Day of GRIT: #1 of 28
UNIT: 8 # GRITmeisters
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: “Single-Set-Shoulder-Scorcher” F2
CONTEXT: “StoryAthlete Finds a Way…”
April 27 2012 I headed out on what was to be a 3 week road trip. I had left later in the day for the first 10 hour leg of driving, so about 10 pm it was getting quite dark. I had just gone through a crazy winding highway area through the Fraser Canyon, with the raging Fraser river on my right and mountains on my left.
Something didn’t feel right. So I steered left and right a bit. Hmmm… sounds “crunchy” on the right front. Now, I had just had my vehicle serviced before this trip, and my summer tires put on the day before. The service centre had said that I was good to go, but that this was the last season for those tires. Nothing should be wrong, and I was anticipating several events over the next 3 weeks.
I pulled over on a small straight stretch. I could see a lone street light way off in the distance. I got out and walked over to the passenger side front tire. Not much left of it actually. A single lone woman traveling along a dark winding highway late at night. Yup, a mild panic set in.
When I gathered my wits together, I thanked God that I actually had cell service right there as cell service is quite spotty along this mountainous highway. I called road side assistance and we had to figure out exactly where I was. I have travelled that highway numerous times through my life but it was only now that I figured out there was two other smaller highways on the other side of those mountains. Apparently I was about 10 km from the next gas station, but it didn’t open til morning. A one gas station town of probably population 300. I ended up waiting for roadside assistance to send someone from an hour away from a bigger centre of civilization.
The driver changed my tire, which pretty much fell off in a pile of rubber dust, then followed me along the highway til I got to a safe turn off near my family’s home.
The next day I found a tire centre and got new “shoes” for my vehicle. My vacation as amazing. I visited my grandkids, visited childhood friends I had not seen in 36 years, went to Van Halen and Rammstein concerts, and my sister’s wedding.
This trip was a good example of why I always travel with roadside assistance insurance, and any safety gear I might need. Because a Story Athlete always finds a way to accomplish goals in life, even if it is 3 weeks of fun!
Day of GRIT: #2 of 28
METRICS: lower body circuit palooza F2 finisher F2
CONTEXT: it never ends…
Personal growth is an ongoing journey. Life itself is a journey. We can choose our hard and as Viktor Frankl surmised, we always need to have hope. Something to look forward to. A goal. Time with a loved one.
Whatever we look forward to is always a journey that never ends.
Day of GRIT: #3 of 28
METRICS: Deck of Cards Palooza F2
CONTEXT: I know the importance of a tribe…
One of the after effects of trauma and abuse is a sense of “I can do it myself, I don’t need anyone”. This totally makes sense if you have had your personal boundaries completely violated. You just end up with a lot of feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and a sense of injustice that is very hard to move past.
Eons ago, I attracted all the wrong kind of people into my life, and the resulting drama was proof of my lack of boundaries. Through my personal growth journey of unlearning and healing all of that traumatic past, I was able to develop more self respecting boundaries and to allow numerous wonderful souls into my life. These amazing beings are my tribe.
Many of these like minded individuals are here with me in GRIT. I know how important it is to me to keep the connections strong between me and my GRIT warrior friends, because they really are my tribe!
Day of GRIT: #4 of 28
METRICS: Sunday-Stretch-a-Palooza
CONTEXT: “I Am a Marketer ..”
While I understand way more now about selling “me” and “my why” in promoting my business, I still struggle with the whole idea of “marketing”. I particularly despise MLM type marketing and the proprietary hype that goes with it in making their consultants and representatives think they have a viable independent business. Sure, there are some great products out there, and some great reps too. But it is all proprietary and, dare I say, cult-ish. I love what Ryan said about how MLM spiels are the fastest way to repel and lose friends. Just icky and pushy and sheep-ish too because people want to believe all the hype they are being fed about that one product that is the best of the best when sometimes it really isn’t. Yes I obviously still need to work through my own issues of being extremely bitchy and shutting down a MLM spiel conversation immediately.
On the other hand, every business starts out with an idea and every entrepreneur must find the best way to market with honesty and integrity, and to sell through a heart centred mindset to have good success. When a business is based in greed and manipulation, it has a very low vibration and alignment with abundance and prosperity.
