Extra Ordinary Life Lessons

"Some things you have to do every day.

Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day

just isn't going to get the job done."

-- Jim Rohn

Well, you may have been wondering what happened after regaining My Extra Ordinary Vision. After that post I'm sure one would have thought that they would be hearing a lot more from me, more frequently. If so, you are not alone - I thought so too! I'm not sure how to explain it, but I think I had become a little "gun shy" in sharing that recaptured vision with anyone else - afraid to let them see it, lest they attempt to destroy it. So, I have been busy reconnecting with self and locking my "big picture" into a very strong vault for safe-keeping. I guess that it is time to go back to the very beginning, in one of my earliest posts (I think the third one I ever wrote) I proclaimed that to start blogging one has to overcome the fear of not having anything of value to say. I believe this is true for commenting on others' blogs as well, as I had mostly ceased to do that too.

In my 'compose posts' folder I currently have about a dozen started posts saved as drafts, but then somehow I always end up stopping my writing and haven't finished any of them to the point that they actually became real published posts. (This originally was one of those.) The rest of those thoughts are stagnating, stuck there living out their lives in a folder, never maturing beyond a "draft." I need to start over and change that. Tim Lautzenheiser, genius and leadership guru for high school band students (for those of you who are new here - my husband was a high school band director for fourteen years), has a saying that he imparts in all of his leadership seminars, "You're only worth what you give away and you can only give away what you have." So here I am, back to try and give away what I have acquired.

I am always fascinated to check my site statistics to see who is visiting and from where, how they got here, what they read and how long they stay. I never cease to be surprised, outright dumbfounded and humbled that someone I have never met (and probably never will) whom I don't even know their name will one day sit at their computer, Google something seemingly random and then stay for twenty or thirty minutes to read some things that I had to say, and then (wonder of all wonders). . . come back again later for more. I always ponder - What was the real impetus for their search? What did they think when their quest brought them here? I respect their silence, as I too am often a lurker, but sometimes I am filled with questions that I wish I could ask them.

I joke from time to time about my five regular readers, (used to be three -- and yes, I do have a little blog envy problem as my husband's blog has many, many readers) it appears though that slowly but surely, there are other lurkers out there who, if I hadn't checked my site statistics, I would never even be aware that they come and read and then come back for more. It is these miraculous wonders of people that make me feel slightly guilty that I have neglected posting for so long. It is a good feeling to know that someone in Gresham, Oregon or Atlanta, Georgia or Cincinnati, Ohio apparently thinks I have something of value to offer them. A nameless, faceless blogging comrade in Walpole, Massachusetts has even added me to her blog roll. WOW!?! How cool is that? Upon discovery of this I was extremely excited, amazed, honored, humbled and yes, dumbfounded! She has a wonderful blog called Care's Online Book Club. I am still a lurker there as well, but if you read this you should definitely check out what she has to say. I also get visitors from fun exotic places like the country of "Brunei Darussalam." I never even knew it existed until now. For those of you who also learn your geography through blogging - this small country is part of the island of Borneo in the South China Sea in Asia. Try Googling them, it looks like a very interesting place. For now, though, whoever you are in Gresham, Oregon, Atlanta, Georgia, Cincinnati, Ohio and Walpole, Massachusetts . . . THANK YOU!!! Even in your silent lurking you have given me a great gift! This post is here today because of you!

"There is no sudden leap to greatness.
Your success lies in doing, day by day.
Your upward reach comes from working well and carefully."
-- Max Steingart

For me life lessons usually come not all at once, but in a period of gradual realization that builds over time and then, **boom** I have this fully formed concept that seems so simple and idiot proof, but yet which really took me a long time to arrive it. Stand up comedian, Steven Wright, had a joke in his routine once that went something like this -

I don't have to walk my dog anymore.
I walked him all at once.

We went from Maine to Florida and then I said,

"Now you're done."

I think our contemporary society sometimes leads us to this type of thinking. I think a large segment of our culture somehow thinks that daily routines of certain sorts are somewhat primitive (and boring) and that we are far too sophisticated for something so rudimentary today. Instant gratification is sought in so many arenas. If success doesn't come quickly enough, often interest is lost in doing what needs to be done. On the other hand, one may also think things are going relatively well in a particular area of life, "I've already achieved a certain level of success here, phew, now I can coast for a while . . . I don't need to pay as much attention to that relationship or area of my health or that project at work. I can rest on my laurels. I can cross that off of my 'to-do' list for a while,". . . but then, somehow things catch up on us and what was going well has gradually gone to shambles without much fanfare or ado, in a way so slowly we were perhaps unaware of the descent until we find ourselves at the bottom of the pit and then wonder how we got there.

