So, it’s a Monday morning (albeit Labor Day, yet that thought alone is enough to make a crowd of thousands groan in quiet, soulful solidarity) and I’m awakened once again by my inner clock before anyone in our home would consider rising! We've discussed that this is just a part of my life now, so I have DECIDED to think of it as an adventure. Ya see, never knowing at what time that inner, early alarm will go off, or what amazing new ideas that my "early, quiet alone time" may fan from flicker to flame, has become kind of intriguing to me.
As my eyes begin to clear from sleep, I am enticed and ready for another chance to do it better, to be more of what I long to be. Another chance to be kinder, more connected to my family and friends and to nurture my spirit more intently.
This is what I call “waking up, as if on purpose.” If I’m clear-minded enough, I will internally recite a quiet prayer that is actually a Biblical psalm (19:14, if you’re interested). It’s beautiful and I think you’ll agree that saying this in quiet meditation before letting one’s feet hit the floor can set you up for the possibility of making this new day something extraordinary from the start. It goes like this …
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and My Redeemer …
This is my first meditation of the morning: You may have a different one, but I highly recommend connecting to something bigger than oneself before starting out on yet another day in which opportunities, both pleasant and difficult, will cross your path. Personally, I don’t have the ego to begin each morning without asking for some spiritual guidance and help, and I’m also not too proud to admit it!
All of this takes about three minutes from first conscious thought to gently kissing my husband, (if I think it won't wake him)and getting verticle. How blessed to be able to think about getting out of bed, and then being able to do so. If you haven’t thought of that before, it’s no small matter - how grateful we should be!
THEN... I really am ready, excited and stoked for a new day. Ultimately...call it what you like, an adventure, a new day...truly what it boils down to, is we awaken for the chance of a new beginning. That's an opportunity we get every single day we're alive!
Have you ever taken time to think about what a gift we have been given, not only in the way each morning begins but also in how every day ends? As the light is extinguished, the moon and stars are left, allowing us to dream of what a new tomorrow might bring. If it’s been a difficult day, the curtain is drawn and an all-too-necessary intermission occurs - a break in the action, a time out. Hard days need this - all days need this - and we settle and reflect. We hold each other in trying times and we rejoice with our loved ones in others. Whatever has occurred, we need to rest and regroup.
Then, at the appointed time, dawn breaks, pulling hard against the dark veil of night that has lovingly been sealed with great vigilance for our restoration. The sun comes up, illuminating the sky with a light so bright that we can feel the possibilities. We are granted hope - hope for another chance to get it right! It’s a new day - a very precious new day!
You know, while it existed, I was offered and wrote a monthly column for "Smart Woman Magazine"..their on line magazine. They "went green" with this part of their publication, (I think they were a bit ahead of their time), and though the publication was well received...in time, it's readership fizzled. This was before the days of Social Media Network Marketing. If they'd launched it now...it would still be thriving today. At least that's my take on it, for what that's worth. Anyway, I was issued a bit of a challenge.While this was a great opportunity, I remember being stumped when my publisher asked me what I wanted the title of my column to be? Well, since I was coming to them from the stand point of a fitness/nutrition/wellness expert - who was a writer AND a motivational speaker, (and if NOTHING ELSE, as you've deduced from earlier in THIS post, a Spirit filled life is what drives every part of me). Try rolling all of that into one catchy little 'three word' title that would encompass all of that, and this little newbie was stumped!
Then it came to me one day during a run...as many ideas often do. "FIT FROM WITHIN" was to be the name and thank goodness my publisher agreed. SO, the FIT was there but so was the WITHIN, and I was satisfied.
I was satisfied because without the work done “from within,” we’ll never achieve our goals. Make no mistake about it, being fit, nutritionally sound and living an extraordinary existence starts from within and I am incapable of writing without including the Spirit , Soul and the Mind of the matter. Not then, nor am I now, nor will I ever be. It's how it works. AN EXTRAORDINARY LIFE, is lived from the inside out . The reverse will leave you stranded on the side of the road of life wondering what hit you. I know, I'd been in the ditch a time or two before I got the message!
However, it starts there and must also work it's way out and let me tell you: I have been consistently working out, eating right and caring for this body for 20 plus years now without fail. Each day, it gets accomplished no matter what. People say that there must be something different about me that makes it easier - that somehow I must like getting out there, pushing and torturing myself, getting all gross and eating things that others disdain. I’ve also found that folks who are certain that I have some odd set of genes that makes this a breeze for me often do so because it lets them off the hook, guilt free! Well, to that I am compelled to say, "HORSE FEATHERS", to quote my precious husband.
Here’s the secret: How we set our minds each and every day will determine our attitudes about what we think, and, as a result, what we make out of life. I have worked with hundreds of people over the years - men and women, young and old - and what I have found is that the vast majority think WAY TOO SMALL. They never think or step out of the proverbial box. Fear is usually the culprit, but honestly, an absence of being able to picture themselves REALLY doing it (fill in the “it” with your own out-of-the-box dream may be). This is at the root of the "self imposed" road blocks that keep vast numbers of able bodied people, from the achievement of their dreams.
I can honestly say that, to me, my life feels like the words of the Kelly Clarkson song, “A Moment Like This.” The chorus includes the line, “Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this.” Let me explain …
One day during an early morning run along the edge of Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii, I had reached a high enough point of the hill. When I rounded the corner I found myself looking down at an azure blue ocean and a sunrise so magnificent ... I was stopped in my tracks and began to cry. These tears were tears of gratitude. For me, I was and still am, just in awe at what an amazing adventure my life has become.
I feel that my whole life has been a series of “moments like this,” and yet I know so many others - friends and family - that are so stuck inside 'the box' that they just can’t see this kind of life as a reality. There’s nothing special about me, trust me!! I just know that life is short and I want to live it to the fullest! That’s all, nothing more, nothing less.