My modus operandi is to align myself and my business with the vibration and frequency of Divine success, abundance and prosperity, then let word of mouth and genuine reputation do some marketing for me. Then I am more apt to hire someone else to do the advertising parts for me.
Day of GRIT: #5 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD + Finisher: Posterior-Chain-Power-Up F2
CONTEXT: I Hold the Pen…
I reached out to a friend the other day, just to check in and also to offer a compliment that this person is one of my pace cars. Someone I truly admire for accomplishments in life, for being outspoken in the community, and for a hilarious sense of humor as well as inspiration.
Knowing that they having been going through a “finding and re-evaluating self” phase, it was not completely a surprise that they were a bit humble about the compliment and feeling like they weren’t much of an inspiration right now. I explained more about our GRIT concept of “pace cars”, and I think my explanation and compliment were then better received.
I’ve been there in that finding self phase, a few times in my life. Moving from the feigned shelter of my childhood home. Marriages. Divorces. Children and growing families. Loss of loved ones whether through a misunderstanding and terminated friendship or an actual death of a loved one.
I think we go through this mortality check, reality check, re-evaluating of life any time we face a loss or a major change in the course of our life’s direction. It is certainly not fun, but it is seemingly necessary in our personal growth path.
The more I grow, the more I understand, the more I look back on the impressions I have made on others through my own life. Were they good impressions, or not? I know I have always had a blunt and straightforward personality. My redhead feistiness and determination, or Taurus bullheadedness, is not always taken well by others.
If I am to be a leader, I would hope I would have made good impressions. Yet I also know that anyone who gets into psychology usually has a pretty messed up past that they are trying to sort out in their efforts to put that past behind them and to heal. This is why I appreciate energy healing that can find the root imbalances and hidden non beneficial beliefs we have acquired through poor experiences. Beliefs of feeling not good enough, of unworthiness. Those beliefs that keep us stuck in the past, often under a boulder of shame.
Through all of this re-evaluating of myself and of my own life, I realize that I am the only one who holds the pen, and I can write and re-write the chapters of my life until I am ready to close the door to that past and to create a brighter future. Ok, we cannot really change the past, but we can change our perception of the past as to whether we ruminate in the mire of trauma, or whether we shine a light on that puppy and turn it into our gift to serve others and to move forward in our own Divine power.
I have learned that not every soul from our past will come forward into our future with us. Friends are here for a reason, a season, or a life time. Sometimes I am sad to realize that certain people from my past have not continued on a similar path as I have been on. Some have come back into my life later on when our life lessons paths merge once again for a time.
I have also learned that there are always new souls that come alongside us at key times and often they are much more aligned and synchronized with our current path.
I am truly blessed with the souls I have surrounding me currently. I have re-evaluated and re-written my life to be a better pace car for others, and to create a better future for myself. All because I hold the pen!!!
Day of GRIT: #6 of 28
METRICS: 5K Day Palooza F2
CONTEXT: I am brutally honest…
“Don’t be doing anything you don’t want to be caught doing when Jesus comes”. This was a sentiment drilled into me through my growing years. All those years in Sunday school. Going to church 3 times on Sunday when I visited my grandma. In Christian private school, we got demerits any time we stepped out of their lines and broke the strict rules. To this day I still push in my chair every time I leave the table. Ok, some of these sentiments were a good thing to grow up with in guiding my sheltered little soul, but when you couple all this with a totalitarian father, and a major childhood trauma, the result is a whole lot of naivety and no boundaries when it comes to honesty. That isn’t necessary a bad thing per se, but in this big old cruel world, some tact is necessary to survive and also to not be considered a complete fool.
I remember many years ago a lady who would come into the post office regularly. She would do birth charts for a hobby, and some of my coworkers convinced me to let this lady do a birth chart for me. There was one day she came straight up to my counter and said “So, what you see is what you get, eh?”. “Huh?” She explained that most people have some sort of “mask”. Basically it is like a face they show to the world, to their loved ones, to strangers, etc. She went on to explain that the birth chart line for this mask was so thin on my chart, it is like I don’t have a mask. I treat everyone the same whether they are a king or a pauper.
That is true of me. I think. But then again, I have been questioning a lot lately what kind of impression I make on others.
