SA-Name:// JACKIE RIOUX
Day of GRIT: #1 of 28
UNIT: 4 #DoYouEvenGritBro
METRICS: Mobility/Stretch/Recovery
CONTEXT: “StoryAthlete Finds a Way…”
After being left with a mountain of debt from a nasty divorce back in 1995, I sought out the assistance of a debt consolidation company. I filled out all the necessary papers and sent them in. Scott Hannah, my then debt counselor, called me to discuss my financial situation. He basically told me that there was no way he could take me on as he could not even figure out how I was feeding my kids with so much debt and not enough income ratio. I told him that all the debt was left from a stagnant marriage, and there was no way I would let a man put me in the ground over this debt. It would get paid.
Scott called back later and told me he was willing to take me on just because of my attitude. Through the program, I was not able to have any loans, cheques, or credit cards. It took me 5 years to pay off $10,000 of various debts, all while supporting my four kids alone. Once that program was completed and my account was to be closed, Scott Hannah called me to congratulate me on finishing the program when he had so little faith at first.
Years later, I found out that Scott Hannah built the Credit Counseling Society of BC company and I was one of his first clients. He is the CEO and apparently my story is one of his first cases that is still used in their staff training. I didn’t have a whole lot of faith in myself back then either, but I found a way and my story there lives on.
Day of GRIT: #2 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: Sandbag-Sweat-Fest-Palooza F2
CONTEXT: I Reduce Everything to Code…
Years ago my kids went to see Ice Age with some friends. They came home and told me I was Scrat. Who the heck is Scrat? I called my bestie who was a movie buff. She laughed and agreed, yes, I am Scrat. Ugh. So who is Scrat? He is an ice age squirrel that is forever chasing an acorn through all sorts of trials and tribulations, often falling short of his goal. He has grasped the acorn many times, but it often seems to elude him. But he never gives up. He is on a constant quest for this acorn.
Why was I nicknamed Scrat in relation to this cartoon character? Well, raising four kids alone while working 2 jobs. Read that as dealing with 4 separate personalities, like errant ducks constantly running in different directions. I never quite had all my ducks in a row. They scattered often. Then working 7 nights a week at one point equals not much sleep for months on end. I am pretty sure I looked like Scrat then too! My ex husband used to tease me that I was often like that little girl in Exorcist with her head spinning. Great analogy, thanks. But unfortunately fitting with all I was handling then in family and work responsibilities.
In Toastmasters they teach you to find something unique about yourself that people will remember when introduced to you. I often joked and told people to remember me as the “crazy redhead”. Good for a laugh back then. But I am not crazy. I just handled a lot of responsibilities and life was chaotic.
My kids have grown, and I have matured in my own personal growth. I prefer to think now that I am “determined”, notsomuch crazy. Life is not so chaotic anymore. Or maybe I have just learned different ways to handle life’s curveballs. I still embrace “Scrat” as an endeared nickname of days past, yet I also think of Scrat living by a code of getting that acorn no matter what. And he has grasped that acorn many times. Now really, was it ever just one acorn he caught? Or were there a series of acorns he managed to catch and devour.
My acorns now are my bucket list goals. My responsibilities. Just any goal really. I know that I can attain any goals I set my mind to, because I have attained many acorns through my life.
Hi! My name is Scrat, and I live by my own code of attaining my chosen goals, no matter what.
Day of GRIT: #3 of 28
METRICS: Upper Body Complex Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Prioritize Asset Creation…”
In August 2019, one of my clients asked me point blank when I would start doing videos for my business because I have so much great information to share. I don’t think she knew then about my past experience of fainting on a live radio interview, or my fears of being on camera. But her question weighed on me. I knew I had to step out of my comfort zone and this was just another step to promoting my business and building assets. I worked on myself so much to get over my fears of the camera. I finally did get a YouTube channel going and a few videos up. I have learned through GRIT experiences how much benefit there is in creating assets to save myself from repeating myself over and over again. I am nowhere near where I want to be with these new goals, but I have at least started. I need to make this more of a priority.
Day of GRIT: #4 of 28
METRICS: Leg Day Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: #Obstacle Immunity Is My Endgame…”
My kids were growing up and I knew I had only a few chances left for a family road trip. Melissa was traveling across Canada so I only had the other kids and my granddaughter. We had all rearranged work shifts so that we could get on the road by 5 PM Friday for a 3 hour drive to Mount Robson. I got to work and started sorting mail. Supervisor came over and told me I was on forced overtime that afternoon. Can’t refuse, it’s in the contract. I was livid! Of all days that my number would be up. I resorted to get get er done as fast as I could. I got my own route done in record time. Then went back in for the overtime piece. I chose a piece close to my home so I had somewhat of an idea of the area. Unfortunately, the sorting case had mistakes in the sequence and the person pulling the mail for that route was not aware of the mistakes so just pulled as usual. This means that en route you can have a whole street pulled backwards in house number sequence. I was out on the street and had to go through bundles of mail to find the right house numbers and realign my mail in order of the route I was walking. There is no way to make those kind of mistakes go faster, no matter how experienced you are. Some bundles of mail were sent to the wrong relay box too.