I know it’s not easy to step out of one’s comfort zone, but oh, the rewards are other-worldly.
The reason I was in Hawaii was because I had taken a job with an organization that literally flew me all over the world to coach marathon teams for charity. I took the position though I had not yet run a single marathon myself. My employers said they didn’t care because of my fitness background, but I certainly did. I thought it would be the epitome of arrogance to coach people to do something that I'd never done. So I put in the work, picked an upcoming marathon and, with a crazy schedule..working 12 to 14 hour days,I also added 30 to 60 miles a week and crossed the finish line of my first Marathon … with a decent time to boot.
I was 38 and had never run much before, but I wanted that job! Now, a little side bar here for those of you losing your minds thinking, "a fitness expert who didn't run, what up?" Well, of course I had a little, but really..becuase of what my job entailed, I had no need or reason or time to run. IN addition to my 60 hr ( more often then not...plus ) a week training company, I was also the Aerobic Manager of a fabulous fitness facility and my job title included that I teach at LEAST... 10 seriously intense, one hour cardio classes per week, plus about 4 - 2 hr. grueling, personal weight training sessions. Let's just say I was fit enough. In fact, most days, if you'd approached me to go for a run, I'd probably have said..."eat dirt".
BUT, I WANTED THIS JOB, So I prayed about it, then discussed it with my husband, then with my kids, and with all in agreement to go for it, we did. Talk about stepping out of a comfort zone … I really didn’t feel like putting in the work, completing 10 to 20-mile training runs in the morning, cleaning up in fast-food restaurant bathrooms and trying to refuel my body during a long day working with multiple clients, while teaching CEU courses, adding more certifications to my resume (studying hard) and working as an examiner for the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America …I was cooked. BUT then again, when you want something bad enough....then my favorite question applies when folks complain it's so tough...my response; "what does that have to do with it."? I mean really, if you want it, get it done!
You see... I knew I was embarking on something extraordinary …yeah, A MONENT LIKE THIS kind of thing!When I closed my eyes, I saw what this could be. I knew how this would look (my first year they were sending me to London in the spring, Dublin, Ireland in the fall and Honolulu around Christmas).. I knew what it would cost, but like all extraordinary life experiences; I knew that if I just stuck it out, this would be AMAZING!
So, nuts and bolts, breaking it down....how can you expect to change a life that has started and stopped, tried and failed, when it comes to the things that you say you want the most? You must start by renewing your mind.
But how do you really do this? Well, in my experience, the majority of the time, it really boils down to one of two things. Either they aren't willing to do the work- point blank. Or, it's the sad, harsh reality that comes when certain folks have tried many times and failed.. Because of this, they posess such a strong inner inclination that they'll fail again. It's understandable. It comes from past experiences....and that's VERY hard to work around. Their experience begins to lie to them, telling them that they will NEVER MAKE IT, (even if they appear really excited to try again). Thus, when the going get's tough, they bail before making the FULL effort necessary to achieve! How do I know this? Becuase when you commit to a goal that has the ability to create a "MOMENT LIKE THIS" type of pay off , you'll know you've done all you can when you have done it.... UNTIL! You do it UNTIL YOU'VE ACHIEVED IT~ bottom line always. And when you do break through that glass ceiling, your life will be changed forever. It happens as we follow through with one desired goal after another...and I'm sorry, but the truth is, for every one on the planet..."ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE".
I suggest you make a contract with yourself. Just like our "weight loss contract" we published for you last week on our "Thursday's Dish'in Nutrition". Pull it up if you need, change the goal to what you have set before you..and use it as the prototype for a contract that will help you to succeed.
Here's what I suggest to help you begin to create your own Extraordinary "Moments Like This":
Tomorrow Morning, create this contract with yourself. You know, on second thought, nix that. Why wait? If you have the ability (meaning any time at all ), tonight's even better. Since we are considering new beginnings, it is Labor Day after all. Ever year when I was a kid, every one used to start school the day after Labor Day, which has always made me think of it as the kick off to fall. Thus, a new beginning. Love that! So, what better time than NOW! Now will never fail you when it comes to the business of getting something DONE! Thus the best add campaign ever created;
Nike's "JUST DO IT" , is perfection as it intimates "NOW" without adding the word to break the poetic flow.
SO, if you have NO time the rest of today then, give yourself a 30 minute wake up call, earlier than you normally need to start your day. HEY, it's worth it and if you think NOT, consider your faulty thinking is creeping in. Cause if you won't do this, you are not ready my friend. You want to go it ,without putting in this little bit of extra work. Surprise ....Surprise....NOT! IF you have tried to achieve a goal in the past and it keeps eluding you, yet you refuse to try anything different and yet expect that it will work this time? Well, that is magical thinking and a bit of insanity; "trying the same thing over and over expecting to get a different result"..it's just not going to happen. SO what's it going to be? If you want it bad enough...do the work!
So, write your contract, make three copies and give them to three friends and or family members that will help to hold you to it....and then, get after your dreams. A life lived wishing for better, is a life of broken dreams. That's a life I don't want to live. It's dull and dank and has you waking up just HOPING for a magic wand.
Magic wands don't exist. But your ability to achieve is just under the surface.
...Remember that your attitudes follow your actions. Think it, write it. And before you know it, you will be it!
You were born with the ability to become the person you so desire to be. SO Be Extraordinary.....And live a life FILLED with MOMENTS LIKE THIS! Except nothing else from yourself and for yourself.
Next Monday morning, when your feet hit the floor, be living a life that will make you feel great … I highly recommend it!
Until tomorrow,
Power on!
-Candace
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