Examples:
Back in 1996, my sister Danya, and I, lived in an apartment. My sister met another tenant in the laundry room and we all became fast friends. After this friendship had blossomed for a few months, my dear friend Deb admitted that the laundry room meeting was not the first time she had met me. She said the first time she met me was actually one time she had come in to the post office to my counter and her first impression was that I was a fucking bitch. What??????? She knew after a few months that impression was a little off from my happy go lucky little self.
Around the same era of party days with my sister, there was a fellow named Mark with whom I developed a friendship that consisted mainly of sharing the latest jokes and trying to one up each other with the best laughs. When I moved away from my home town, I gave Mark my email and my website, which at that time was a collection of poems, quotes, and inspirations. A few months after I had settled into my new home, I received an email from Mark. He said he had gone through my website and was quite impressed. He said all the years he had known me just out partying and sharing jokes, he never realized how deep of a person I was.
Years later, I am now a Reiki Master and energy healer. I find root causes to issues and balance those for myself, my clients and my family in order to find inner peace. You know, all that woo woo relaxation and happiness kind of stuff.
I am also a rock concert fanatic, I love pyrotechnics and lightning storms, and blow up kind of stuff. I love behavioral science and crime shows. Kinda a harsh contrast to all my woo woo happy stuff.
I have become extremely opinionated and brutally honest in my later years. I encourage self empowerment and critical thinking above all else in taking accountability and responsibility for our own integrity and actions rather than blindly following the crowd.
Yet, I still am not fully consistent with being brutally honest with myself. I am conscious though of the impressions I make, but I am still a work in progress. Each day is a new day to endeavor to be a better person than the day before. This is my path of my 1% journey.
Day of GRIT: #7 of 28
METRICS: Upper Body Palooza F2 and Finisher: Bicep Blaster F2
CONTEXT: “I Challenge My Beliefs…”
The more I heal, the more I evolve, the more I learn, the more I challenge my beliefs. As an energy balancing practitioner, I am so grateful for the knowledge and ability to find and clear any non beneficial beliefs I have acquired through my life.
Where the heck did I pick up the idea that I was not good enough? Not pretty enough? Not smart enough? That I cannot achieve my dreams? That I am only second best? That I deserve to be mistreated or to stay in dysfunctional and abusive situations?
Who made those silly “rules” in my head? Through the human life journey and all our experiences, we acquire these beliefs constantly. But not all are beneficial to our well being.
Yup, those WERE beliefs that I have found and released on myself over the years. And many variations thereof as well. These hidden beliefs affect the energy we project out to others, and in turn affect how others treat us, and what we attract into our lives.
Knowing this information, then acting on correcting these beliefs and energies within myself has greatly improved my life in many aspects. I definitely challenge my beliefs regularly!
Day of GRIT: #8 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD, Finisher- Single-Set-Shoulder-Scorcher F2
CONTEXT: “I Won’t Let My Humility Hold Me Back…”
I had all my boundaries violated at an early age. That is the wrong kind of humble to grow up with. Years later I think I have grown into my redhead feistiness and I am pretty sure I don’t come across as “humble” to some people.
Yet those who get to know me, or those who work with me as clients, know that I am just a facilitator and often defer to Dr Brad’s line of “I just work here”. I see miracles every day in the work that I do, and I am pretty sure this is because I am more the type to close my eyes, jump, and pray lots to get anywhere in life. I don’t let anything hold me back when I get something going in my Taurus determined mindset.
Day of GRIT: #9 of 28
METRICS: Lower Body Circuit Palooza F2 Finisher- Abs F2
CONTEXT: “I Won’t Let My Heart Be Hardened…”
In order to be in the best frame of mind to work with my clients, I work on myself daily with all my energy balancing modalities. With Emotion Code, we can find and release energies that trap around our hearts, called a Heart Wall. A heart wall can prevent us from giving and receiving love, and hinder us from a healthy happy functional life.
Years ago, my outlook was very different after getting divorced. I was quite jilted and cynical. I am so glad that I found ways to heal and to move forward, and to clear all the non beneficial energies that would have hardened my heart.
Life can be, and is, amazing!