In the midst of all this frustration, I didn’t notice that I walked past an open gate to someone’s back yard, a corner house. A pitbull came charging out from the open gate and was inches away from my butt, with teeth bared and barking like crazy. For the record, I love animals and I usually think of pitbulls as big teddy bears depending on how they are raised. Dogs can be like humans. Some are untrained and assholes. This was a mean one. Unfortunately for that dog, I was an already pissed off redhead. I turned on my heels and yelled at that dog so bad that he got scared and ran back in his yard.
Right then, as I was hyperventilating from that encounter, my cab partner called to see how I was doing out there. Flustered beyond belief, I relayed my less than heroic self defense measures from moments before. Thankfully she was done her day and showed up with a cab to help me sort out the clustered mess of mail and get it delivered to the right houses fairly quickly.
I got home about 6 pm to a house full of disgruntled family. My son had forgotten to take his meds that day so he was crawling the walls, my daughter was fit to be tied dealing with him. My granddaughter’s father was about to lose it too. We managed to get the van loaded and get on the highway. I kept telling everyone to shut up and buckle up because we are “going on a nice family vacation”. The 3 hour drive wasn’t too bad, but by 10 pm, in the dark I was just wanting to get to our destination. We were 20 minutes from Mount Robson campground when I got pulled over. Going a bit over the speed limit. The policeman saw how flustered I was so I relayed a bit of my day. He only gave me a warning, but the really memorable part was that he shone his flashlight into the back seat and told my son to settle down and listen to mom because I had had a bad day.
One we got our tent set up and got around a camp fire, all was well and we did have a wonderful family vacation with those obstacles left in the dust behind us.
Day of GRIT: #5 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher- Get Your Run On Palooza! F2
CONTEXT: My work matters…
I have the most amazing wonderful clients!! Busy day today with a full schedule of appointments. As Dr Brad says, “I just work here”. I am just a facilitator and I shift energy at the cellular level which allows my clients’ body to heal itself.
It is quite humbling when a client tells me the shifts they have experienced after a session. Chronic aches and pains subsided; more connection and clarity in their relationships whether romantic or platonic; digestive issues settling; and more clarity towards their goals and life purpose. Animals are such innocent souls and the feedback there can be so sweet in knowing that animals become more calm and affectionate too. They have feelings and can experience upsets very similar to humans.
I am always learning things as I go since everyone is unique and what I do “know” can come up in a different context for each client. It is fascinating to work with infertility issues and then have a client succeed with a full term pregnancy. I always say I am not a sap, but getting a “thank you” text from a client and pictures in the delivery room… Yup, that got some choked up tears in me.
I have had an agitated dog roll over in front of me for a belly rub, right in front of a stunned owner. All within 5 minutes of releasing the trauma from the dog’s rescue situation.
Yes, I Just work here, but my work matters Big Time.
Day of GRIT: #6 of 28
METRICS: Gun-Show-Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Hunt Leverage…”
This is one area I still need to work on for my own efficiency. There’s an old saying that the more you do, the more you can do. I proved this to be true years ago with all I juggled raising kids, working two jobs, and keeping up with kids activities and other responsibilities. I admit I have gotten very lax on taking on so much anymore after retirement. I like making my own schedule and doing my own thing.
I run my own business now and I think I have been doing quite well for myself, especially the last few years. But there is always room for improvement. I have learned a lot from my Story Athlete experiences and all the business related ideas here. I now understand more about leverage and assets, and my own story being my biggest asset. I had the right idea previously with my extensive website, but again, there is room for improvement.
My website is getting updated and overhauled this weekend, and I have arranged SEO assistance as well. By hiring out that chore, I can free up my time to tweak content rather than get frustrated with not being techie enough to figure out the back end stuff on my own. My web guru is a childhood friend, and the arrangement I have with him has been working out very well so far.
While I may not be super professional with all my leverage capabilities, I am a work in progress with the concept of the 1% journey.
Day of GRIT: #7 of 28
METRICS: Power-Circuit-Palooza F2 Finisher- Sprinterval F2
CONTEXT: “I Am the Traveler…”
ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!! That is my first thought about traveling. But alas, I used to go on several road trips in a year. Unfortunately, I went on only one road trip in 2020 and that was for a funeral.
Our context today is more about our life journey and the legacy we leave for our family through becoming our best and most heroic self. I have had a website since 1998 where I have shared collected quotes and poems, anything that meant something to me, along with a plethora of resources. This website has turned into an online biography of sorts with much more of my personal shared experiences as well as all my business services.
Life had been quite an interesting journey of lessons for me and I share my stories as an inspirational to others. I have experienced feeling trapped in a exhausting career for too many years, and now I am much happier living my passion of holistic wellness and energy balancing.
As I travel my journey to encourage others, I defer to Bon Jovi in saying “take my hand, we’ll make it I swear, Livin on a Prayer”
Day of GRIT: #8 of 28
METRICS: Sunday-Stretch-a-Palooza
CONTEXT: I get started…
Some of these daily contexts really trigger the Lesser Self side of me with instant sarcasm of “yaaaa riiiiight”. I have learned over time that I seem to be more of a sprint runner with my to do list, my bucket list, and my goals.
