan.  What most saw when they opened the email was this:

What I saw was this:

Going against every learned 'rule' about unsolicited emails that offer what seems too good to be true, I clicked on the link to apply and found the survey intriguing and thought provoking. When asked, Husband said that he thought sounded very interesting and to go for it. So, I started filling out the application.

My responses to the survey questions seemed to flow without hesitation and before I had a second thought, I hit the 'Send' button.  (Stay tuned for another post on those.)

And then I read what I'd written. The truth of it all. That while I'd like to think that I'm in relatively good health, I am not. I haven't been in many years.

I am driven, focused, and strive to always do 'better'. Better than I did last time, better than anyone asked for, better than even I thought possible. My interests are vast, my enthusiasm limitless, and my desire for 'one more minute' overwhelming at times.

But all of that has come at a cost to myself. I'm a mama. In the time since earning that title, I've had to chose between sleep and exercise. Sleep won out and over the years and I've lost my fitness. Healthy eating habits were often sacrificed due to financial or time constraints.

Even though it's summer I'm still busy with the kiddos, work, volunteering and living life at a more relaxed pace so I'd forgotten about the application and figured that since we'd not heard from Mind + Body, that we hadn't been selected. But, sixteen days after hitting that button we got the news that Holy COW! The team of Karl and Amy was selected to participate in Project Purpose!

It's been a whirlwind of excitement and activity, and I am still in disbelief that we are embarking on this fabulous journey!  I'm filled with nervous energy and disbelief that this is for real, and downright terrified that I'm sharing so much personal information in print and on the net. I mean, who really wants to share with the world how much they weigh and all other stats. Gack!

I'm looking forward to deciding on a team name, seeing how our team picture turns out and read the first installment of our Project Purpose. I hope that you join us as we move through this adventure and strive to reach our goals!