Day of GRIT: #10 of 28
METRICS: Deck of Cards Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Can Handle Boring… “
CJ’s context about the text he has to read reminded me of a class I signed up for years ago. Human Anatomy and Physiology. Oh man I loved the lectures! So fascinating. Then we got to the first lab. The instructor held up a femur and explained that there are 12 different Latin names for each bump and ridge on a femur and we had to know all of them. He went on to explain that we would be better off taking a first level Russian language class than learning all we must learn for terminology in that class. Plus, if we failed the lab, we failed the course. I wanted to cry. I did cry actually.
I had signed up for that course wanting to learn more about the human body as it relates to all my energy healing techniques. The course is a prerequisite for the nursing program. I had gone back to school for “fun”. Unfortunately, my brain could not retain enough information to pass exams. I ended up auditing that course so if wouldn’t affect my grades.
I ended up taking many other courses that added to my skills and knowledge. It wasn’t that the course was boring, it was my own comprehension and exam anxiety that hindered me there.
I love my network of practitioner friends, and business entrepreneurs. We just seem to have our own language and quirks that “normal” and or “average” people just don’t understand. We’re nerds in our own way. To some, that may seem boring, but I am completely enthralled with anything science, energy, psychology, and spirituality. I can handle boring no problem, just as long as I don’t have to take exams.
Day of GRIT: #11 of 28
METRICS: Sunday-Stretch-a-Palooza
CONTEXT: “I Sample the Dream…”
I am really not sure what to say here. I know I have created my life. I can’t say I have “sampled” my dreams beforehand in the physical sense, but I have definitely envisioned a goal or achievement of some sort, then it seems when I give up or better term “surrender” to letting the universe lead and turn my dreams into reality.
Quite often some bucket list goal, or material item has shown up in my life. Something I had wanted, but forgotten about. I can’t explain it in words, but I am glad things work out this way for me. I live in synchronicity. I think the more in tune we are with our thoughts and our heart space, the more in the flow we become, and the easier miracles unfold for us.
Day of GRIT: #12 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: Posterior-Chain-Power-Up F2
CONTEXT: I Can’t Outsource GRIT…
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. This is such a simple yet profound concept and still not everyone understands the magnitude of this application to our daily lives.
There are rites of passage in the development of humans that we just cannot describe fully or understand for ourselves until we go through the learning process, all by ourselves.
Try to describe to someone the feelings and aspects of first love, of marriage, of sex, of childbirth, of losing a loved one to divorce or death. You cannot describe it at all. Plus, everyone experiences and feels differently in our unique character.
We can translate all this to the feelings of accomplishment and of self reliance and self sufficiency when we learn skills on our own. When a child finally walks for the first time without falling, or rides a bike down the street without training wheels, the feeling of accomplishment and elation is indescribable!
With all this taken into account, it is easy to understand that we cannot outsource GRIT. Story Athlete context writing and our daily workouts are designed to build our inner resolve and you just cannot do that through someone else doing the work for you. Well, I mean, you could get someone else to do it, but where is the integrity in that? And who gets the benefits from the work? The person who does the work.
It is wonderful to have a tribe and a community for support and encouragement, but the real benefit is learning to ride the waves of life all on our own without training wheels. That is why it is called a PERSONAL growth journey.
Day of GRIT: #13 of 28
METRICS: 5 K Palooza finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Expand My Proficiency…”
This past year I have been blessed with working with some amazing clients. I have been doing this work several years and have taken many courses to learn and expand my knowledge and skills. My years of experiences in my own personal growth and in working with clients is where I really learn the most valuable lessons that I would not learn in a book as these are things that must be experienced to understand.
While there is some science to explain energy healing, much of it is intuitive and spiritual, and a whole lot of miracles I cannot explain at all. I am constantly learning, constantly in awe, and constantly fascinated by the work I am so honored to do. By keeping an open mind and being open to miracles and the unexplainable, I expand my proficiency in working with clients and being of the best service to them that I can possibly be.
Day of GRIT: #14 of 28
METRICS: Upper Body Palooza F2, Finisher: Bicep Blaster F2
CONTEXT: “I Find Gems in the Journey…”
CJ’s reference to the postal workers credo made me cringe with horrid memories of forced overtime in inclement weather. But having that past experience, I know I have the GRIT to face obstacles and find some way to let my brain go to a happy place while my physical body just gets the job done.
Thankfully those days of forcing are long behind me and I can just bring forward the inner resolve I know I have to face challenges in my future, knowing full well I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.