I was always a good Girl Guide with “being prepared at all times”. With that in place, when opportunities come up, I can close my eyes, pray lots and just JUMP, trusting things will fall into place. And they usually do for the most part.
But the most important step is to just take the first step and get started.
Day of GRIT: #9 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: Sandbag-Sweat-Fest-Palooza F2
CONTEXT: I Pay in Attention…
I remember growing up and often trying to get my mom’s attention. We didn’t have cell phones back then. But we did have a house full of teenage boarders plus my siblings. Plus my mom took on jobs working at the bank in the evenings for some extra cash. The family joke is that I was raised as the babysitter. That was just the way things were though. The eldest took on the most responsibilities.
As fate would have it, I too had 4 children, and alllllll of their neighborhood friends would congregate at our house as a safe zone. I worked full time to support my kids, kept them in activities to expand their learning, and always had food on the table for them. We managed on a shoe string budget. Previously I have mentioned how I got the nickname Scrat. Much more scatterbrained in my constant juggling abilities than being able to fully focus on any one thing for very long.
Even all these years later, I understand the sentiment of paying in attention, but I still need a lot of work in this area to just focus on the task at hand. This is more for business tasks. When I work with clients, they have my full attention. When it comes to family and friends though, might as well have a PJ party. I have been known to share stories and sentiments for hours on end. I am looking forward to summer and time spent in my back yard oasis with a BBQ and some friends.
Day of GRIT: #10 of 28
METRICS: Upper Body Complex Palooza
CONTEXT: “I Operate With Transparency…”
I have mentioned several times that my father was totalitarian. Born in Germany 1939. You can just imagine his own upbringing and then my upbringing with the repeated cycles of abuse in many ways. There was more. My father crossed a line a father should not cross with his daughter. His protection, and teachings, of “Daddy’s girl” went too far.
A couple times through my adult life I stood up to him and he promptly disowned me because you do not disrespect your father. Probably the most peaceful parts of my life actually. He had disowned me for 8 years after my second divorce because he blamed me for ruining a man’s life through divorce, twice.
At my sister’s wedding in 2012, she had asked me last minute to MC the wedding. Of course, my father stepped in to be the center of attention, so I shared the microphone with him and I doubt anyone was the wiser that there had been a rift between us. He fell sick soon afterwards. I did some distance energy healing work at my sister’s request, as he was living in Mexico. He pulled through and tried to rekindle somewhat of a relationship with me, but all of his previous “control” over me surfaced again and I was not accepting of it. He had had so much control over me thru my early life, that I became “honest to a fault” because I could not lie to him, at all. God help me if I ever did and he caught me! As I matured and healed my past, I did learn some level of discernment.
He kept sending me emails chiding me for not acknowledging him as my father on Facebook. He didn’t understand that he had to “accept” the request as listing family. He kept chiding me and commenting on my posts to the point that I made a post on Facebook September 1 2014. Now, I don’t usually post our dirty laundry on Facebook, so I posted a warning for anyone reading it, and proceeded to write somewhat eloquently WHY I don’t fully acknowledge him as my father. I alluded to the past. Long story short, that post, his replies and the comments went straight down the toilet in a huge way. That post opened up many discussions though. One of me “favorite” comments was from a high school friend that said “now I understand why you were a walking zombie in school”. Mhmm. That was me.
Many of our family friends, my childhood friends, my then co-workers, family friends from our hometown are ALL on Facebook. I remember walking into work the next morning to many looks. A few people came over to me and asked if I was ok, gave me hugs etc. I assured them I was quite fine. You see, anger and unforgiveness is a poison to our souls and I had long healed that past and forgiven him. I had received many private messages thanking me for being brave to expose the past, and to give others inspiration to uncover and heal their own pasts.
Three weeks later, on September 20 2014, my father passed away from complications with his pancreas, probably due to alcoholism he developed after I left home years ago and he lost his confidante. He had had a heart attack that afternoon and I was notified a few hours later. I cried profusely. I regretted that our last words were so misunderstood and so harsh. Yet I also acknowledged that my love of language, rocks, traveling, and all of my resourcefulness skills came from my father.
It does not matter the relationship we had with our parents. When they are gone, it hurts. They are our roots. Our souls chose them for this life journey. Our past experiences are the wounds that we must shine a light on in order to heal and to turn those experiences into our gifts through transparency.
Go ahead and ask me anything. I will share it all. Just be warned that you may not always want to hear my answers.
Day of GRIT: #11 of 28
METRICS: Leg Day Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: – “I Seek Clarity, Not Perfection…”
Energy balancing is an alternative holistic healing concept. People are more likely to recognize Reiki, Acupuncture, Healing Touch, and Chiropractic as alternative healing methods that are more recognized mainstream these days.
“Energy Balancing Practitioner” is a term that covers many of the techniques I use in my Ladybug Wellness services. Although most people understand the concept, they still have many questions that they often dont even understand the explanations until they actually experience energy balancing for themselves.
