Focus

I had a busy productive day, I did my weekly shopping and errands, had coffee with someone that I would like to call a friend and had a fantastic guitar lesson. When I got up today, I began my day with reminding myself that all that I am doing each day is so that I can be a better me.

• I focus on my acts of kindness each day so that I can learn to pay more  attention to the world around me, 

• I do sit ups and kicks each day so that I can learn the benefits of working towards something daily ( I am noticing stronger muscles !!!!), 

• I write about my day so that I can learn and grow from my mistakes, 

• I hang out with my team mates so that I can learn from them (success and struggles), 

• I track my progress so that I can be encouraged by how far I have come and note the down times so that I can learn from them,

• I look after my family the best way that I can when I am at home so when I am working, I don't  feel guilty( not pretty but true),

•  I practice my forms because I like how it feels when I do them with familiarity (rusty is not a good feeling),

• I practice my guitar every chance I get because it stretches my brain in ways that it has never been stretched before (and it is sooooo cool!),

• I practice Tai Chi everyday because it is my reason for being ( and I believe that encouraging my chi to move is helping my shoulders),

I was thinking (and talking) about what works for me today, what works is reminding myself that this is for me, no one else. If I focus on me then the world around me will benefit from the results 'cause I will definitely be a better person/wife/mother/teammate.

Growth?

I'm not really sure what to write about today, I have some things on my mind that would not be healthy to put out there today, they are mostly dark and disagreeable. I wouldn't want to be a friend listening to some of this garbage so it will remain where it is until I can sort it out.
I had to have some hard conversations today, hard because I had to be quiet and let the other person say their piece first, hard because I had to be brutally honest about what I wanted and what are expectations are, and hard because I had to swallow my disappointment and move forward as usual. This growth thing is not as easy as it looks, but I'm not giving up on myself!

Great Day

I had a great day! It was great to start my day using my muscles and I loved it. I probably worked out a little longer than usual because I was having such a great time but that's ok 'cause I made it to work on time :). Life is grand!

All in!

I was pretty excited to be at the kwoon on Saturday morning, I really missed being there! The kids were fun and Tai Chi was amazing as always ( I learn something every time I go there, it is just amazing to me! ). I didn't stay for fitness or open training because I had to work until 11pm and again this morning so I didn't want to be to worn out on my first day back in the world. I totally felt like I was gone a month not just a week! Work went okay, I was able to catch up on some paper work and kind of take it easy a bit, today was more of the same. I really feel like my regular self today, I felt like napping for a short time, but I shook it off and it passed. Tomorrow, I will resume my morning workout and see how I do. If I continue to get better, I will be back to running by the end of the week :). I am pleased that my fitbit is telling me that I walk 10,000 steps a day on a regular day ( less than 1000 when sick ), so running will increase my miles quite a bit. I am excited to feel 100 % and test out my new toy for realsy.
The best way to stay in touch when not able to do physical things is reading everyone's blogs and making comments and blogging myself. I have been sick during other years and have felt isolated and alone, this time, I really felt like I was still a part of the team.

My butt has been kicked!

I think that I am getting better....I am still pretty tired, I had multiple naps today after trying to do a few things. But I am ready to re-join the land of the living. I am going to the kid's class in the morning and Tai Chi and I am going to work tomorrow. Hopefully, it is not too soon and I end up back on the couch. This was some butt kicking "common cold"

4 long days!

Long days.....resting and healing sucks! I know that I am supposed to be positive but all that I am positive about right now is that I don't like this.
I got up Sunday morning....did my sit ups, kicks, tai chi, weights and started my day. I was pretty tired but I figured I would just shake it off as the day got going. It didn't happen! I made it through my work day, skipped my run due to exhaustion that never went away and came home and crashed on my couch. I have been here ever since...Argghh! Today I was trying to figure out how many reps I have to do each day to get back on track without killing myself. What if I increase my workouts by half? For example, 150 kicks become 200. or 3 reps become 4. I realize that it may take a little longer to get caught up but if I do too much right away, I'll just get sick again ( and I don't want to repeat this anytime soon!).
Tomorrow I plan to push myself a little more than today and hope that I won't end up back on the couch. :)

Uughh!

