Are You Ready?

This morning I went in for my pre-natal visit, and when my doctor informed me that I would be coming in now every 2 weeks, it suddenly hit me how quickly my due date is approaching!  Because I’m a planner by nature, my mind instantly went to, “Oh, my gosh, am I ready, what needs to be done?” 

Now, a few hours later, I’m settling into my thoughts.  Life has its way of hitting us with the unexpected, doesn’t it?  In my case, the event is expected, it’s the timeline that’s out of my hands.  No matter how much we prepare, there is always something that comes up that wasn’t in the picture we envisioned.  How resilient are you when “life” hits you with a whammy – positive or negative!?  Life’s curve balls are things like an injury, illness, divorce… but it can also be a surprise birthday party, a promotion that changes your routine, or, like me, a new little member to your family.

If you can keep a clear understanding of your vision and set forth each day with the mindset to do the best you can do that day to move closer to your vision, that’s really all you can ask of yourself.  Of course we all have days when we are ineffective or hinder that progress, but the sooner we can bounce back, the greater chance we have to realize that vision.  If we can ask ourselves, before each decision we make, “Will this take me closer or farther from my goal?”, and make the choice that takes us closer at least 7 out of 10 times, resilience is ours.   

What’s your vision?  Is your path still leading to one that motivates and inspires you?  What can you do today to take one step toward that goal?  If I could wish one thing for you for 2012… it would be Resilience.  Happy 2012!

Carving Out Your Mantra

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="250" caption="What's your sign?"][/caption]

Fall represents change to me. The transition from summer into winter, baseball to football, light sun-kissed veggies replaced by hearty soups and spiced fall flavors. The symbolism for change surrounds us with breathtaking saffron, amber and ginger-hued leaves rustling in cool breezes.

As the autumn engulfs us, it's a splendid time to start reflecting on our own transformation. What mantra do we want to herald as a symbol of our journey? What change do we want to make that will shape the decisions we plan for the upcoming year. How do we want to be represented?

A new take on an old Halloween tradition, pumpkin carving, is the backdrop for the answer to all the above questions. Take time to explore or develop a symbol that represents your new mantra or identity-quest. In the spirit of the season, carve out your symbol in a hollowed-out pumpkin and ceremoniously illuminate it with a votive. Use this representational project to mark the beginning, and your commitment, to your chosen journey. Projects, such as this one, are a wonderful way to give visual and artistic meaning to your intended transformation. It takes the quest from living only in your mind to interacting with all your senses.

To represent my identity quest, I have chosen the Thunderbird, a symbol originated by Native American Indians. The Thunderbird is the Sacred Bearer of Happiness Unlimited. Thus, my new mantra is Happiness Unlimited. I can’t wait to carve it out and let the light shine through.

If you want a few ideas for symbols that represent your quest, look at the list below…

  The tortoises is emblematic of steadfast effort and eventual, inevitable success.

 The eagle is a symbol of action, a lofty spirit, intelligence and judiciousness. 

  The Celtic symbol for Inner Strength.

  The Chinese symbol representing Serenity.

What will your symbol be? I would love to see your finished project. Send me a photo and description to lvolz@hhhealth.com.

 

Back to the Bike

 

After a 10 year hiatus, I have rediscovered my love for biking. However, I must admit, it was a scary, heart-pounding journey. Several weeks ago, my fellow intern, Maggie, asked if I wanted to bike down to the beach with her during our break. I agreed thinking ‘it can’t be that hard to pick back up.’ After all, I biked every single day with my brother around the neighborhood…back in the day.

Boy was I wrong. I could have crawled at a faster pace than my biking speed. Maggie was practically biking in circles around me! My body head to toe was sweating, my heart was bursting out of my chest, and my forearms were stiff from grasping onto the handles for dear life.

Since that day, I have biked several times each week—to the beach, to the grocery store, around Shipyard Plantation. I still can’t believe it took me so much time to get back on a bike, but I’m sure glad I did.

If you are thinking of getting back on a bike for fitness, environmental and/or recreational reasons, here are some things that helped me get back to the bike:

1)    The steering took some time to get used to, but it came back to me after a couple bike rides. Having to bike on the twisty paths in Shipyard on my first try was quite an experience! 

2)    Making sure my seat was adjusted to the right height. For the first couple of weeks I had been biking with my seat too low and my legs had been pedaling an awkward motion.  See http://www.bicycletutor.com/adjust-seat for tips.

3)    Biking with a friend that knew where the paths started/ended, could watch the stop lights while my heart pounded away, and watched for oncoming traffic (!!). Plus, biking with another person encouraged me to keep pedaling along rather than turning around and giving up.

4)     Practice, practice, practice. After that first day, I thought I’d never get back on a bike again. That was enough stress to last several weeks! But I didn’t let my horrible biking skills keep me away. It was challenging for me but I figured it would be an excellent way to cross train, enjoy the warm weather/outdoors, relieve stress, and exercise on the beach.

So, if you have been meaning to get back on your bike, I encourage you to go get it out of your garage/storage room and get pedaling! If anything, it’ll  help you save some [expensive] gas!