Soooo, we're one week into this Quest For Your Best program and I've gotta say, it's been much different than I'd expected.

For starters, I had a bit of a BodyBugg malfunction on Day 1. I wasn't entirely surprised because it's kind of a running joke between myself and my friends that I don't mesh well with electronics. Cell phone calls dropping ten times in two minutes? No stranger to that! Walking onto a main road and having all the street lights go out? Totally the norm! Sitting down at my computer and watching as the entire power strip powers off? Old news!

So when my BodyBugg worked at The Landing but melted down as soon as I walked home it wasn't a shock. When I mentioned this to Catherine, our positive and perky trainer, she made me privy to the power of optimistic thinking. Instead of saying "electronics hate me" I was now to have an affirmation of "electronics and I 'get along' and my BodyBugg will work." Although I wound up replacing my BodyBugg, it was the notion of having a self-fulfilling prophecy that would happen in a good instead of a bad way that wound up being the unintentional theme of this first week.

I am, by nature, a shy and mellow person, someone who takes a bit of time to warm up to new situations and people before actively engaging in conversations or exchanges. Being thrown (in a good way) into this whole situation has been a bit overwhelming for me. The five of us as a group are a lively bunch.

Rachel and Shannon have outgoing personalities and I think all of us have good senses of humor.

Jon and Jeff both have children and a love of baseball, so they have that to bond over, too. Me, well, I kind of feel just sort of like I'm floating, hoping the others don't think I'm a jerk because I'm not talking, and desperately trying to conjure up things to talk about that don't have to do with weather or being broke or my turtle, Otis. (I've found that I'm basically the only one that finds Otis basking on his brick with his head submerged under water really cute).

What does my lack of social skills have to do with this Quest, I'm sure you're wondering? Well, for starters, Catherine's insistence on positive thinking and good affirmations has had me thinking about thinking in a new way. For example, instead of assuming Shannon is quietly telling herself how big my ass is while I was in downward dog on the mat in front of her during Gyrokinesis, I should assume that maybe she's, shocker, not paying attention to me at all, but instead focusing on her own movements in the present moment.

When I was stressed beyond belief with having to tackle school, work, schoolwork and somehow getting to Massachusetts and back for a job interview mid-week, I tried to mellow out and just let myself go with what was happening. As long as I made all my classes then school wasn'! t a problem.

Schoolwork could be tackled on the bus ride to MA., work was flexible with my scheduling needs and the job interview went as well as it could and the rest was out of my hands. When I was hit with a nasty virus this past weekend, I tried to replace the crying and whining with a gallon of water because that would certainly do a lot more for my body than being a grumpsaurus would.

Although I feel like I've gotten off to a rocky start, I also think that I've learned a lot more emotionally and spiritually than I thought would be possible so early into this program. Jeff, Shannon and I took that aforementioned Gyrokinesis class on Thursday night with Randy Matthews. It was a class that focused on distributing our own energy in positive ways while stretching and breathing in order to help our bodies relax and expunge negativity. Randy was a great instructor and I left feeling re-charged yet calm. I definitely plan on going back this week and I recommend taking the class as well if you're looking for something to work on your entire body in a low-key manner. (Read the description here)

I'm anxiously looking forward to starting week two. The overwhelming feeling has mostly faded and I'm now completely ready to shed the past mediocre seven days in exchange for seven more that are surely going to travel in any direction I can hope for.

I've realized I have a lot more to learn and that my journey through these next nine weeks is going to be way more spiritually oriented than I originally thought - but I'm embracing it with open arms.