When these challenges are a choice, I can find the gems in the journey. In one of my courses, we had a motto “Zen, and then the laundry”. In that sense, I would be the one finding a $10 bill in the washing machine. Finders keepers!!
Day of GRIT: #15 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher- Single-Set-Shoulder-Scorcher
CONTEXT: “I Accept the Consequences…”
When I first joined GRIT, I was absolutely panicked that if you don’t post daily, you get booted. WHAT???????? That is harsh!! Now almost a year into being a Story Athlete member, I understand that Story Athlete is the community where I found my tribe, and GRIT is the monthly challenge of a daily workout and a context writing.
Ya, ok it is true that you can get booted out of GRIT challenge if you don’t post within the 24 hour deadline, but you’re not booted out of your membership in Story Athlete, or out of the community of wonderful like minded souls.
The challenge is to grow our mind, and body, and our integrity with showing up for our team and not quitting on ourselves or them.
But life happens too, and the Story Athlete tribe understands this. Sometimes we might get so busy that we forget to post. I have had days like that where I split up the workout and context writing, then got busy with other things and almost headed to bed without posting. Maybe some family emergency, or medical issue comes up, or a natural disaster. All things out of our control. It doesn’t mean we get booted out of the community, it just means we defaulted on one of the rules, usually inadvertently, but still we accept the consequences and are welcomed back into the challenge for the next month. There is even a ghost protocol for those outside the challenge that still want to keep up in their own ways.
Nonetheless, I am no longer as panicked or think of this rule as harsh. It builds our integrity and I accept the consequences if I ever happen to miss posting by the deadline.
Day of GRIT: #16 of 28
METRICS: Lower Body Circuit Palooza F2 Finisher- Abs F2
CONTEXT: “I Embrace Uncertainty…”
I raised 4 kids alone, 4 kids with 4 different personalities. The biggest thing I learned was to embrace uncertainty. You just cannot predict anything in an uncertain world. Always prepare for the worst scenario as well as you can, and then hope for the best outcome. It is the only way to handle lifes’s curveballs.
Day of GRIT: #17 of 28
METRICS: Deck of Cards Palooza E2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: ” I Refuse To Be 1-Dimensional… “
When I first moved to Prince George back in 2001, I worked night shift at the sorting plant for a year. Because I didn’t get much financial help from my kids’ father, I took on a second job on the weekends working in a nightclub. Then, having just come out of a nasty divorce, I got into local fashion show modeling to boost my own self esteem.
I transferred out to mail carrier in January of 2002. Between all the kids’ extracurricular activities, and these completely different aspects of my life, there were so many times that people would run into me downtown and recognize me but could not figure out if they had seen me as a mail carrier, a beer girl, a model, or Chantelle/ Melissa/ Rae-Lee/ or Jared’s mom.
Then I got to be known as the Rockin Postie weather report on the local rock radio for always calling in and bugging the DJ’s about the weather reports lol.
Now, as an energy practitioner, alllllll my friends let me know that they thought of me when they saw a ladybug. Guess what I get for gifts too?
Each of these aspects of my life have afforded me unique experiences and a whole lot of interesting stories. All because I refuse to be one dimensional.
Day of GRIT: #18 of 28
METRICS: Sunday-Stretch-a-Palooza
CONTEXT: “I’m Already Qualified…”
Thank God it is only Stretch day today and I did that earlier today because this afternoon we had to say goodbye to our 19.5 year old Zoomer cat.
We watched Zoomer being born, and thankfully we were all able to surround him with love and hugs as he passed, and without having to make the choice to euthanize him. We knew this day would come, but not like this. And not now. We’re never prepared for death, and I do not deal well with it, at all. However, I have had to learn to deal with it in losing my son in law 2 years ago, and my dear friend Andy back in 2014. Through all my spiritual stuff and energy balancing, I now reluctantly have the skills to assist souls to pass peacefully.
Ironically, I was on a class seminar today learning more about spiritual medical assistance and about death and transition when I got a call that someone had run over our 19 year old cat’s back leg.
My daughter had just left and thought Zoomer headed to the back yard, his little oasis. When I ran outside, he was hiding under my van but stumbled out when I called him. He was so frail already.