Yeh, still sick! I feel different than yesterday but horrible just the same. Tomorrow, I insist on feeling better :)

I'm sick

Since I got home from work yesterday, I have been sleeping most of the time. I have a fever, a running nose and there may also be some whining involved! Back to bed!

Day Saved!

I was leaving the grocery store today and I spilled my bag, dumping oranges and a loaf a bread on the ground. So I am wondering, what else can test me today? And then this adorable little boy (about 3 years old), picks up my bread and hands it up to me with an adorable smile. Day saved!

Good Run

The odds were against me...a bad sleep (restless and awake many times - have you ever had one of those nights where you dream that your alarm went off, struggle to wake up only to discover that you were dreaming? I had three dreams like that last night!), long day, a nap was calling and so on. I made it to the track, changed, climbed the stairs and started my warm up and discovered that I forgot to stretch this morning, my legs were tightening up. No problem, get warm and then stretch, it worked! I started my run and my legs felt like they weighed 300 lbs each! I kept going and reminding myself that this was the road to mastery; not pretty, a bit uncomfortable, not exactly what I wanted to be doing and not coming that easy - definitely on the right road! When I was done, I felt great although each step was a struggle.

Change of Plans

When deciding to be silent with some of the groups that I support ( Because I'm a Girl, We Day, The Plan, Free the Children), I did not consider that I had to teach today and I had not pre-planned the day with my team. So I spent most of the day silent and I found it most humbling, each time I considered talking or using my computer, I thought of the children that didn't have a voice and it totally put everything into perspective. I was choosing to do this, they have not chosen their lot in life. I hope that by being silent we have helped spread awareness for them and with awareness comes change!
I spoke to the students in the Beginner Black Dragon class today and they want to be silent next Tuesday. We are not going to use our computers or phones (no texting) and we are not going to speak, even during class. They are going to follow everything that I do, the other instructors may speak but I won't and neither will they. I am excited that they want to do this with me, I hope to help create another generation of caring individuals :)

We Are Silent

Tomorrow I will be silent for the entire day. I will not speak and I will not use any of my electronic devices ( I will blog only if I can stay up past midnight). I will be silent for all of the children in the world that do not have a voice; the ones that live in poverty, in an environment that is not loving, in an environment that does not encourage them to grow and learn. Children can do amazing things when they are nurtured and loved, I believe that it is our responsibility to ensure that each and every child experiences an environment that fosters growth. So for every child who isn't heard, I will be silent for you and hope that my silent speaks volumes.

Fitbit

As the months roll along, I become more and more technologically connected. I have an iPad (thank you generous gift giver), I have traded in my flip phone for an iPhone (thank you my friend and husband) and now I have a Fitbit flex ( thank you surprise early anniversary present). They all communicate with each other, sync their data and completely amaze me with all their capabilities. I still don't understand all that they can do but I hope to learn a little everyday until I do. I am hoping to more accurately keep track of my activities and my calories and be more aware of them. I can't wait to see what a whole day of tracking looks like:)

First Timer

I spent a lot of time with Katie today, helping her with stuff that she had not done before. I didn't really understand until I watched her experience it and then I remembered! When I was 16 yrs old, there were a lot of grown up things that I needed to learn to do that I was a little nervous about before I did them. Sometimes I forget what it was like to be a young person doing things for the first time and on days like today, I am grateful that I can be reminded.
I helped with the advanced Black Dragons tonight which was a lot of fun. I got to see some students that I haven't seen in a while, push them a little harder than I used to be able to and watched them respond by stepping up to the plate. It was a great class.
I also went to see some high school drama with Katie and her friends, it is so cool to see young people who are willing to put themselves out there and not worry about what everyone thinks and so on. I always enjoy hanging out with Katie and her friends and today was no acception :)

