Month: April 2011

My goal is to hit 10,000 steps per day.

Today when I uploaded my Fitbit (www.fitbit.com) I was thrilled to see 15, 410 steps.

I have to say though that I walked a lot today. I took 90 minutes and walked around Reeds Lake. I realize today that to hit my 10,000 goal or exceed it, I am going to need to make a commitment to walk more every day.

Much of what I do at the gym (Nu Step, elliptical or bike) doesn’t register steps. In addition to the gym, a good morning or evening walk, every day seems to be what is needed….

I am grateful that the clarity of what is needed to get to my 10,000 step goal comes at a time when the birds are chirping early and the sun is setting late.

The joy of hitting 10,000 every day will be a great goal to accomplish. And I will have a happier dog since she loves to take those steps along with me!

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

I like this quote….kind of!

I think I am starting to lose sight of the shore and do not yet see the new land to which I am headed. It reminds me of the view from the cruise ship when all I could see was water. It reminds me of pictures my brother took from the Naval submarine while he stood on watch with nothing around him but water. There is great beauty in being surrounded by water. There can also be a sense of panic that sets in for me if I think about the vastness of the water and the distance to land.

My wellness journey has been ongoing and I no long struggle with the question, is it worth it? I believe it is a very valuable journey and I like the person I am becoming.

But lately I find that I have started to think of the days when I will be able to let up a bit on the frequency and intensity of my workouts. I am starting to look forward to reaching a goal that still seems a ways off. I realize I have sailed away from the land I once called home and I can not yet see the new land. I have lost sight of the shore…

And so this quote really resonates with me. It offers me hope that I am headed to a new land but it also keeps me grounded in reality that the journey from where I started to where I am going may be a long one.

I am grateful that my wellness  journey has begun. I can honestly say that the journey to my heart followed a similar course over years. I believe I am in my new land in my emotional journey and it is a good place to be. I believe I will arrive in time to the land of wellness, and I believe I will then say as well, it is a good place to be.

I wonder if you are clinging to shore, setting sail, losing sight of shore or arriving and living in a new land. Wherever you are, live it fully and live it well!

Those who dare to fail miserably can achieve greatly.    ~John F. Kennedy

I like the challenge in the above quote but I realize that it doesn’t fit with what we grow up believing about failure…

I wonder how life would be different if we embraced failure as a part of living.

I wonder how I would be different if I was as willing to talk about my failures as I am to share what I am confident about…

I am going to begin to name ways that I might achieve more greatly by failing more miserably…

The one instance that comes to mind is the whole development of my cardiovascular system. I must be willing to fail in order to succeed. I am struck by how often I feel like I am failing and yet every time I get a bit further before I fail. In that I am succeeding….it is a crazy concept and I am guessing there are other instances in my life to apply the challenge by John F Kennedy….

Where do you need to risk failing in order to embrace and celebrate great success?

 

‎”In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load. When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.”~Brian Tracy

I read this today and found it quite convicting….

The first thing that struck me was the extreme word choice….you can NEVER….EVERYONE is carrying….ALL you meet….often those are words I tend to take issue with but in this context, they seemed to be words that were more of an invitation to consider the magnitude…

The second thing that struck me was how this quote offers me an invitation to act. Never be too KIND or too FAIR…those are words that are within my realm of influence if I CHOOSE to act on them. Today I was challenged (invited) to look at what acts of kindness i could put into action….

The last thing that struck me is that if I believe the premise of which this thought  is based, then I have an OPPORTUNITY in every exchange I have, to impact the people with whom I interact each and every day. The impact is that if I choose to express kindness and courtesy, I WILL leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.

So I decided to give this a try and stepped out of my place in the self check out at Meijers and assist the elderly man ahead of me by bagging his groceries while he scanned them. He was skeptical and appreciative. And in the end of our 10 minute exchange, he made eye contact with me, his eye’s lit up and he said a big THANK YOU and gave me a wonderful toothless grin.

It was a small thing and honestly required nothing of me.

It was fun to offer this gentleman something motivated by my desire to be kind and courteous….

It was a delightful moment when he acknowledged my offering and for a brief moment, in the giving and the receiving, we connected as total strangers in Meijers. I will likely never see him again, but I believe we were both blessed….

What a different world this would be if we might all choose to live out this call to compassion and share in the carrying of the loads we bear!

Tonight I learned of yet another tragic accident. I am pretty sure the 38-year-old distracted driver is a decent person and yet today his distractedness changed the life of a young man, his family and a community who surround him. I am praying for Dan tonight. I am praying for the distracted driver and I am praying for all who are impacted by yet another accident…

I am committed again to not being a distracted driver. I can say I have made improvements over the years, but I continue to fight the temptation to multi task while driving. It is never wise and as reminded in the circumstances of today, life can change for many, in a fleeting moment.

If you are not a distracted driver, I commend you!

If you are a distracted driver, won’t you join me in this commitment today!

