Flying Fresh

When a great adventure is offered, you don't refuse it. 

Amelia Earhart

As this new year begins, we don't always know how our next adventure will unfold. We might dream, we anticipate, we might plan. But the Universe has a way of teaching us, leading us and guiding us to what we need to do first. Our paths are not usually directly to our goal, we have been known to wander through routes, not of our choosing and still find our way. We are determined and relentless, because if we want something with unwavering commitment, we will get there.

Our destination might not look like what we had envisioned, it will be better! Because the side streets that we have navigated along our way, will have widened our experience, broadened our understanding and taught us more about ourselves, if we have allowed it.

Whatever your goal is for this fresh year, a fitness program, a volunteer offering, a learning of a new art, a leaving behind of something that does not serve you any longer, commit and let's do this together.

Let the adventure of the new year begin, let it make you strong and courageous, let it make you a gentle warrior. Someone, who as each day passes, you will like and respect.

Reach High Today

Most people are not going after what they want. Even some of the most serious goal seekers and 

goal setters, they're going after what they think they can get.

Bob Proctor
Author and Speaker

Let's promise each other today, to dream big, dream outrageously. Write it down, make a collage, take a photo, make a painting of the biggest dream you imagine for yourself. 

Then start to Live It, let it float around in your head and with each small step you take, see it emerge.

Today allow yourself to be an artist, an athlete, or an entrepreneur and to be just plain happy. Live your dream. 

Reach HIGH today.

Gonzaga U., Spokane WA

 

Sharing our Strength

Starbucks Run for Women, Because I am a Girl event took place on Saturday, June 23rd.

                                                    learn more at Because I am a Girl!

Top of the Hill!

                                                            
We gathered, young and older, to support the education and empowerment of girls and women. No one should be discriminated because of gender. There was much light-hearted dialogue, dancing and cheering as we gathered below the overcast and drizzly skies. Somehow, our joined efforts kept the rains from coming down until later that afternoon (or at least that's my belief!).

Seeing women encourage and challenge each other up and down the hills at Baker Park was not less than inspiring. Winding around the curving paths in a sea of mauve t-shirts, you were proud to be a woman.

Each of us had a goal, hard fought for through early Sunday morning walks, wet shoes and blistered heals. Hours of dedication fueled this day. Each won their individual race; a first race ever, a first race with a pint-sized daughter, a first race with a new friend, a first race after chemo ended, and hundreds of other stories.

Whatever the goal, each face shone with delight as we crossed the finish line.

Congrats to everyone who completed and to our partners who supported our efforts, took photographs, rang bells and provided hugs at the end of the race.

We are each better prepared to set a new finish line and a new goal.

Home Stretch.

                                                               

Pacing

Pacing your accomplishments could be one of the hardest things in our journey. When we want to move ahead, it should happen, right? Wrong!

For some, focusing on moving ahead can be a battle that takes all our resources, all our time, and oftentimes all our humour.

Can we lose the "extra 10, 20, 30" pounds we've (oops!) accumulated, by a quick-fix remedy? Some magical turning back of the clock. But is our over-the-top remedy of drastic calorie reduction sustainable? Can we commit to a half-marathon, or the "Goofy" (January 2012, Disneyland) without lacing up our runners on a (very) regular basis?
 

Each step we take to "get there", needs to focus on the joy of being where we are. As Joe Vitale said in The Key, "How much good can you stand?"; enjoy and appreciate the present moment, because the next one is on its way. I believe that when we know that each little goal gets us to the BIG one, we can celebrate each plateau along the path. Don't sabotage yourself by giving up. We need to realize that our momentum may ebb and flow but always we are carried forward in the direction of our choice.

Life experience has taught me to balance and be patient. It might take longer but it will so be worth the wait. And then one day, you're sitting cross-legged in your yoga class and you surprise even yourself when you are able to lift you own body weight.