I cannot even count the number of phone calls, emails, and general inquiries that start off with “this may sound kinda weird, but can you help me with…”. Yes I probably can help with whatever issues you think are “weird”. Trust me, nothing is weird to me. With that assurance, many potential clients have an easier time to open up and try to put their issue into some words that I might understand.
What I do know for sure, is that the body energy and subconscious connections are a data bank of information. While I may not be perfect, I know that the body energy has an uncanny ability to bring forth clarity, and in turn, we can address “weird” issues and give the body a boost towards healing itself.
Day of GRIT: #12 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher- Get Your Run On Palooza! F2
CONTEXT: “I’m Willing to Suffer With & For Others…”
I do NOT like cold. At all. I was born in the wrong part of the globe in Northern British Columbia Canada where we pretty much have winter and cold through 7 months of the year. Why then would I ever take on a job to work outside in ice and freezing temperatures and constant weather changes. I actually really like that job for many years. Getting exercise outside, chatting with customers and always having a memorable corny joke to share.
All good things come to an end though and the job got toxic pushing us to exhaustion, even in -40 Celsius weather. I did that job to raise and support my family. I am thankful I retired 5 years ago.
With those experiences behind me, it is much easier now to suffer by choice with my GRIT team. Thankfully I don’t have to deal with cold anymore, I can choose to suffer with my team in other ways.
Day of GRIT: #13 of 28
METRICS: Gun-Show-Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Don’t Break the Chain…”
Back in 2010, I took a long road trip to attend an international Thought Field Tapping Techniques boot camp. This was a three day course where I earned my diagnostic level designation TFT-dx. We learned about meridians, toxins, and how to formulate a tapping sequence for clients.
At this course, one grounding technique exercise had 50 of us stand in a huge circle holding hands. They had a doll, called a Rosie Doll, that had metal in her hands. She was part of our large circle. To demonstrate both auditory and physical examples of grounding, as long we were all holding hands, Rosie would sing. We took turns around the room breaking the circle and Rosie would stop singing.
This whole demonstration was to show what grounding and “Earthing” does in keeping our body healthy. We have rubber soled shoes and cement walkways that disconnect us from the healing energies of the earth. When we connect our bare feet and hands to nature through dirt, soil, rocks, and trees; there is a scientific ion exchange that drains negative and depleted energies from our bodies and replenishes and rejuvenates us with fresh ions.
The result can be a noticeable change in our heart health and overall body health. This change can actually be read on a heart monitor machine. If I am going to be chained to anything in this world, I want to be firmed grounded to earth energies.
Day of GRIT: #14 of 28
METRICS: Power-Cicuit-Palooza F2 Finisher- Sprinterval F2
CONTEXT: ” I Call My Shot… ”
A lot of my friends think I am a go getter and that I am always busy. I always giggle a bit when they tell me that because, truth be told, there are times I stare mindlessly at a wall and zone out. My form of meditation, by the way.
Considering my past, I have accomplished much in my life. I blame my redhead Taurus nature for my feisty determination. I am also half German (read more stubbornness…), a lil bit Irish (daring and crazy), and an ex postal worker. That combination sends most people over the edge in wondering what to expect with me.
I have not been one to set a date on my goals, but if I get an idea in my head, get the heck outta my way. My modus operandi is to close my eyes, jump, and say a lot of prayers.
I have probably a few hundred road trips under my belt and a long list of concerts. I have driven a race car around a track, swam with dolphins and sting rays, scuba dived, sky dived, rode an elephant, learn to play simple drums, owned my own business a few times as an entrepreneur, and raised 4 kids on a shoe string so I learned to be very resourceful.
A lot of people have a pattern in how they get things done. For example, most people graduate, get married, then have babies. I did that completely backwards. I was a teen mom, got married at age 18, then graduated when I was 6 months pregnant with second child. I am kinda the example of what not to do in planning anything in any kind of structure. But I still get things done and accomplished. If I say I am going to do something, it will get done at some point. That is my version of calling my shots.
Day of GRIT: #15 of 28
METRICS: Sunday-Stretch-a-Palooza
CONTEXT: “I’m Not Afraid to Get Dirty…”
My father built my mom’s house back in 1970 and was the third house built in that subdivision. I grew up at the foot of Copper Mountain, surrounded by trees. We soon had a little community of kids along our street of sporadic homes. Across the street there was an empty lot that we all used to use as a playground. With a bit of imagination, we played “house”. Complete with logs for furniture, and branches for brooms and cushions. I made mud pie cakes for our “meals”. As life went on, there was more development and our empty lots were no longer our play forts. Our forest bike trails disappeared as well. We all grew up and many moved away, while others are still in that subdivision. My mother still lives in that home.
Several years ago, thanks to social media, many of these childhood friends connected again. Dean used to live right across the street from me, but was living in another town. Through our continued connection, I learned that his father had passed so Dean was moving back to our home town to take over his father’s home. Which ironically was the same place as another childhood friend. Kind of a musical houses kind of thing. Same neighborhood, just moved to different homes.
I was going to be heading back home to visit mom, but found out that Dean was not going to be in town that weekend. I got busy though and came up with a memorable idea. I made a mud pie cake, complete with some flowers for toppings etc, just like I had made 40 years ago in our childhood. I left this gift in his mailbox.
