Month: October 2011

Do you ever have it when a familiar smell brings you right back to a time in your childhood….

It happened again tonight, I was out biking and the smell came over me.

I remember the smell as I was burrowing into my bed. The sheets were crisp and fresh. The feeling and the smell told me my Mom had been busy washing and hanging sheets out to dry while I was busy being a kid….

And so as I biked today I thought to myself, the outdoors smells just like my sheets…..

Or is it that my sheets smelled just like the outdoors….

It is an amazing smell and I am thankful my Mom knew how to bring the fresh outdoors into my sheets.

Take some deep breaths during the freshness of Fall and journey back in your memory. If your Mom also hung out sheets, remember all that goes with the crisp smell of the outdoors.  If she didn’t hang those sheets up to dry, just enjoy the smell for today!

I wanted to share a few pictures from our amazing weekend of doing nothing but enjoying everything. I wrote on Saturday about the benefit of doing nothing. I invited you to remember the last time you took time to do nothing and invited you to plan to do nothing sometime soon.

I learned that in doing nothing, wonderful moments unfolded. I think the quality of our time together was very much enhanced by doing nothing. We talked and laughed. We enjoyed one another very much. I wanted to share a few pictures. The pictures aren’t that exciting, except you can see the delight on our faces and the joy in our eyes, of our weekend together of doing nothing.

 

I am blogging tonight from a condo in Frankfort. The weather has been a perfect and the company even better. We have talked, walked, laughed, enjoyed good food, talked, laughed, read books, puzzled, played games, laughed and talked some more. We have accomplished very little and yet we have enjoyed much! Tonight we enjoyed a dinner in town and then walked a mere 500 feet to watch the Sunset over Lake Michigan.  I have wonderful pictures to share in the days ahead, but tonight I simply am in awe of the benefit of taking time to do nothing….

Relaxation means releasing all concern and tension and letting the natural order of life flow through one’s being….

And so I wonder when was the last time you took time to do nothing with a person or two or three or four that you enjoy….

I would encourage you to plan something and anticipate your plans and then go and enjoy…..I would highly recommend it.

is the day my Mom entered into the world. She was born into a large family and learned much in her early life as a result of my Grandpa’s decision to immigrate from Friesland, Netherlands to Sussex New Jersey. I often think about my Mom’s big transitions early in her life and wonder how it must have been for a ten-year old girl to take a boat to a new land, a land of new culture, new language, new friends and so much more….

My Mom has always been willing to share her stories and give us an insight into her childhood. That has been very meaningful to me in my growing up years. But today I am grateful for even more than my Mom’s willingness to share of her childhood and growing up experiences.

Today I am thankful for a mother who invites me into her world of today. I very much enjoy my Mom’s support in my wellness journey. I enjoy working out with her up to five or six days a week, I enjoy catching dinner with my parents, traveling with them and visiting over Sunday dinner almost every Sunday of the year.

I am grateful that my Mom is invested in her own journey of physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. I am thankful for a Mom who knows how to laugh and cry. I am thankful for a Mom who is real and down to earth and generous in so many ways.

Today I celebrate a mother who I marvel at. She understands her roles as a spouse, a mother, and a grandmother and she lives them out well. Happy 69th birthday Mom. (The picture is from last year) Please know that I celebrate you often and am thankful for your friendship, love and support! 

I have not been a big purchaser of Apple products, although I do like my iPhone and my iPad. I have not followed the journey of Steve Jobs, but I do find him quite interesting at the moment. Was he as amazing in his living as he is made to be in his death? I would guess that right now all of his greatness is being spotlighted, but I also believe the quotes below came out of different times of Steve’s life when his true colors came through. As I consider his true colors shown in the quotes below, I believe that his creativity and brilliance is truly a picture of who he was.

So read on and enjoy a bit of who Steve Jobs was in his philosophy of work, life and people. I like his style of management and perspective on life.

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
Steve Jobs

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
Steve Jobs

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
Steve Jobs

You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.
Steve Jobs

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”  Steve Jobs

“My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better.” – All About Steve Jobs

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Think Different, narrated by Steve Jobs

I would like to take a road trip to see this monument. It can be found in  Philadelphia, PA and I find it to be quite inspirational. As I reflect on it, I think through where I have (or am) living in each of the four positions. I know the feeling that comes with each of these stances and I celebrate the freedom that is found when I am able to step out of all that holds me back. I wonder how your freedom story would read? I wonder who has been instrumental in helping you to find your freedom? I wonder what issues you would say have kept you encased….

I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on your freedom journey. Begin to visualize what freedom would look and feel like and make movement in that direction. There is no better feeling than to be free in spirit!

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The moment you can visualize being free from the things that hold you back, you have indeed begun to set yourself free.–unknown

 

Tonight I watched a delightful game of follow the leader….

It wasn’t quite the same as we used to play, but it was clear who the leader was and who the followers were….

The leader was Peter Henry, age 8. His followers are Isaiah age 5 and Johanna age 2…..

The game was never announced, but it simply began. Peter did something funny and Isaiah copied him. When Peter laughed, Johanna copied his laugh. When Peter did something new, Isaiah followed and copied his big brother. When Peter said a crazy something in a very funny voice, Johanna repeated the same thing in an attempt at the same funny voice. When Peter changed gears and offered to read books, Isaiah and Johanna ran for books and loved to follow Peter’s lead.

Peter didn’t ask to be the leader of this game. He just is because he is the oldest. He is admired and loved because he is the oldest. He is looked up to and respected by Isaiah and Johanna because he is the oldest.

Peter is a good leader who is kind and cares about his followers. Although he is not a perfect big brother, for the most part he enjoys that his siblings follow his lead. Sometimes, I am sure it carries some stress with it. I also know that it has its rewards.

Peter is a good leader and I am proud to watch him grow and develop his leadership with his followers. I pray already that his leadership skills will be developed as he matures and that God will use him powerfully. And in time, it will be delightful to see Isaiah and Johanna blaze their own trails as well. I will have to teach Johanna how to play Mother May I with her brothers. I think she just might like to take the lead in that one!

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy…..

I have listened to this song a lot lately because it plays on my iPod while running.

But how true it is…

I have really only lived in West Michigan for most of my life  and I often wonder if people complain about the weather in other regions like we do in West Michigan?

We complain about it being to cloudy, to rainy, to snowy to hot and to cold. But in all of that, we also really seem to appreciate a gorgeous day.

Today was one of those days….sunny, cloudless, a breeze, no humidity…perfect in so many ways.

I wonder how long we hang onto the amazing goodness and beauty of today’s sunshine and perfect weather? Will the sunshine of this week get you through the gray and rainy days of fall….I hope so!

May we always remember…..

If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm. 
Frank Lane 

And if one perfect days isn’t enough, it looks like we have nine more coming….with nothing but SUNSHINE!

I did not have a great week last week with my food choices….(reflected on the scale)

I lacked planning, discipline and self-control….

I used the rationalization and internal argument that because I had good (and even great) workouts, I had the right to eat things I should have passed up….

It wasn’t a great week….

The enjoyment of the moment did not carry much past the moment…

I want to be about more this week…

I want to be about living true to my vision to be a woman of wellness….

I am hitting the gym at 7 and 3 tomorrow. I hope to get a bike ride in. I plan to have a fruit smoothie for breakfast, almonds mid morning, tuna for lunch, peanut butter and an apple mid afternoon and chicken and broccoli for supper. It feels good to have a plan….

And today I find this comic to be so funny….so watch out skinny people!