Sunday

I wasn't really sure what I was going to do today, I wanted to just listen to my body and see what I needed to do. I had a good sleep last night, the puppy let me sleep until 8 am! I enjoyed a relaxing, healthy breakfast and a cup of tea and some much needed snuggling with my dogs and cat. After that, I just started doing stuff and I got a lot of stuff accomplished. I think the key to my success today was that I had no expectations. I usually plan my whole day with things I should get done, need to do or else, but today I just decided to go with the flow. It worked! My back yard is half thawed and half clean (read: raked and disposed of), I really happy that I got so much of it done. I made carrot soup for the week (my favorite) and chicken stew for supper, cleaned the kitchen and did the laundry and went grocery shopping. I didn't hurry or get stressed out about getting 'everything' done, I just did it. One thing that was different about how this week ended was my first day off was Saturday. This is usually my rest day, instead, I spent the day sweating, working on my forms and hanging out with my peeps. Today, I didn't feel like I had to rest or that I had to play catch up for all the things that got left behind during the week. I just got to go with the flow. Next week, I remember to have a great work out on my first day off :)

Good Day!

The best thing about Saturday is the opportunity to spend the day at the kwoon. Today was a great opportunity and I took full advantage of it. There were many great moments in my day; an unexpected gift, hanging out with great-minded people, a little dragon dancing, trying out my one and only lion dance move, practicing some cool stuff that I learned last night about my chi and finishing the day with a great family dinner. I also practiced my guitar this evening and recorded it, I think that I have some new ideas on what to practice. All in all, a good day :)

Who Me? A lion dancer?

I am very excited to be learning how to lion dance. I have always wanted to but have created a road block or two because I was afraid to try something new. Tonight when we started learning the moves, I wanted to just keep on practicing, it felt awesome. What if I like it as much or more than the dragon? Yikes! that could be quite exciting. I am looking forward to practicing and to learning more in the future. :)

Did you ever?

Did you ever wake up cranky for no reason? Well, I did today! I still had a good day but I really had to be aware of my reactions to folks all day long. It was very tiring....

Self Care

Work has been really challenging for the last two days, trying to keep our emotions in check, using our patience, staying calm and being understanding - all at the same time! As a team, we are managing, talking to each other, supporting each other and working together so no one get burned out. Individually, we are all doing our best to look after ourselves outside of our work place. My self care starts with my family and involves my kung fu in a big way (the movements as well as the support group) and has most recently also included my guitar.
I have been working with teens and their families for 25 years and the key to doing a challenging job for a long time is self care. That means making sure that you are leaving the job at the job and doing something to decompress. This can include exercise, venting, doing something you are passionate about, basically whatever works for you. I have been determined to stay in this field for a long time for a couple of reasons; I think that I have a lot to offer, some of my mentors have been doing it for 10 years more than me and I was told in college that people in this field only last 2 or 3 years. I think that I have met that goal and I am not done yet. I believe that I still have lots to offer the kids that I work with as well as my peers and colleagues.
I think that everyone needs self care, no matter what their job or life is like.

To post or not to post?

Hey Everyone!
Does it help to publish your numbers? I feel terrible if I skip a day and don't do my daily requirements, so that is my motivation for doing them everyday. I don't like letting myself down so therefore, I push myself to get everything done. I noticed that lot's of people on the team put their numbers out there every week or every month. So I'm curious team, if you post - does it help? If you don't - what is your motivation?