I received a message from Dean a few days later. He was quite impressed at the memory and had a good laugh over it.
Kinda funny having a middle aged woman digging in the dirt in my childhood neighborhood, just to illicit a funny and cherished memory for a dear friend. Totally worth it to get down and dirty for a good bittersweet laugh.
Day of GRIT: #16 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: Sandbag-Sweat-Fest-Palooza F2
CONTEXT: I Use Story to Escape the Trap…
I am alll about stories. I have mentioned several times that I started a website back in 1998 just to shared collected poems and sayings etc along with all sorts of resources. This website evolved into an online biography of sorts along with all my energy balancing services.
Social media has been great for a lot of things like interacting with my friends, an audience of sorts. With all the encouragement of Story Athlete and writing every day, and sharing my journey, I have developed many assets.
Life has been, and continues to be pretty interesting, as shown by my stories. Did you know that today is National Garlic day? I didn’t. Until someone posted about garlic and asked for opinions and experiences. I shared my experience in the form of a story that I have not been able to live down the last several months. Enjoy: http://ladybugwellness.ca/my-garlic-cleanse-adventure/
Day of GRIT: #17 of 28
METRICS: Upper Body Complex Palooza F2 finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Track the Inner Scorecard…”
I was probably age 8 or so, less than grade 3 anyway. Our house was at the foot of the mountain, and there was a trail through all the yards in the neighborhood to get to our school. We had a little system of all the kids streamlining along meeting up and filing towards the schoolyard.
One particular morning, I got to my friends house and they were playing in the yard. The next door neighbor teenager told us there was no school that day. So I hung out at my friends house all day. We played cars in the sandbox and had a grand time, all day.
The only problem was that we didn’t have cell phones back then, and I don’t remember why I didn’t confirm anything with my parents, but I didn’t go home til afternoon. I don’t remember much details. It may be a blocked memory which, I am sure it was blocked because this incident has come up many times in my energy balancing work as a traumatic event.
I just know that I got in a heap of trouble, and I NEVER, ever, ever skipped school again. Not even in high school when other kids tempted me.
Although traumatic, that event taught me to keep track of my inner score card. Or else.
Day of GRIT: #18 of 28
METRICS: Leg Day Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Root for My Teammates…”
I had such a confusing time getting in FB Workplace when I first joined Story Athlete. I am just not very good with new techie stuff. But I got it figured out, and was paired up with Adam Davidson and the rest of my team. Ironically, I found out that Adam and I shared a common background occupation so we had an inside understanding of that past hell lol. I am paired up with him on this month’s team again. He is a great encourager always talking in funny gifs.
Each month we get paired up with different team mates and I try to make a point of reading their contexts each day and also keeping up with private chats. Through a variety of contexts, I get to know my team mates and their perspectives on daily contexts. Sometimes I can relate to whatever they write, and sometimes I get to learn something new. I also figured out that you can “follow” team mates and other Story Athlete members so finding them and their posts is easier.
A few years ago, in an angel card reading session, I was told that I am a “very good conduit”. This is supposed to mean that I am very good at connecting people and information. Very true, I love networking and sharing. This is kinda the reason behind my website. I share tons of resources and information. I have friends and clients that look to me as a mentor, so it comes naturally for me that I cheer them all on in achieving their goals.
Day of GRIT: #19 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher- Get Your Run On Palooza! F2
CONTEXT: “I Optimize My Environment…”
Have you ever walked into a room and felt the heaviness and residual energy left from the people before you having had an argument or other upset? Energy is everywhere and those negative vibes can be felt detrimentally.
Everything is energy and everything has a vibration so inanimate objects can hold negative and detrimental energy. Second hand furniture can hold energy from other people and from the manufacturing plants, for example. Having raised my family on a shoe string, I have all sorts of garage sale finds, and some inherited antique furniture and other items in my home.
Considering how inanimate objects carry energy in this way, you can imagine the assortment of horrid energy that a pile of clutter can carry. I am not at all fond of clutter and I know the energy of clutter affects me.
For this reason, I am glad I can clear the energy of my home, the items I have in my home, as well as my own energy to optimize the environment in my home to be as peaceful oasis.
I am still working on myself to optimize ME to be more productive in my work space. I know I am easily distracted. I have optimized my phone and all sorts of notifications to turn off sounds and only have the most important schedule and obligation type notifications come through.
I am proud of myself that I have figured out effective methods of organizing client and business information, but my own to do list still needs work in optimizing my productivity. This is part of my 1% journey. I am way farther ahead than I was a year ago, yet still not quite where I want to be.
Day of GRIT: #20 of 28
METRICS: Gun-Show-Palooza F2 finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Maintain Constant Forward Motion…”
I am a rock concert fanatic. When I go to concerts, I secure the spot at the front closest to the rails and in line with the drums if I can. I am always enthralled with the energy, the lyrics, and the beats of the various songs played. Music is the language of the soul and I can often relate to the lyrics of a song as it usually comes from the musicians experiences and perspectives on life, turned into musical art.
