Love & Faith & Joy (7 Lines/7 Days #84)

 #108Weeks

December 19-25, 2021

I've been revising my reading goals for 2022, and liking the direction.

I came face-to-face with the fact that I need a major mental adjustment.

Atomic Habits by James Clear is helping me make small changes to get my physical strength back in a manageable way.

On Solstice Day I wrote this: I commit more fully to the life I know I can live. I commit more fully to vulnerability, innovation, creation, and joy.  I commit more fully to cultivating my heart, leading with my heart, shining light from my heart. And I seriously commit to not blaming others or myself for what is. I welcome it all -- every ugly and beautiful moment, encounter, and feeling -- as TEACHER.

I must continue to look at each moment with love and faith and joy. I'm calling it WILD JOY.

Progress, not perfection.

Have faith and be the change!

Raising the Vision (7 Lines/ 7 Days #60)

 #108weeks

 

July 4-10, 2021

 

I realized walking fuels my writing. Riding the exercise bike does not.

Enjoyed a delicious Cuban lunch at a new place called Cubans Be Like

I made a list of things to do to keep me grounded, since I was feeling pretty anxious. Haven't really had to use it because one yoga session fixed the issue

Every time we recognize a blessing, it increases our capacity to receive a blessing*

Finally read the book Pride and Prejudice and find I'm not terribly impressed

Clarity + Confidence = Vision**

New guiding question: What does it mean to live in harmony?

 

 

 

 

Quotes:* Julia Cameron   **Angela Watson

 

Walking a Memory

 It was still dark that December morning when I ran this trail, alone in my disbelief and grief. At 6 a.m. in 1980, my husband at his night shift job at the steel mill, I was a solitary figure on a new bike trail that ran along the soon to open I-480 in North Olmsted, Ohio.

This morning I relived that memory of the morning I heard John Lennon had been killed. I recall running on that mild morning, tears welling up time after time. My desire to be a runner was hard fought, and I have never really become one. I gave up on it long ago. And one thing I know—after that morning, I don’t think I was ever on this trail again until today. 

When I heard our hotel was close to Great Northern mall, I couldn’t stop thinking about walking the trail. The area is extremely built up now, not the many fields with a highway cutting through. I was surprised by the number of houses, as I would have told you this bike path was totally remote. I was amused by the barn on one property, so reminiscent of the farm community North Olmsted once was, and the high rise looming up behind it. 

Much like that day in December over 40 years ago, I was alone on the trail except for one woman with her dog way ahead of me. The maintenance isn’t great, and I know there are better trails in the area for people to frequent. 

Returning here today helped me breathe easier somehow.  I can’t help but think again how grief layers into us. The fact that I had no one to talk with about this for a few hours means I had to handle it alone. I can see now why this has always stuck with me.

Delighted by the wildflowers, and happy that I got a 2 mile walk in, I returned to my hotel, my heart at peace and a lingering memory resolved. 

10.1

It has been an amazing week.

I'm finding new blue and green spaces, not just outside, but in myself.

Last Saturday I wrote about signing up for a virtual race as a way to motivate myself to get out and walk. It has been productive. Today, one week in, I've completed 10.1 miles, one third of the way to my New Year goal.

I always thought I had to get out and walk in the morning because I'm too tired at the end of the day.  But I did one of my longest walks this week after dark, the coldest night of the week. I was bundled up in more clothes than I recall wearing for a long time. I made it. I was not too tired. It felt good.


Today while walking I found a new place I will call a prayer spot:

And in an attempt to make sure I got up to 10 miles today, I walked into the new Children's Garden at Lakes, which prompted some ideas for the story I'm thinking about for our TB prompt this month.

But mostly I've been a bit surprised on how my mood feels lifted a bit higher than usual.  I particularly noticed it on Gold days at work. This is the day I teach four different classes with my planning smack dab in the middle. Usually by the time the last two classes come, I'm feeling a bit ornery.  I have not been able to figure out exactly why, but it has been a consistent problem.

This week I noticed right away I was not feeling that way. I had more patience. No sign of grumpiness. I was able to slow down and think before reacting. Kinda awesome.

This extended to my home life. More than once I found myself extending extra special loving listening and response to my husband.  I feel some kind of perspective has shifted a bit -- just a bit more light coming through the prism. This came in handy while taking our recent trip.

