Write on Wednesday: Small Expectations

After a short (or maybe not so short) hiatus from Write on Wednesday, I am back (hopefully for the long haul but no promises)!  I will try to catch up on some of the ones I have missed, but for now, this week’s WOW prompt:

The Write on Wednesday Spark: Small Expectations
As I am thinking about education and learning, kindergarten and university, I have taken this week's writing exercise from one of my early childhood books. It is an activity I do with small children and one that always inspires so I thought it would be fun to see what the exercise inspires in adults. So, your prompt is: Imagine yourself as tiny as your thumb.Where would you live? What would you do?

I know this might be a difficult exercise but it's all in the name of exploration. Try and make it work for your own writing needs. Write a children's story, write a fantasy piece or work it into a fiction or non-fiction piece.  Wherever the prompt takes you. Keep your post on the short side: up to 500 words OR a 5 minute stream of consciousness exercise. Link your finished piece to the list and begin popping by the other links. Oh, and enjoy!

Sometimes I feel so small.  It is as if I am but a fragment of myself, no bigger than my own thumb.  The ever changing world is transforming around me, shifting, moving, growing into something greater and yet here I remain stagnant, dormant, tiny.  I maneuver through life fluidly without making so much as a ripple, let alone a splash.  But as I reflect, I remember that it is the tiniest and most determined of creatures that are able to eventually fly.  The caterpillar morphs into a beautiful butterfly to spread its wings.  The scientific anomaly of a bumblebee insistently takes to the air.  So too may I one day fly.

No quite what I originally started with, but I kind of like where it ended up.  Seems a bit choppy though – as if I started in one direction and then flowed into another.

Sometimes, being small takes gumption.

Motivation Monday: One Day at a Time

I looked long and hard for something presidential to put up this week.  I read through probably hundreds of quotes.  I found some pretty good ones, but nothing was quite right.  Don't get me wrong, there were lots of inspiring, motivating, encouraging quotes, but they just weren't doing it for me if you know what I mean.

Then I came across this one:

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." - Abraham Lincoln

So short, so simple, so seemingly ordinary and yet ... it really caught my attention.

I admittedly hate change ... despise it ... loathe it.  I could (and have) eaten practically the same thing everyday for months.  I generally like spending my time with the same people.  I can't stand the thought of moving even though I have done it several times.  I get semi-depressed and cry before, during, or after every graduation (grade school, high school, college, and yes, even law school).  I would love it if it was 75 degrees and sunny every single day and I would practically kill for it to be the longest day of the year (think sunlight) every day.  If I find a shirt I like, I buy it in all different colors.  I like consistency, stability, NOT change.

But, unfortunately change is inevitable.  It is ironically the only constant in life.

Over the last year or so I have found there is some change that is tolerable, and some that is even enjoyable.  I can accept when my trainer changed up my fitness schedule.  It is ok when I have to work odd hours.  I enjoy the change I am seeing in my body.  I love planning trips to other places.  So change I suppose is not all bad.

I know there will be a lot of change in my future because there has been a lot of change in my past.  I will grow, meet new people, experience new things, go to new places, try new foods.  Change is a guarantee, but thankfully, my future and the change that comes with it comes one day at a time.

One day at a time allows me to accept and adjust to the new of course, but it also allows me to reflect on and in a sense mourn the old.  One day at a time is how we are presented our future, so maybe it is also how we should live our lives.  Not worrying about the change to come, but enjoying what is currently happening ... one day at a time.

Accepting change and living your life one day at a time takes gumption!

Oooops

What is cool about blogspot is you can set your posts to post to your blog at future dates so even if you are busy a particular week, posts will go up and not keep your readers waiting.  This is a great concept if it had a function to avoid user error!

I wrote a whole bunch of posts and had them scheduled to post over the last 2-3 weeks.  But, apparently I scheduled them to post in 2013, NOT 2012 ... soooo I have a few weeks worth of new posts now up that should keep you busy for a while.  Sorry for the delay, but hopefully you can enjoy them now!  :)  The new ones start on Jan 30 if you are wondering ...

Realizing a mistake, admitting it, and fixing it takes gumption!

Happy Love Day

Happy Valentines Day!!

Loving someone takes gumption, showing someone you love them takes more!

Motivation Monday: Seat Belts

You may have thought this post was about wearing your seat belt because of the title, but its not.  Don't get me wrong, I think you should absolutely wear seat belts at all necessary times, but this post is about tightening seat belts ...

You know when you get on an airplane and they ALWAYS do the same instructions at the beginning?!  Well, most people tune out, and usually I do too, but you can't help but catch (and memorize if you fly as often as I do) bits and pieces of the schpeel.  The piece that I always remember is that "the seat belt should be worn tight and low across your hips."  Simple and yet now so meaningful to me.

A year ago, I had to extend the seat belt all the way to get it to stretch "tight and low across my hips" - it had to be fully extended.  On my last couple of trips, this has not been the case - I have actually been able to "tighten the seat belt by pulling at the strap around [my] waist" (it appears I have memorized that part too).  I had to of course take a picture to document the moment.

Ecstatic and curious about this new development, I decided to check my measurements and it turns out I have lost a staggering 10+ inches from my waist since April 2011.  I was flabbergasted at that number ... still am actually ... but cannot wait until it is even higher!

Tomorrow is Valentines Day, but it also marks 6 weeks since new years resolutions were made.  I'm betting most of you made some resolution to go to the gym or get healthier.  Do yourself a favor this year and keep that resolution - you will NOT regret it!!  Use my inches lost as motivation, but then use your own and share it with me!

Losing inches, tightening seat belts, and finding the motivation to do it takes gumption!

