I am pretty sure I was recognized from behind today. (Not by my behind but by my perma-bedhead. )
Can we all just be honest for a moment? Don’t we all have a secret need/desire/want to be seen, recognized and known? Isn’t that kind of the point of social media?!
So today, instead of being known for my wacky bed head I would like to challenge myself (and you) to be known for being kind, for being present, for being different in the best possible way,
*I acknowledge that yes, I don’t want to be invisible … but it is Christ in me who I really want to be known and recognized as I go about life.
Did you know that you get to make the rules for your own life? Yes, those rules should come from an alignment with who you are and what you are about. (I am called to this life and role and my faith in Jesus is the undergirding of my everything.)
For me success changes from day to day. Today dressing for success involved putting on my workout clothes and getting down to business (move my body.) This is something I get to do and choose to do to bio hack my bad attitude.
My life today involves 3-4 sick babies/toddler/preschoolers (one of which escaped her crib like a ninja at 4 am — her latest feat in a long list of parkour exercises she performs daily.) What more can I do? Fetal position? Head in the sand? Pint of ice cream? Nope, none of these will help me ‘feel’ better.
I still have to be a wife, mother, friend, daughter, human. So I am going to play with my latest toys (heavier kettlebells — hello 50lbs! (*pssst… you are kicking my butt mister.)
How do you overcome a rough start to the day? Let’s learn from one another.
I have done it. I have booked my theory exam to become a Canfit pro Personal Training Specialist. As all things in my life, I find correlations between what I am learning and my daily happenings.
I was studying yesterday in a very noisy food court as it is less noisy (and demanding) than my own home. I was on the chapter about foundational movement practices and how to adapt those movements to your client based on their level. I am my own best/worst client.
Some days I feel like all of the pieces of life are passing me by. I struggle daily to do all the things. My foundations seem to be solid but progress is slow in all areas… or so I thought…
It turns out that if you randomly decide to learn how to do something and practice a tiny bit every day, that eventually you will be able to do the thing. And then the thing will actually get easier.
I am going to take the win. I am going to embrace the now. And I am going to take all of those teeny tiny steps towards whatever the thing of the moment is; until I master it and move on to add the next thing. I am grateful for today. What baby steps are part of your wins this hour/week/month/year/decade? (Obviously keeping all the babes loved, fed, clothed and safe is a big daily win for me.)
I spent way too long last summer trying to talk myself into jumping off our boat into the lake. When did I become the fearful one? How can I be paralyzed in some ways and so free in others?
In fitness I have learned about muscular hyper mobility as well as impingements. How can one body be so free in some ways and literally/stuck/ frozen/limited in either strength or mobility in others?
I love the word ‘undergird’ .. mostly because it makes me think of girdles .. and I think ‘girdle’ is a funny word. In order to find freedom in my mind and body I have had to go to the core. The root of who I am. The core of my being. The part the girdle holds in place. 😜
My days are not my own right now. My life is not my own for this very busy season. But that doesn’t make me less ‘me.’ If anything, I am more ‘me’ because everything else has been stripped away. It has been stripped away by a pandemic, trauma and loss, our life stage with all of our children and the fact we are aging. Mid life crisis anyone??!
Life is full. Life is crazy. Life can be chaotic. It can be stressful. It is definitely tiring. But our core, the core of our family, of our ‘us’-ness is still consistent.
My core is strong, dysfunctional in some ways but stable in others. But as the plumb line of my life slowly aligns with truth and heals, I know that things will feel better and I will get better at the ‘more’ of life.
Fear doesn’t get to define me. I will not be held back by my body, toxic thoughts, toxic relationships or poor habits. These are things I can control. These are things we all have power over.
What method do you use to find your alignment in your life, your plumb line?
I have about 1 hr in the evening that is kind of my own. As an investment in my academic pursuits, the past few months, I have watched ‘Parks and Recreation’ in its entirety. I feel like this time has made me a better person. Who doesn’t enjoy Amy Poehler? Chris Pratt? Rob Lowe and more ?
Simplicity seems to be the theme of my current circumstances. With that in mind, I introduce to you Andy Dwyer’s 5 Karate moves to success (with my commentary and adaptations):
Make something (this could be as simple as making your bed, or as complicated as making sourdough —thank you pandemic for that.. the key is creativity- this is an important practice for our brains.)
Learn something (The options are endless – wordle anyone? I have done online language learning.)
Karate chop something (Move your body yo!! Have some exercise ‘snacks’ (credit @careerfit_mom) sprinkled throughout your day. Working out doesn’t have to be a big complicated thing! (I also enjoy pretend kicking and punching)
Try something new (maybe it is kale, maybe full contact football .. again, the options are limitless)
We have been trudging through the muck that is the reality of living in a pandemic. As if life in general can’t be a challenge, quarantine is the worst. I have been contemplating a ‘jail break’ since last Friday.