We were fortunate enough to have some amazing organizers put on a 3 day concert event here in town, two years in a row. three days, eleven bands through the evenings. I was one of the diehards that secured my spot at the front and held on all three nights each time, only leaving my station briefly for food and a pee run.
Glass Tiger was one of the headliners. I have seen them live a few times. This time though, they played a new song they had not yet officially released. I was in the moment staring up at the singer Alan Frew, with tears streaming down my cheeks as I listened to this song that hit home in a big way.
I have been through much in my life. Sometimes I think I have screwed up royally. Sometimes I feel behind or that I have missed out on things. Then I think about how far I have managed to come in my life. Or the loved ones I have lost along the way. We only have one chance at life. Make it a good one and keep on moving forward, because we never go back…
“….There was a time when this world seemed so sane
Now it’s all inside out
Rearranged
What a shame
And no one stands up
No one takes the blame
But love will always shine
Through
You
Just by doin the things you do
Just by being you
That’s why I say
This is your life
This is your life now
Love will reach you somehow
Everything changes
You can never go back
You can never go back again….”
Day of GRIT: #21 of 28
METRICS: Power-Circuit-Palooza F2 Finisher- Sprinterval F2
CONTEXT: ” I Develop My Principles… ”
I seem to have lost a few friends lately. Online Facebook friends that were previously coworkers at my old exhausting day job. The job I retired from 5 years ago. I figured out a couple blocked me as well.
Social media is great for expressing opinions, sharing memes, and posting our latest feline entertainment antics. I am not always up on the latest techie changes. There have been a few times I posted a meme or article that did not sit well with some of my friends and resulted in heated discussions. It becomes quite apparent quickly who watches the evening news and not much else for global event information. Unfortunately not all my connections are open to other views that create cognitive dissonance in themselves so they lash out, or they leave.
I have recently discovered “stories” on Facebook, where you can post memes and videos for 24 hours. If anyone comments, it goes privately to my messages and does not create heated discussions on my Facebook wall. YAY!! I admit, I have taken advantage of this feature to post and share many memes that probably would make some closed minded people very uncomfortable.
I have developed many principles and opinions over my years on this Earth plane. Yes I worked a union job for 26 years, and I appreciated that job in supporting my family. One of my early courses in business entrepreneurship highlighted some statistics of the type of people who are least likely to change and make a better life for themselves. The three top categories in this study were heart attack survivors, prison inmates, and government/ factory workers. They are so entrenched in their ruts of life, that they apparently do not budge from their station in life. (And they certainly do not like having that fact pointed out!).
As much as I appreciated the feigned security of a government job, this course fueled my plans to get out while I was still young enough to enjoy life. I decided to go back to school and go for a degree. I did complete that bucket list goal, but only as far as a first level Associate’s Degree. The more courses I took in mainstream psychology, while also taking energy balancing and business related courses, the more I came to understand that I am not at all aligned with the boxes of systems and unions and technicalities. I fully believe in self empowerment and taking full responsibility for our own health, well being, and our life in general. Of course, I do believe we still need some systems, but I don’t believe any systems work efficiently until all the cogs in the wheel are fully functioning on their own.
We need to be fully sovereign before we can come together as a community. Otherwise the weakest links will cause the systems to fail and bring down the whole.
There was good reason that Ghandi said BE the change. We cannot change anything outside of ourselves. Period. We can only change ourselves, and in doing so we can hopefully and positively influence those around us to make their own changes towards self empowerment for the good of the whole.
I do believe that regardless of the unrest and division we see in the world today, we are moving towards a much higher vibration and happier global consciousness. Until then, as long as I develop my own principles and stand up for what I believe in, I may lose and few friends along the way.
Day of GRIT: #22 of 28
METRICS: Sunday-Stretch-a-Palooza
CONTEXT: “I Protect My Time…”
“The more you do, the more you can do”. This was what my Avon district rep told me when she enlisted me to do cold calling to recruit new consultants. I was still in high school, married, and had one child at that point. Yes I managed to take on this job working from home. I hated cold calling though and I didn’t last long with that job, but the sentiment carried with me ever since. Through raising kids and working full time, I did manage to get a fair bit accomplished in my life.
“God put me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind I will never die”. This was a poster I had on my locker at work for years. This is another sentiment that carried with me for years. Even though I have accomplished much, I always feel behind and I know I could do better if I could just focus on priorities and get some “assets” together.
All those working years were just mechanical in getting through the days in supporting my kids until they grew up and could support themselves. I honestly felt like a slave to the grindstone, and actually called myself a corporate slave and a pack mule. Once I retired, I had to do a lot of energy work on myself to get past that slavery feeling and to build up my own self respecting value in myself. Self confidence, self reliance, self esteem etc. I needed to focus on ME.
Part of that focus on me was realizing that my time is valuable. I had sacrificed so much towards my family, my kids, to outside efforts with friends and causes. The whole martyrdom syndrome, which can be to our own detriment if we are not careful in protecting our time.