We drove up to  Clearwater, which was difficult both going and coming home. Getting there we ran into plenty of traffic, and barely got to the hotel in time to change and walk to the theater; in fact, we missed the first song or two. My husband was not happy about walking because it is very painful for him, and he said he did not want to walk back. During intermission I found the house manager and she gave me the phone number of a reliable and quick cab service (note to self: sign up for Uber!)  The concert was a wonderful time, relaxing and uplifting, and definitely worth the aggravation of getting there. When done I was ready to call the cab, but my husband said he could make the walk back, which we did on a lovely, breezy Clearwater night.  I looked forward to walking around the neighborhood the next morning.

But as morning came, so did a sloppy rain. After our breakfast we left, figuring to be home in the noon hour, which would give me time to walk in Fort Myers, and do some other things I planned on doing since I had the day off school.

That also was not to be. After being slowed down by the rain, we got stuck on I-75 just south of Sarasota when they closed the highway for what they labeled "Emergency Scene." This delayed us by two hours. There was absolutely no way or nowhere to exit and, of course, I had to pee. It was crazy, yet somehow I found myself remaining calm and centered.  Later we would find out that a man had fallen out of the back of a box truck -- fatally, of course -- and I imagine there was quite a mess to clean up. Jim also pointed out that they probably had to photograph every single thing to be sure it wasn't a murder!

By the time I got home, I was deeply in need of the massage I had wisely scheduled.  It took care of all the "sitting in the car too long" aches I was experiencing. Today was a new day to make up for lost miles. The sun came up. I feel great.

Life is good...always.

Fireworks and Fitness

It has been on my mind for a very long time.

A few years ago I fell off my walking practice. I blame it on the shingles that manifested in March of 2016, because I can trace my fatigue for walking back to a few months before that event. I have never been able to recover. Last year I was struggling with a doctor's insistence that the sun would wreak havoc with the lupus she claimed I had.  I wasn't sure what to believe. It caused me to think twice about getting outside, unless it was before sun-up or after sundown.

But since I realized that wasn't an issue, I have struggled with getting back to it. To multiple my underlying angst about this is the fact that I've recently come to crystal clear terms on my status as a worker who will most likely not retire until at least the age of 70.  Money is only part of the reason.  A big reason is that I love teaching, and just cannot imagine any other life at this time.

Yet, I knew that my obvious lack of fitness could stall this initiative. At the beginning of this school year I really struggled with inflammation in my back muscles from standing on my feet all day after relaxing in a chair most of the summer. Although I am much better now, and easily making it through the day, I don't want to suffer like that again. I feel it is inevitable unless I take charge and make some changes.

Many of the people I work with are work-out crazy -- going to the gym and running is evident in daily Facebook posts. I have tried to become a runner since the late 70's without much success -- it never sticks. So I say good for them, but I've come to understand it isn't for me.

Which leads me back to walking, and the latest trend of fitness: virtual races. A website and app called Yes.Fit has a whole series of races you can do at your own pace, complete with medal and/or t-shirt. What made me actually go to the website and check it out was a co-worker saying she was doing the Mark Twain race. That caught my attention. One quick look at the website revealed running was not mandatory. Walking is perfectly acceptable.

I browsed through the races, getting more and more interested in the possibilities. I came upon the New Year 2019 race: 30 miles through Australia, with a medal that has fireworks over Sydney Harbor and the Opera House.  Lights! Color! Music! Water! A New Year! And with winter break coming soon, time to get out and walk a total of 30 miles before New Years Day.

I was in.

Nearly immediately I was out walking in my neighborhood, clocking my first mile. I am aware enough to know that I need to build up to longer and longer walks, but I was thrilled to get my first 1.25 miles in, even though it was already noon by the time I got out of the house.

I am using the Map My Walk app and entering my mileage manually on the Yes.Fit site. I don't have any of the fancy watches or Runkeepers to synch with the app, which is fine with me. Yes.Fit makes it easy for anyone to participate. At my age, I appreciate that!

After my walk, I entered my mileage and was shown on a Google map how far I walked, and I was able to click on Google Earth photos of where I started and ended. This just adds to the fun. There are so many more possibilities for the future. I can walk Scotland, the Great Pacific Highway, the Appalachian Trail, Tuscany, Napa Valley...so many more! And I'm thinking after completing this first race I might do the Gulliver's Travel race, and read the book along with it! 

Fitness suddenly got fun in a way I don't recall ever feeling before. Having some friends who are also doing these races helps. Motivation has been lacking for too long. This changed today.

And heck, I figured if I'm going to walk, why not get a medal? Here is the one I am working toward. The next time you see it, I will have it around my neck!!!