In my own life, I know the greatest successes were achieved when I dedicated myself little by little, inching daily towards my goals. When I was just showing up to do the work that needed to me done and trusting that our Creator will take care of the results. One area of my past history that I often try to keep from most people who didn't know me "when" is that between August 31, 2004 and December 2005 - I lost over 70 lbs. I have an endocrine condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) that makes its victims insulin resistant and usually infertile and causes many other **FUN** little challenges to normal life, among them unexplained weight gain. In my mid-20's - early 30's I would put on 20 - 30 lbs. here and there without the blink of an eye, even thought I ate mostly normally, my body just wasn't processing the foods as it should. It was very frustrating and depressing. It took visiting several different doctors before getting a proper diagnosis and medication for treatment. However, the medicine did not make that much of a difference by it self. It most definitely stopped the weight gain, but it wasn't doing much to take off what was already there. Then in the end of summer 2004, I joined a gym. I was filled with determination that I was going to get my body and health back. I didn't going on some crazy diet, I didn't ban myself from all desserts, . . . I simply went to the gym EVERY DAY - sometimes twice a day and do the work that needed to be done. When I started and couldn't do even 5 minutes on the elliptical machine without thinking I needed to have paramedics on standby. I thought I was going to die. I became inspired watching the other seasoned regulars, whom also showed up every day. I didn't see any major differences from day to day, but I kept it up and one day I found myself 70 lbs. lighter and burning 1,000 calories in a 70 minute session on the elliptical machine. Then one day I went to Sam's Club and really had to struggle with the cashier to prove that I was indeed the person pictured on my membership card and on my driver's license. She thought I was trying to use someone else's card. Personally, I didn't think I had changed all that much because for me it had been so gradual and at the same time I was becoming involved with a new community of people who didn't know the "before" me. Sam's Club ending up making me get a new card with a new picture.

I don't know why I told this story - it seems like a "bird walk." It most definitely was not my intention as I usually keep a very close guard on the personal details of my life not only in the blog world but the real world as well. However, I sat down this morning and started typing and it just came out. Apparently there is someone who needs to hear that part of my story and I don't know who that is and may never know. So, I guess I will leave it here for all to read.

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task,
but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks
as if they were great and noble." -- Helen Keller

My husband and I just got back from a four day, three night weekend getaway to the mountains of North Carolina. It was the first we have taken any kind of trip that didn't involve work or visiting family in about 10 years. We always thought we had a great relationship, over the years we have talked about instituting the proverbial weekly "date night" that all the relationship gurus recommend but at times it seemed, we're doing fine, things are great, we don't need to add one more thing to our already full commitments and "to-do" lists. "That's for other people, not us." It is when we are fine and think we don't need to take the time for these daily rituals and things when seemingly all of a sudden months and years pass, then we feel the disconnect and say, man we really should have made that "date night" thing a priority. Ooooh, even saying it (date nitght) , my sensibilities make me think it sounds "hokey." One of my most inspiring bloggers, Mark, at "The Naked Soul" recently wrote an amazing post entitled "Slow Down Enjoy the Journey" about our societal views that we must always present ourselves as "busy" and feel embarrassed to tell our friends and co-workers that we schedule regular daily time for the refreshment of our souls and/or relationships. Somehow we fear we will be looked down upon as a less successful person. Recently my husband and I made a commitment to harness those small daily pockets of time to reconnect and more importantly a weekly evening to call our own and perhaps a quarterly weekend "getaway" and have made respecting them as an equally important commitment a new priority for us.

Initially I said this post was here because of the lurkers who surprisingly return again and again. But this post is also here because of the two bloggers who are my main inspiration and whose dedication to their passions causes me to aspire to be true to my own. They are writers, community builders, connectors, philosophers and deep thinkers. They regularly challenge the thinking of their readers. They already know the simple truth to the benefits of eating one apple a day as opposed to seven on a Saturday. They post nearly every day and I am sure that is the main reason for their blog world success. One day perhaps I can be more like them. Dan at Faith Dance and Mark at The Naked Soul this post is also here because of you too --THANK YOU!!! -- Your encouragement and welcome to me, a fledgling blogger, has been an awesome and incredible gift!

"Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"
- Isaiah 43:18-19

So my life lesson leaves me recommitting to many things on a regular, recurring basis. Join me in the journey...where are you looking for success? Is it through the daily seemingly small things? I'm trying to remember that life is indeed more like a marathon than a series of disconnected sprints.

I am feeling a little childlike and nostalgic today so I will leave you with wisdom from the Rankin and Bass children's television Christmas Classic of the 1970's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town.":

Sing along if you like, I know I will be!

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor.
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door.

You never will get where you’re going,
If your never get up on your feet.
Come on, there's a good tail wind blowing,
A fast walking man's hard to beat.

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor.
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door.

If you want to change your direction,
If your time of life is at hand,
Well don't be the rule, be the exception.
A good way to start is to stand.

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor.
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door.

If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn,
You mean that it's just my election,
To vote for a chance to be reborn.

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor.
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door.