These days, I do value my time a lot more. It took me a while to appreciate the convenience of an online scheduler where I can set my own hours that serves my clients in the best way, but also respects my time and my personal priorities in looking after myself and my family. Yes I have lost a few people along the way in staying true to my priorities in protecting my time, but I also realize that those who do not respect me or my time will fall away to make room for those who are more in alignment with me and my values.
I also now understand the need for assets, meaning writing and videos, made available to my clients so I am not answering the same questions over and over again, or having to explain myself over and over. This is definitely an area where I am a work in progress and often feel very behind. I am getting there through understanding my GRIT 1% journey, and what FlyLady calls baby steps.
Day of GRIT: #23 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: Sandbag-Sweat-Fest-Palooza F2
CONTEXT: I Strengthen My Connection…
A few years ago I had the privilege of hearing Gabor Mate speak at a conference. In my practitioner circles, he is widely renowned as an expert in drug addiction issues. Much of his work relates to the concept of disconnection being the root of many mental and psychological issues. One of the points he made in this conference was telling a personal story of how he was in his 50s when he finally realized his own experience that impacted his ADHD traits. He was born in Hungary and was raised by his grandmother for the first 3 months of his life. The disconnection from his mother that early in his development created all sorts of abandonment issues.
One of the first continuing education courses I took years ago was “Psychopaths and Serial Killers: The Criminal Mind”. Quite a fascinating course and quite telling when half of the class was filled with police officers. My take away from that course was understanding the background traits of a psychopath. These factors do not necessarily create a psychopath, but in most psychopathic killers, these traits are often the three top common denominators: Lack of maternal bonding, lack of a father figure, and a major trauma before the age of 6 years old. The first 6 years are crucial in psychological development. Just an added note, if you have a child who is cruel to animals AND wets the bed AND plays with fire, that is called the homicidal triad. That kid needs serious help before adulthood because it is easier to repair a child still in development than to fix an adult who is that far brain broken.
This sounds pretty pessimistic and a loss of hope. But there is hope. Dave Pelzer is an inspirational speaker now. His childhood experience at that time was “one of the worst cases child social services had ever seen”. His story is related in the book “A Child Called It”. Buckcherry did two tribute songs for Dave Pelzer called “A Child Called It” and “Rescue Me”. I have all his books, but I have only read “The Innocence of Youth”. He references the previous book but I have not brought myself to a point to read it, yet.
In “The Innocence of Youth”, Dave Pelzer talks about how he had been through a run of foster homes and had zero trust in anyone. It was a turning point for him when a family took him in and did not give up on him. He had a mentor at a crucial time in his teen development that changed his life. Connection was what saved him.
It is so frustrating in our current global crisis how people think that social distancing will save humanity from a biological bug crisis. Connection and acceptance and nature are what heals the mind and body. The current protocols are killing more people faster than the bug itself. People think that social distancing from grandparents will save them. No it won’t. There are so many studies out there that prove that babies and old people especially will DIE without human touch!! There is your science on saving your loved ones. CONNECTION!! It is a nature course of life that old people will die. Personally, I would rather die surrounded by family than to die of loneliness.
Of course I believe this bug is real and has some nasty effects on people. But I do not believe that the current mandates and protocols are the solution. I believe that if we take control of our own health and wellbeing to heal ourselves and to use preventative measures such as good nutrition and taking care of our own needs such as connection, we will be much farther ahead in contributing to the good of humanity on the whole. No one can change or heal something or someone outside of themselves. The sooner we learn this, the better for all.
Day of GRIT: #24 of 28
METRICS: Upper Body Complex Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I’m My Own Leader…”
Forty years ago I was such a wallflower you could not pull me out from behind a curtain. I was the least liked loser in the whole school. Then I took a Drama 10 class when I was in Grade 9. We did a play that involved a boy having to kiss the girl, me. Several days practicing, and the day of that scene, that boy didn’t show up for class. He had been teased so much. That scenario didn’t do well to boost my already low self esteem.
I got the lead part in another play, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. I was Fatima. Looking back, I can only laugh at my pathetic attempts at a stage scream and a stage faint when the thieves broke into my home. We did perform that play for a few other schools though.
Many other events happened in my life to push me out from that proverbial curtain. Still, I always tried to hide behind someone else, to play small. At one point, a friend asked me to go walking around town. We called it walking the bridges as there was a huge loop through our hometown. I quite liked walking and looked forward to it often, when I could find a friend to come with me. I felt so exposed walking this loop with so many other people around. But I could not always find a friend without conflicting schedules and other reasons that they were not available.
I finally got frustrated enough that I went walking alone. Grab some music, tune out the world, and just go. I found a new passion and no one around to stop me or interfere with my freedom. Once I got a taste of that kind of freedom, I soon started going on road trips alone. Highway Zen is a whole other sense of freedom.
When you have freedom and seemingly not a care in the world, people look to you for leadership as they want what you have. This kind of freedom I enjoy is not something that happens overnight though. Freedom is not a disregard for life and responsibilities. In fact, just the opposite. When we heal our inner issues and take control of our own health and wellness; when we develop routines to take care of our responsibilities; when we take care to be a good steward to our family and our earth, then and only then, can we sleep peacefully and enjoy true freedom.
This kind of true freedom is borne from being my own leader.