Thank God we were able to get a vet emergency call to look at him. He was just too frail to survive this. Thank God that lady witnessed and called me. Thank God my dear friend Sonya had just taken an animal communicator course yesterday and was able to talk to Zoomer for us to let him know the angels were with us all.
Thank God I was able to do my own spiritual assistance as well in helping his soul pass peacefully. Thank God my son just happens to be home from camp. Thank God my oldest daughter was able to come and we were all able to spend time with him alone in the vet office. They were kind enough to allow us that time with him.
We knew this day would come sooner than later with his age. He has had a good life and was so loved. I don’t like dealing with death, and yet I am thankful that I have the honor of the gift of assisting souls pass peacefully.
I am already qualified, not necessarily in areas that I want to be, but I am glad I can do what I do.
Rest in Peace our Sweet Zoomer “Zaboomafu”. October 27 2001 – March 21 2021.
Day of GRIT: #19 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: Posterior-Chain-Power-Up
CONTEXT: I See Hardship as Opportunity…
There have been many times through my life that I have turned hardship into stepping stones towards furthering my goals in life. This really is the only way to grow.
However, in the very midst of hardship, it is hard to see the light. Sometimes we need to take time to grieve, to rest, to rejuvenate before we can refocus, regroup, and regain our strength.
Today is one of those days. Our family is grieving the loss of our dear furbaby who has been a fixture in our lives for more than half of my kids’ lives. Today is a rest and refocus day. I may see hardship as an opportunity most days. Just not today.
Day of GRIT: #20 of 28
METRICS: 5K Day Finisher f@
CONTEXT: “I’m a Defender…”
A few years ago, my son came upstairs from his man cave and told me that the police called and said they had a report that my son had been caught shoplifting at the mall that morning. He hadn’t been anywhere. I took him down to the police station to try to figure out this mishap.
Turns out some jilted former friend from the summer before had made a false report just to try to get my son into trouble. The police admitted that the security video didn’t show or support the claim, and the person who made the report had a pretty poor reputation to start with.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, I assured the policeman that I would be the one straightening out my kids before they ever have a chance to get involved. I raised my kids with the parental threat that “I brought you into this world and I will darn well take you out too”. Thankfully I have never had to act on that threat as this was the only time out of my 4 kids that there was a report against them, and a false one at that.
My family can depend on me because I am a defender of our morals, values, and security.
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Day of GRIT: #21 of 28
METRICS: Upper Body Palooza F2 Finisher: Bicep Blaster F2
CONTEXT: “I Commit to the Process…”
Raising four kids and working full time was my excuse way back when I could not seem to keep up with Mount Washmore or with keeping the house tidy by any stretch of the imagination. I committed to at least having clean dishes back then.
My kids were teenagers when I came across FlyLady.net. The site looks like it is about housework, but really, it is about Finally Loving Yourself (FLY). Marla promotes establishing simple 15 minute routines and baby steps to accomplish just about anything in life.
I managed to enlist my kids to have some chore routines to be responsible for themselves and to take a load off me. I had been so used to sacrificing me and my elusive “me time” to cater to all their needs. It was time for self care which in turn sets an example to my children that my needs are just as important and teaches them to be responsible for their own needs as well.
I must have done well enough making an impression because the house we were renting sold to the first viewer. They were shocked to realize we had 7 people, 6 cats and a pet squirrel living in that house.
To this day, I have committed to the process of simple routines just a few minutes a day that help me keep my home, and my life, in some semblance of order, which in turn affords me a sense of freedom as well.
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Day of GRIT: #22 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher- Single-Set-Shoulder-Scorcher F2
CONTEXT: “I Embrace Active Change…”
I am a redhead Taurus, half German, little bit Irish and an ex postal worker. What about change???? That kinda goes directly against my stubborn nature! I have never been one to embrace change and transition very well at all. Just lemme alone, ok?
However, as I have grown and matured, I have also let go of the need to stay stuck in misery and trauma, and all of the too familiar past. Instead I have redefined stubbornness as determination. This distinction has allowed me to embrace change as growth.
I follow several practitioner forums to glean all sorts of new information. I take new and upcoming courses to further enhance my knowledge and skills. All this embraces change and services my clients in the best way I possibly can.