3 Months and Going Strong

Well, I have been at my job for 3 months now!  I can hardly believe it has been that long and yet it seems like forever ago that I interviewed and started.

Things are going just swimmingly.  I must admit that this is not what I envisioned myself doing after law school, but I really am loving it.  I get to be creative and analytical, which is a tough combination to come by nowadays.

I learn something new everyday which is really exciting.  I am doing the fiances and the marketing on top of all the admissions stuff.  I get to talk with students and work with the professors.  I host webinars and write blog posts (yes, I have a second blog to keep track of now).  Best of all, I also get to do some of the curriculum development which is certainly exciting!

I love the people that I work with and my office is fantastic.  Check out the tree right outside my window ... such a pretty view everyday.  I feel quite lucky to have ended up where I am.

3 months have flown by and I know the coming months will too!

Doing something you never thought you would do, and loving it, takes gumption!

Trying Kale Chips

My new health coach (HC) insists that I need more leafy greens in my diet.  I know she is right, but that doesn’t mean I like it …

Every week we come up with a couple of nutrition related goals.  One of my goals last week was try a new leafy green.  My HC sent me a couple of recipes to try.  I looked at all of them and decided they were not going to work … none of them looked appealing … seriously none.  So I had to do some thinking.  I am a very achievement driven person, so there was no way that I was not going to meet these goals; I just had to figure out how to do it.

My trainer had once mentioned to me that he tried a new recipe for kale chips.  Then a friend put on her facebook that she had made kale chips.  I also had a friend who wrote a blog post about kale chips.  After some thinking I came to the conclusion that I should try kale chips.  And as luck would have it, kale is a leafy green!

So I asked a friend for a good recipe for kale chips and she said it was simple:

1.       Wash and pat dry the kale.

2.       Lightly coat in olive oil and add salt to taste.

3.       Put on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20 mins, flipping every 5 mins.

I did just this.  I took them out of the oven and tried them.  They tasted pretty good!  I liked the crunchy ones, but decided that the softer ones needed a bit more time in the oven.  I pooped them back in for 5 mins … apparently that was a little too long … I ended up with charcoal chips!  At least I had some before I burnt the rest.

Trying a new leafy green takes gumption!

Motivation Monday: Accept or Change

A friend posted this image to her facebook, and it struck a chord with me, hopefully it will strike one with you as well.  Find a little motivation to do the following this Monday!

Acceptance and Change BOTH take gumption!!

Happy Birthday!!

There is a family I have been babysitting for since I was 15 … this is 11 years for those of you who are not mathematically inclined or don’t know me well enough to know how old I am.  I started babysitting for this family when their oldest daughter was 7 … she is now in college, actually studying abroad in Peru.  I babysat their son and youngest daughter since they were both born (2002 and 2004).  This week they turn 8 and 10 … yes, I feel old!

Today, is the youngest daughter’s 8^th birthday.  Her mom had asked me for some creative assistance for her birthday party and I was thrilled to help!  We planned a scavenger hunt followed by pizza and cake. 

The girls arrived at 4pm … 15 girls.  The noise level in the house increased exponentially!!  They were laughing and jabbering and having a grand old time.  The scavenger hunt was a lot of fun – the girls ran from clue to clue to clue, up and down the stairs, through and around the house.  They had to unscramble words, sort a deck of cards, swing on the monkey bars, and jump with the jump rope.  By the time they found the “treasure” (their goodie bags), they were exhausted.  They played outside a bit and then it was time for pizza and cupcakes.  The girls gathered in the brightly decorated kitchen and happy birthday was sung loud and clear. 

It was a fun, excitement filled afternoon.  I cannot believe that this little girl, for whom I addressed birth announcements, is now 8 years old.  Time flies …

Celebrating birthdays takes gumption!

Health Coach

In April 2011 I was referred to a Nutritionist.  I saw him every couple of weeks and he would occasionally change my menu plans if they needed tweaking.  While I was losing weight at a rapid pace, I was semi-satisfied with him, but we had our problems – he was unresponsive for weeks, he made miscalculations in his meal plans, and most troubling he disagreed with my trainer’s approach.  He never really explained anything – why you eat certain foods at certain times or how much of one type of food is too much or not enough – I never really learned anything.

In December we started really having disagreements, mostly over the fact that he refused to give me a nutritional plan that matched my training, instead insisting that my training change.  This caused a huge problem.  Not to get into the gory details, but after a few arguments and major disappointment on my part, we parted ways … not on amicable terms.

This left me in somewhat of a bind.  I had not learned enough to do the nutritional planning on my own.  The last nutritional plan that I was given by my ex-nutritionist was a disaster, full of errors.  I did not have another nutritionist lined up.  So, I asked for a referral.

A friend from high school started her own personal training business and is currently getting certified in nutrition.  I asked her if she knew of any nutritionists that she could recommend.  She asked if I would consider a health coach.  At first I was hesitant, honestly thinking that “health coach” seemed a bit loose of a term to me, but really, I was willing to try anyone she could recommend, because I needed someone fast!

I set up an appointment with the health coach and met her about 3 weeks ago.  We met at her house and discussed everything from my training to my nutrition to my job to everything that has happened in the past couple of years.  She was very easy to talk to and seem to genuinely care about my life.  Best of all when I told her that there was no way I was going to change my training, she agreed that I should follow my trainer’s advice when it came to training and that she would help me learn how to form my nutrition to match … this is exactly what I was looking for!

I now have a health coach.  We have had 2 meetings and a phone call as well as various email conversations.  So far so good. 

Switching from a nutritionist to a health coach takes gumption!