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Calvin College officials tonight confirmed that a 17-year-old critically injured in a crash along Chicago Drive today is the son of Kevin Vande Streek, the men’s basketball coach.

Daniel Vande Streek’s injuries were not immediately known, but police said he was critically injured in the 1:15 p.m. crash and pinned for 30 minutes in the van he was driving.

The college’s sports information director, Jeff Febus, tonight had no other details about Daniel Vande Streek’s condition.

Daniel Vande Streek’s Facebook page shows that he attends Unity Christian High School.

Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies said the 38-year-old driver of the pick up truck was distracted while looking for papers when he ran a red light at Chicago Drive and 18th Avenue and slammed broadside into the van.

I am finding that in the intensity of my current workout’s, I am needing, once again to refocus the clarity of my vision. I have a vision for the woman I am committed to being. I don’t want to settle short and yet it is easy to begin to recalibrate my vision to try to find some shortcuts.

I found this picture as I reflected on this question. I love the heart in the middle of the eye. The journey to my heart, the pursuit of my vision, the way I chose to live each and every day requires me to have clarity and heart.

Some of the vision statements I have for myself are

I am committed to being a woman who lives emotionally in touch with myself and others.

I am committed to being a woman who cares as much for myself and I do for others.

I am committed to being a woman who nurtures my mind, body and soul to ensure wellness and wellbeing.

I am committed to being a woman who values people more than things and experiences more than finances.

I am committed to being a woman who lives responsibly in all God has blessed me with.

As you can see my vision for myself is big and all-encompassing. I then am able to take a look at my actions to ensure they fall in line with my vision statements…

I wonder if you have a vision that you are using to guide you…

I wonder if your vision needs to be refocused to ensure the maximum amount of clarity and heart…

I wonder if your vision challenges you enough that sometimes you want to find a short cut….

I understand that feeling right now….but I am staying true to the desires of my heart. I believe in the end, it will be well worth the effort!

I carried a puppy into my house and then into the great outdoors over and over and over again, each time wondering how long it would take to house break this cute chocolate lab….. Today my puppy rings the bell when she needs to go out. What a difference two years makes!

I slept next to a crate while a dog whimpered throughout the night wondering who I was…tonight my puppy greeted me at the door with a wagging tail and grin as only a lab can. And she sleeps at the foot of my bed every night….so much for my thought that my dog would always be kenneled at night and when I am away…What a difference two years makes!

I wondered what I was going to do with my new puppy everyday when I went to work….today she comes to the office every day and greets caregivers appropriately to their affection shown towards her. What a difference two years makes!

I have written before about the lessons learned from Dutchess. I am thankful I made that compulsive decision to bring a dog into my home. I thought my puppy would enjoy playing with Suzi and Andy’s dog Sparky. In light of Sparky’s untimely death, Dutch allows the kids to grow up with the fun of a dog, but the parents not having the stress of three kids AND a dog!

I want to share a link for those of you who are dog lovers. I always smile when I watch it and can’t quite believe that it resonates with some truth for me. In my head I wonder if this is sputton (Sacrilegious; not displaying the socially expected reverence for implicitly sacred ideals. Dutch or Dutch-American slang of sorts)…in my heart it just makes sense!

Take a look and enjoy!        Dog and God    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H17edn_RZoY

One of the many things I enjoy about my nieces and nephews is how well quickly they respond when I ask them to give me a hand.

Today was no exception…

I asked Peter to help me out by running downstairs and putting Johanna’s blanket in the dryer. He jumped right to it and was down and back up in no time….

I was so pleased by his helpful spirit. I know (and Peter knows) how important it is to have a clean and dry blanket before nap time…

As we were walking out of the house, I mentioned to Peter how quiet their dryer is. To which he responded, “I didn’t turn the dryer on, I don’t know how to do that, but Aunt Trish, I did put the blanket in the dryer like you asked!”

I had to smile as I ran back in and went downstairs to turn on the dryer.

I am keenly aware in a new way today, that sometimes I ask for things without asking clearly for my desired outcome.  I am thankful for the fun and simple way I was reminded of this….

I hope you are able to ask for what you need each day and that your requests will be met with the cheerful attitude (and honesty) that Peter offered me!

I read many Facebook postings today about people expecting children. Frankly, I am not sure which one’s are real and which one’s are April Fools jokes, but I figure time will tell. It got me remembering this picture. A picture of my sister’s clothesline shortly after their third child (first daughter) was born. This picture is one that makes me smile. It is full of meaning to me. As I look at it the following comes to mind: The brightness of the sun, the smell of line hung clothes, the sweetness of a baby, the cuteness of a baby girl, the delight of the first daughter, the miracle of life…

Johanna is almost two. She is still the delightful all girl beauty that is represented in the photo of the clothes line. She wears beads every day, loves her curly hair and knows how to get what she wants. She is almost two and her personality is coming more to the surface every day. I am thankful for God’s plan to grow the world and bless life with the birth of a baby and the presence of children!