Month: November 2012

THERE IS A FEELING

There is a feeling…an “out over a cliff” feeling.  It is uncomfortable and exhilarating all at the same time.  It is a really unfamiliar place for me to be in because I usually am not one that “jumps off a cliff” so to speak.  I am more of a “let me figure out my footing before I take a step” kind of a person.  Although when I need to move on something…you will not find me dragging my feet.  I move forward when necessary no matter what it feels like to do so and that uncomfortable feeling soon becomes the new normal.

I love that about life.  We get stopped and stay steady in our comfort zone and something or another will inspire us to move forward, we do so, get really uncomfortable and as the days go on,

we contract and then expand to integrate the move and create a new normal.  Then we stay steady there for a while, get inspired, move forward, get uncomfortable, contract then expand to integrate and find a new normal again.  It is a beautiful process of ebb and flow and such a necessary part in order to really live our life!

Over this past summer, I made my way down to Cedar Point to spend a day riding roller coasters.  I love roller coasters…I love the ups and downs and twists and turns.  Going up the hill there is the excitement of what it is going to feel like to go down the other side.  Then at the top of the hill that feeling builds as the cart travels over the top and heads down.  For me, the butterfly feeling as the cart drops down the hill is the best part.  In essence, it is the same butterfly feeling when getting involved in a brand new situation or meeting a new person.  That feeling is undeniable, intense and sometimes lasts for a few minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months.

For me, this flock of butterflies has been with me for almost 2 straight months now.  There was a moment back in October that I knew my life had changed forever.  I didn’t know how it would manifest, what it would look like or when, but it had changed.  I even announced it to a few friends that were standing around in that moment…and since then, I have had this flock of butterflies with me during my every move.

Its exhausting, and exhilarating, and nerve wrecking, and peaceful, and uncomfortable, and nauseating, and mind-boggling, and insomnia producing, and constructive, and destructive, and makes me happy, and causes massive emotional break-downs.  All of this is my body’s way of integrating.  An opportunity presents itself, we act on it, get really uncomfortable, contract then expand  in order to integrate and find a new normal.  I sure hope the new “normal” is on its way really soon!  There is a feeling…

GIVE THEM FOOD

Every year at Halloween, I have an internal debate with myself about giving out a bunch of candy.  I used to remedy this debate by handing out caramel apples however this year, with the apple crop damage in this state, we were unable to do that.  So we decided to do an experiment this time around…and the results were OUTSTANDING!!!

When I went to the store to shop for our trick-or-treaters, I felt a little like a scrooge buying apples, clementines and almonds.  I added M&Ms in the mix and so our bowl of treats had quite a variety.

I put about a quarter of the bag of snack size M&Ms in and filled the rest up with the real food; the apples, clementines and almonds.  We also gave out glow-in-the-dark bracelets to help them stay safe that evening and a book mark about health.

When the children came in, Angie would ask them to pick something from each bucket (bracelets in one, bookmarks in another, and the food/candy in the last).  When they got the bucket with the food/candy, a majority, and when I say the word majority I mean close to 90%, chose FOOD!!!  They would say things like “THEY HAVE ALMONDS!!!!”, “APPLES ARE MY FAVORITE!!” or on their way out the door, we could hear them declare “I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CLEMENTINES!!!!”.

It was amazing to see their reaction to what we were serving because I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go. In fact, when I was in the store getting supplies, I even said to the check-out person at Trader Joe’s “I may end up being one of those ‘dreaded’ places for Halloween because I am not giving out much candy, but I am going to give it a try anyway.”

So the outcome of this experiment is GIVE THEM FOOD!!!  Kids love food!  Real food!  Things that grow on trees and in the ground. They loved our treats and were absolutely thrilled to have the options. Why do you think that is?  I  attribute it to the possibility that kids innately know what is good for them.  I wouldn’t say a blanket statement “kids would choose real food over candy any day”, but how about giving them some healthy options on a regular basis.  How about rewarding them with a baked apple?  …or dried banana chips? …or some trail mix?  These choices on a regular basis will make a world of difference in their health in the long run.

 

IF I CAN, YOU CAN!

I was privileged to be able to start my week listening to a very inspirational man.  You may be familiar with Al Serra Auto Plaza in Grand Blanc, but you may not be as familiar with the quality of leadership that runs that place.  One of them happens to be my step-dad and the culture that has been created is like no other car company around.  Often, for their morning sales meeting, they are thinking outside the box of what you would expect a car sales meeting to be and bringing in some really inspirational people.

This past Monday I had the opportunity to listen to a guy with an incredibly inspirational story.  Clay Dyer has no legs and no left arm.  On his right side he has a small portion of an arm that he uses for everything.  He was born this way.  When he was a young boy, he developed a passion for fishing and told the story of how he got his first high quality fishing pole.  He has a great sense of humor when he tells the story of how at 12 years old he was hounding his father to buy him a $250 fishing rod.  His dad thought it was an outrageous price for a fishing pole when Clay chimes in “Well Dad, imagine how much money you have saved over these past 12 years not having to buy me shoes!” …and a professional bass fisherman was born.

His physical limitations are numerous however while listening to him, you can tell he lives in a heart-centered space and trusts the world around him.  He lives by the motto “If I can, you can!” and loves to share that message with people all over.  At one point he discussed what his normal daily routine consists of.  By the end of the sales meeting, it was brought up that if you didn’t have the visual of what Clay looked like and you could only hear his voice, you would never have known he had any physical limitations…because in his mind, he has no limits.  Because he sees himself and his life and experiences as such a blessing, he is able to do just about anything he wants to…including 50 push-ups which he did for us while on stage!

I will sometimes catch myself putting unnecessary limits on myself and my life.  I think this is maybe a natural part of being human.  We are born limitless and then through the years, and for a number of different reasons, we start putting up a box around what we can and cannot do.  I think it is interesting, and a good example, that at one point a limit on how fast a human can run one mile.  It used to be thought “insurmountable” to run one mile in less than 4 minutes and for decades this limit was true…until someone did it and then a number of people were able to accomplish the same task shortly thereafter.

Since you couldn’t attend the meeting on Monday, I found this great YouTube clip about Clay Dyer so you can experience a little bit of his story.  Click HERE to watch…it is worth your 10 minutes, I promise.

“If I can, you can!” is Clay Dyer’s message and coming from him, it is a powerful.  When you are in a room listening to all that he has accomplished and what his goals and dreams are in life to still accomplish yet, it raises our own limits a little bit…it breaks us out of the box we have put ourselves in.  It gives us permission to live our lives a little bit louder!  Now, go and be AWESOME!!!