Day of GRIT: #25 of 28
METRICS: Leg Day Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I See Vulnerability As Strength…”
By now most people who are in any kind of self empowerment journey have seen Brene Brown’s video on the strength in vulnerability where she talks about being authentic and genuine which is the key to connecting with others.
I have been drawn to Lorie Ladd videos lately. No, I have not watched every one of them, but the few that I have watched have hit home in a big way. The general consensus of her videos is that there is a lot of division in the world and we need to stand in our own truths to get through this global consciousness shift. When we stand in our own truth and focus on Divine truth and inner peace, we can then accept that others are not “wrong” for standing in their truths, how ever that may turn out for them, that is their journey and their life lesson.
Lorie posted a video just last week which was a bit of a rant. She explained that some people were blasting her for not always being positive since she is an influential speaker. I love what she explained so succinctly. When we are authentic, we are not always positive. We are souls having a human experience and yes that means we get downright pissed off, we feel a whole range of not so positive emotions in all we are experiencing. And that is ok.
After all, do you really want to be influenced by a naive Pollyanna type person who refuses to feel into the yucky parts of life, or would you feel more inspired to look to someone who is vulnerable yet strong? There is strength in vulnerability because when you face your fears head on, there is nothing left to fear and nothing to stop you going forward.
I lived with nightmares for 20+ years of my life due to fears and repercussions of childhood trauma. I hid that part of me for too long. The best way to heal is to shine a fog lamp on that past, illuminate it all and fully exposed, completely vulnerable and then rise up in your healing. Because there is strength in vulnerability that you cannot understand until you stand in your own truth.
Day of GRIT: #26 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher- Get Your Run On Palooza! F2
CONTEXT: “I Welcome Your Rejection…”
I choose to live authentically, to speak my truth, and to heal my past in the best way I know how. Sometimes there are people who are drawn to me, and sometimes there are people who completely reject me, or even block me. That’s ok because then I know who is aligned with my truths and who are good people to have in my life.
Not everyone is ready or willing to stand in their own truths and live authentically, and I would rather surround myself with like minded souls than to waste my energy and efforts on those who reject me.
Day of GRIT: #27 of 28
METRICS: Gun-Show-Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: I reflect on my results…
What happens when you split up your GRIT obligations through the day and then get busy with everything else? Yup, just about crawled into bed after a long day and totally forgot to actually post my context even though my thoughts on context have been swirling in my brain since this morning.
Business is obviously going well because I have been busy. YAY!
Body still hasn’t actually shed any noticeable weight but I feel good inside and out and even my jiggly bits feel somewhat firmer.
Relationships, well… The more I stand in my truth, the more my relationships seem to shift. I have lost a few that I realized were not aligned with me and my truths, and then I have gained many more wonderful amazing people in my life. I have the best clients that a practitioner could ever ask for!!
Mind… what mind? Considering I just about headed to bed without posting, I still need work in this area to organize my brain more in handling my responsibilities more efficiently. That said, I have been a Story Athlete member for 13 months and have participated in the GRIT monthly challenge for 8 of those months. What I have noticed in myself is a lot of growth. Each days context prompt me to really think hard about my perspectives on many things. When I read my teammates posts, I can glean new knowledge and new perspectives that I can integrate into my own life.
I have come a long way this past year in all areas of my life. Thinking back on my very first GRIT post, there was a lot of swearing and frustration…. Now, I feel like I have come into my own as a rite of passage in my own maturity in all these areas of my life. Mind Body Business and Relationships. I am super grateful to this community in supporting me through this growth. Because when we have our tribe behind and beside us, nothing is impossible, it becomes “I’m Possible”!!
Day of GRIT: #28 of 28
METRICS: SATURDAY- Expect the Unexpected Palooza
CONTEXT: “I Expect the Unexpected…”
I love my work as an energy practitioner. I get to see miracles every day. Each and every session with my clients fascinates me. I have learned to expect the unexpected. I don’t need much for details to work with a client because their body energy tells me all we need to know to find and correct imbalances.
The other day I was working with a client and this client offered that he may have had some issues with old sports injuries. No other details. Yet in the session, he was quite fascinated that I pinpointed the exact location of one major injury and also connected the imbalances to issues with his father and his resulting self identification. Honestly, the way things came up, I was completely confused until the client told me that I was bang on with the information.
Another amusing session was with a fellow practitioner a while ago. I was led to my toxin chart under chemicals and had to figure out furniture polish. She didn’t have an issue with the furniture polish though, and it wasn’t a toxin. I just needed that word. A trauma of “loss of prestige” was associated with it and I also got a date from a few weeks prior. She started laughing and explained that she had been at a family members home and polished the coffee table, but when she stood up, leaning on the now slippery clean table, she slipped and took the crystal candy dish down with her. She felt awful for breaking this item and this came up in her energy field as an imbalance.
This is only a couple examples of what I have learned to expect in expecting the unexpected. I love that I don’t need to know details of a clients past upsets, yet I can assist them in resolving these imbalances and internal conflicts to give their body a boost towards healing itself. It is both an honor and a humbling experience to take myself out of the equation and to expect the unexpected for the benefit of others.