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Day of GRIT: #23 of 28
METRICS: Lower Body Circuit Palooza F2 Finisher- Abs F2
CONTEXT: “My Integrity Is Not For Sale…”
I didn’t get much help from the kids’ father financially, so on top of working 5 nights a week at the processing plant, I took on a second job at a local night club on Friday and Saturday nights as the beer girl by the front door. Beer was $4.50. Yes, I wore a boxer shorts bikini and I got lots of tips. Often customers would hand me a $5 and tell me to keep the change. Fifty cents each adds up when you sell a few beer through the night.
It was enough to get by. I would wake up early Saturday morning and take my kids out to yards sales. Second hand clothes and toys. We got really good at spotting bargains.
A dear family friend, who was my “other mother” for most of my life, was worried about me working in the nightclub. Thankfully I had my angel team watching out for me during that two years working there. The staff at the time that I worked there were like a little family and I am still friends with some of them to this day. I was also naive and oblivious to a lot of the shady goings on around there, and I learned much later on that the doormen kept a special eye on me for my safety.
I did have a little system of tossing ice in the air strategically to alert the doormen of any trouble brewing around me that they need to address for everyone’s security. The nightclub was often crowded and super loud and busy.
I remember one particular night that I noticed a wad of money on the floor right close to my beer tub. I managed to get my foot and my high heels stretched out enough, and not noticeably, so that I secured the wad and dragged it over to me and picked it up. It was $300.!! Oh what I could do with $300 in groceries right then for my family!
The evening went on and no one was the wiser that I had a gold mine in my pocket.
I got pretty good at watching the crowd for any unusual bumps and glances between the testosterone filled atmosphere and I could alert the doormen if security was an issue. I noticed a young fellow looking pretty skittish and worried and looking through the crowd, and all over the floor.
When he came by my beer tub, I asked him if he was ok. He was beside himself with panic and told me that he lost a wad of money worth $300. He had searched through the whole place and could not find it. There was no wallet or way to identify the wad of money, but I explained to him that I had picked up a wad of money, and I handed to him the $300 I had picked up. He was practically in tears profusely thanking me and I think he gave me a $20 out of it too.
At the end of the night, we always had a staff debriefing kind of chat. It was then that I usually learned the crazy stuff going on through the night that I did not see from my vantage point at the front door. In my naivety I mentioned the skittish guy and that I had given him (back) the wad of money I found. Several of my coworkers chided me that I should have kept my mouth shut and kept the money, it was probably drug money anyway.
Sure, that young fellow may have made some poor choices in life, maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. I do know that that is an unkind world when debts are unpaid, and not something I ever want to be a part of myself. My own integrity felt better to give the money to the fellow rather than keep it for my kids. For me, that was just the right thing to do.
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Day of GRIT: #24 of 28
METRICS: Deck of Cards Palooza F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Help Myself… “
As an energy practitioner, I feel it is imperative for me to consistently work on myself so I can be in my best frame of mind and health to serve my clients. I follow several different practitioner forums and I am constantly picking up new ideas.
My nightly ritual is to work on myself and my family before going to sleep. It is absolutely the best way to ensure a restful sleep and a refreshing morning.
Alternatively, another way that I help myself is to require that the clients that I work with are also on board with doing their own work on their own healing path. Respectable boundaries and a professional client practitioner relationship are imperative in making sure that a client will experience improvements in their own wellbeing.
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Day of GRIT: #25 of 28
METRICS: Sunday-Stretch-a-Palooza
CONTEXT: “I Eliminate Inefficiencies…”
Although I took many of my courses years ago, and I have been running my wellness business since 2011, I didn’t actively push my business until I retired from my exhausting day job in 2016. After that, I still wasn’t on the techie bandwagon very much, and I also still needed to work on ME to be of better service to my clients.
In May of 2019, I was doing quite well with a full calendar. The only problem is that I was booking appointments manually with many international clients. And many different time zones. One particular day, I had 5 different appointments in 5 different time zones. And I screwed up on one getting our time zones backwards. Thankfully I was still able to fulfill the appointment, just skipped my dinner time break. It was then that I invested in an online scheduler and my calendar has been a breeze ever since in allowing clients to book in any time within my reasonable schedule limits. I dont have to worry about time zones, and this efficiency has allowed me to devote more time to my clients and other obligations.