6/8 of our family got covid this month. 1/8 was a scary case. 4/8 of us are fully vaccinated. 3/8 of us are boosted. 1 of the boosted had only received their booster the same day as exposure and subsequently had mild symptoms and tested positive. 2/8 had no symptoms and tested negative (the fully vaccinated boosted.)
Our covid consisted of 4 babies needing constant care 24/7. One of those suffering was on the verge of needing a visit to the hospital. It was scary. Worse still, there was so much whining. I may never recover from that.
This is our experience. We made it through. Praying the same for all of you.
I can’t show you the images that are emblazoned on my heart. I can’t share the photos of *’our’ baby girl in heaven.
As I snuggle up with her big brother in the home he knows so well, my heart swells with love. But, each time I do (and it is often!) my heart eeks out just a little of the intense grief that I keep carefully tamped down.
You see, he has her eyes.
I cling to the image of that baby girl snuggled up in the arms of Jesus. Daily, her big brother is snuggled up in mine. She is HOME.
*in our home (as foster parents or otherwise) we don’t distinguish how we love. ‘Born into’ or ‘chosen’ for our family, we love wholly.
Sometimes I choose to do some things because they are fun. As of January 1, 2022, a lot of people are trying to change their bodies, mindsets, habits and more.
We lay out our ‘resolutions’ and plan using SMART goals. (specific, measurable, attainable, rad, terrific?) — ok, I may have forgotten what the letters stand for.. (R-realistic, T-timely.) Seeing as I forgot when New Year’s Eve was this year and also don’t know what day of the week it is, perhaps SMART goals aren’t for me.
Instead, I am choosing to sprinkle in a bit of play. Not just play with my kids but play for the sake of playing. My form of play currently involves skipping, jumping, dancing, hopping, leaping and crawling. Imagine ‘playing’ and accidentally reaping the benefit of forming a regular practice of body movement. And that regular movement subsequently makes you stronger, leaner, more limber and more importantly releases all of those happy happy hormones that make each day feel just a bit more manageable because of a over abundant sense of well being.
How do you play? How could you incorporate play into your life? You may not want to leap around like I do but maybe you do want to climb up a snowy hillside and slide down on a piece of cardboard. The sky is the limit where our minds and bodies are concerned when we set out with a joyful mindset.
I would love for you to engage with me by brainstorming on what play looks like for you. (This is beyond exercise people! This is embracing your inner child and remembering how to have fun!)
I have come to accept the thought that even a smaller version of me is still worth pursuing.
I am supposed to be in a 5 day intensive training to become a personal trainer starting today.
If you have been following my life at all, you are aware that we have been walking through extreme hardship, grief and a glimmer of hope coming our way. I have pushed this goal of becoming a personal trainer to 2022 when I can give myself and the course the attention required to be successful.
Today is December 1 and I asked myself what is something I can do that moves me towards my goal. Then I asked, what is my goal anyway?? This morning I lovingly adjusted my expectations and did a mini workout. I have decided that this month I will give a sneak peek of some of what I offer and provide some fun mini workouts on my website. I will share that later.
A smaller version of myself is still the pursuit of wellness with a large dose of grace. If you find yourself weary, overwhelmed, making choices that don’t honour your body and who you are meant to be in this season then maybe you would like to join me. Stay tuned.
This is me in the wee hours of the morning, in my pyjamas with an infant strapped on my chest. If I can do this so can you. Let’s do this!
I seem to be accumulating an abundance of travel mugs lately. That may be because of my need to a) use the adult equivalent to a sippy cup b) preserve the integrity of my coffee temperature as it often gets put aside. I have spilled my coffee 4 times even with my new ‘sippy cups’…
I’ve been trying on a few subscriptions for size in the past couple of months. Our family now has a bone broth subscription and I have a monthly flower subscription. On top of that we are using a local meal kit service, a cleaning service and I have a couple of fitness classes too. Phew! Did I make you tired just listing all of that? Failure to plan is a plan to fail. (Did I just swear? I feel like that could be taken as curse words for someone..)
We have been in a holding pattern which has allowed my very busy brain some space to plan ahead. Our family is growing again. We shall soon have 4 children 4 and under. Plus two bigs who also live under our roof. It is a lot. This is a lot. Planning is required.
I’ve had to ask for help. I’ve had to hire help. I sometimes have to beg for help (“here, take this baby.. I am going to have a bath.”)
There are pieces to the puzzle I haven’t quite figured out and others I am trying on for size.
Overall I am feeling extremely grateful. And in the moments when I feel overwhelmed I will stop to smell the literal rose in my flower bouquet and sip some coffee, bone broth or just plain enjoy a crazy meal with my crazy family.
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