Motivation is everywhere

I woke nice and early this morning and my first thought was, I think I'll go for a nice run. As I began my day, small doubts started to float into my head, maybe I should stay home, perhaps my dogs need some extra time with me, I can always go tomorrow.... and so it went. During my procrastination, I checked to see if there were any new blogs to read, and there was one. Sifu Masterson posted a short video about the snooze button. It was very motivational and I highly recommend that if you haven't read it yet, you should. It got me on my feet and out the door! Thank you Sifu for a great post :)

Saturday review

It was good to be at the kwoon today. The kid's class was very busy today, we have a couple of new students and that always makes for fun times as they get used to us and we get used to them. I enjoyed Tai Chi and once again, (for the millionth time) learned something new and spent about five minutes with someone who has been there as long as me sharing the wonder of our new kicks. I totally loved the fitness class, it was all about lower body this week and there wasn't much I couldn't do. I did notice (happily) that it was really hard not to keep my guards up, I thought that if I keep my arms down it would not task my shoulders as much but it was easier said than done. It was good to see that there were so many I Ho Chuan members at the Foundation meeting, and there was lot's of good questions about how we do things and how decisions get made. I loved the I Ho Chuan meeting,  it is good to share what is happening with us, even if it is a little hard sometimes. We talked about the reality of what we set out to accomplish and how to make adjustments as we go along. We talked about demos and of course, the Pandamonium. I think that I can feel the energy in the group increasing and once we pull together to make Pandamonium a reality, I think that it will be even higher. I think that we have a great group of people and once everyone realizes that they can just chip in and help out, there won't be any obstacle that we can't overcome. :)

Things I don't get

I don't always understand me! There are some foods that I can't eat, period. I have worked very hard, done lot's of experimenting and taken a lot of time to figure out the food that my body likes and dislikes. I used to be uncomfortable on a regular basis, sore tummy (cramping), low energy, weird cravings, sleeplessness, tiredness and sometimes (not often) grumpiness. So I have done lot's of research, read more than I ever thought I ever would about what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. I have separated the testimonials from the facts, asked for help from my friends and colleagues and read every label of every food that I have ever brought into my house. Yet....(you knew this was coming) I still want to eat some of the foods that I know make me sick. I don't want to replace them, I want them! Bread and dairy from cows are at the top of the list. It's like I resent the fact that I can't have those foods anymore. No one has told me not to eat them, I discovered on my own that when I have them, I feel like crap and when I don't, I feel great. So I know exactly what to do to feel good all the time, but I don't do it. Most of the time I can talk myself out of it, today was not one of those days.  Hmmmm........

Days off

Taking a few days off is great, I am beginning to relax a bit and enjoy myself. I didn't realize that it would mess with my schedule so much. I do most of my requirements at home, around my work schedule. Take out the work schedule and I'm messed up. I thought about what I was going to write in my blog last night, didn't act on the thought and completely forgot about it. Interesting how much more difficult it is to get things done when you are not so busy. Instead, I worked on my knitting and hung out with my husband, not a bad trade off, I just wish that I would have blogged first.
So yesterday, I went to the Tri-Leisure, spontaneously, in the afternoon! I did some running ( 3 min run - 3 min walk) and loved it, did some weights, sit ups, kicked a hanging bag which was entertaining and finished by practicing my forms. I am trying really hard to pay attention to each move and the purpose of it and how it flows to the next one. I think that I am making progress! I am still practicing my Tai Chi broad sword without my sword as my shoulders are doing okay as long as I don't do anything so I'm still taking it easy on them.
Today is Thursday and my usual day to hang out in the children's classes, it will be weird to not do that :)

Not so smart!

I had some white flour today and had a nasty allergic reaction. It gives me unreal abdominal pain and also turns me into some sort of monster that is angry at everything. It has been quite a few years since I have had any flour but today I was a bit foolish. Katie did some baking and it was delicious so I had more that I should have, not a great choice. Six hours later, I'm beginning to feel like myself and remember why I don't eat white flour any more. Some days it sucks having to learn the same lesson over again.

Oops!

I just realized that I didn't blog last night! I followed my routines, read everyone's blog, made some comments, thought about what I was going to write and then put my lap top away! I didn't exactly forget, I just thought that I did it. Kinda weird....
Anyways, I made a mistak with my over time at work and had more than I thought I did, so I took the rest of the week off. Yeah! I get to hang out with Katie for spring break and rest some :) I have been feeling like I need a rest.