I have since learned more efficient ways of sorting email communications so that I can have effective communication with each individual client, and I have learned how to make videos for my YouTube channel.
While I still don’t feel I am really on board with all the techie bandwagon advances, I am sure a lot more efficient than I used to be. And this translates to a better life for me and my family when I can serve my clients in the best ways I know how.
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Day of GRIT: #26 of 28
METRICS: 12 MOD Finisher: Posterior-Chain-Power-Up F2
CONTEXT: I Strive To Be a Superior Communicator…
The greatest distance between two people is misunderstanding. There is nothing worse than being misunderstood and having the cavernous divide between you and a loved one. Or a client. Or any other human being for that matter.
Years ago I took a Business Communications course. There was one thing that stood out for me and has been useful to me all these years in understanding communication.
There are 6 stages to communication:
1. First person must think of a message to communicate
2. First person must think of a way to communicate the message thru words, body language, tone, symbols, writing, taking into consideration the intended recipient and how the message might be received.
3. First person must communicate the message to the second person
4. Second person receives the message
5. Second person must interpret the message based on their unique comprehension and understanding
6. Second person responds to the message and acts on it
When you break down the communication process like this, and consider that every single person is completely unique in their experiences that would affect their communication skills and comprehension, we can easily see how communication can break down and cause misunderstandings. It is thru the collective efforts of two people that communication can be discussed until each person understands the relayed messages in the manner in which they were intended to be received.
Unfortunately, I cannot control other people and their perceptions, so it is up to me to learn and be open to other types of communication.
An example: When I took professional modeling courses, we learned that if you are chosen to do a commercial, you are required to do exactly what is in the script. Pick up a product with this hand or that hand etc. Why? Because if that commercial is aired in a different country and culture, they may have different symbolisms on using which hand. There is a particular country where it is extremely offensive to use the “wrong” hand to shake hands, because the other hand is used to wipe your butt.
I had a very long bumpy road to confidence in speaking. I finally joined Toastmasters for 3 years. I loved it. That experience seemed to install a neon sign on my forehead that flashes “pick me first” in a group setting where someone is required to speak. I am not thrilled with that neon sign, but I have been learning to use it to my advantage to strive to be a better communicator.
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Day of GRIT: #27 of 28
METRICS: 5K Day F2 Finisher F2
CONTEXT: “I Reflect on My Results…”
A year ago, reluctantly, I joined Story Athlete and GRIT, not realizing that GRIT is the monthly challenge and Story Athlete is my membership where I found my tribe. I was ALL IN for a few months, then took more than a couple months off. I missed GRIT though, so I jumped back in.
What I have found is that I appreciate the 1% journey in that I have a priority each day to get my workout done and my context posted each day. Reading my team mates contexts each day also gives me a sense of encouragement and inspiration.
Overall, GRIT has given me insights into myself and into my business, plus a renewed sense of purpose and motivation to be the best I can be. Have I really pushed myself to be my absolute best? Not as much as I would like, honestly. But there are many areas of my life that I have re-established my respectable boundaries, and re-organized my environment in steps towards becoming my best self. In that sense, I am way farther ahead than I was a year ago without GRIT and my team mates, my friends. Each month is another opportunity of daily stepping stones towards my heroic self.
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Day of GRIT: #28 of 28
METRICS: The unexpected workout F2
CONTEXT: “I expect the unexpected”
Through all my experiences, I have learned that we get stuck at the ages of unresolved traumas. Biologically, we can be the age of our physical bodies and look like a mature adult, but mentally and emotionally we can be stuck at much younger ages. I am finding that this is a different way to look at inner child issues by looking at our emotional and or mental age at any given time. The reason for this is that if we are stuck at a much younger age, our comprehension of situations would be limited, and our reactions rather than responses can also cause problems in that we inadvertently project our immature insecurities. In turn others react or respond to us accordingly.
The wonderful thing about personal growth and being able to define our mental and emotional ages, is that we can use this a different angle of healing. As we align these mental and emotional ages, we can mature on all levels of our consciousness. With maturity comes the ever adaptable and most important survival skill of expecting the unexpected whether than means being prepared in the face of a disaster, or being open to the miracles of life.
I am quite fortunate and thankful that my life has come to a point of being more open to the miracles of life.
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