On...

I win. I am not talking about any specific contest. I am talking about life. I win at life. Perhaps that sounds arrogant. It's not intended that way. It is really just about how I feel. And, I don't just win because I'm lucky or because people give me things... I win for three very specific reasons: I align myself with the right people, I work hard at everything I do, and I never give up. A perfect recent example is Team Miller, the team I was on for the two month challenge at the gym. We won our challenge. I aligned myself with the right people, I worked hard, and I didn't give up. Every member of our team worked hard. Our coach worked hard to help us get past the bumps in the road. Our team supported one another through the good and the bad. We didn't give up. We won because we deserved to win. I am lucky. I am lucky, though, because I make my own luck, and then I recognize all there is to be grateful for: I have great kids because every single day I...

I've written several times about what I've learned from being on teams... on my high school field hockey team, and even in my school orchestras (which was very much a team). Most recently, I joined a new team... Team Miller. Miller is a personal trainer and fitness instructor at my gym.  Club One (my gym) is holding a "Team Challenge" where five people sign up per coach and from March 1 - May 1, earn points through taking classes, working out, keeping a nutrition log, and meeting our individual and group fitness goals. I didn't join this team or this challenge because I feel like I need to get a jump start before bathing suit season, although that could be the motivation for others - the timing is right. I joined the team because I like teams and I like challenges. Truth be told, I don't even know what we win. I just know I want to win. Already, this group of women (and Miller) are teaching me and reminding me of some really important things: It is imp...

I feel as though I should apologize for my grief. Grief almost seems too extreme a word because I am not talking about the loss of another human being or even an animal. I am, for the most part, a very positive person. And yet, grief is still the best description for the feelings that I sometimes feel. I have trouble reconciling my profound feelings of grief with the fact that I am a very lucky individual. I am someone who is lucky to be alive. I am lucky to be a functioning part of society. I am lucky to get to see my children grow up. I have a really amazing, fantastic life, one that I came so close to losing and therefore do not take for granted. For all of these things, I am incredibly grateful. And so, I feel somewhat guilty for grieving my losses, on any level. And yet, I still feel it. Perhaps my losses are not so great, at least not in comparison to what they could have been or to others' losses. But, there are times when a deep sense of grief overwhelms me. Something...

I have this framed quote in my room: Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away . I remember when I moved into my condo almost three years ago, how drawn I was to that quote. It felt so... Hopeful... Almost magical. That belief that there were moments that could take your breath away was what I needed at the time. I needed to believe in that kind of magic. And now, I think I've changed my mind. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that life has moments that can take your breath away... The birth of both of my children certainly count as those kind of moments. And more recently, my trip to Ireland was filled with breath-taking moments. Those kinds of moments are important... And magical. I no longer believe (or want to believe), however, that those moments are what defines life. It is a lovely, magical, hopeful sentiment. But what defines life - or a life well lived - is more often the ordinary moments. The moments that reall...

As I have listened to others' stories, I have heard people say they have been told all their lives that they couldn't do something. Their dreams and personal goals have been laughed at, made fun of, or otherwise just dismissed. Why do we feel it necessary, as a culture, to dismiss what someone else wants to accomplish as silly or impossible? How does this make how we experience our own lives any better? I don't believe it does. Hearing these stories makes me that much more grateful for my own upbringing. Sure, I had the occasional teacher or other influential adult tell me my dreams were silly or that the likelihood of my success at a particular goal was quite low. The adults that really counted, though: my parents, never told me such things. My parents have been (and continue to be) supportive of anything I set my mind to do. Nothing that I ever brought up as an interest or a dream was dismissed. Not even when I all I wanted to be when I grew up was a server at Cantl...

As anyone who knows me or reads my blog can attest to, I have a fairly positive spin on life. I can see the good in even the most horrible of situations or challenges (at least in hindsight). This blog title is a little misleading though because it actually refers to a class that I have been taking lately called "A Positive Spin on Life." Again, if you know me or read my blog, you also know that spin is my favorite gym class and I take many spin classes a week. So, I bet you are wondering what this class is all about? How it is different from the regular spin class? Well, my friend Kris is both the instructor and creator of this course and every single time I take it, I feel privileged to be able to do so. It is an incredibly challenging class, physically. I love to challenge myself physically on a regular basis. And, it is the most thought-provoking, awe-inspiring hour that I spend on Tuesdays and every-other-Saturday.  I also love to challenge myself mentally and ...

Welcome to my favorite holiday! People tend to look at me strangely when I say that. It is not that I don't love or appreciate the other holidays.... I do. New Years, though, are about opening doors, and... well, I love the magic in that symbolism. I love a fresh start. I love having a year ahead of me with nothing defined other than possibility. A new year feeds my need to make chaos certain. There is no greater chaos than a year ahead without definition. YAY! I get to work on making 365 new days certain. I am giddy with the joy of it. I understand that for some of you, closing the door on 2015 feels like relief. It isn't as much the start of something new that you are looking forward to, but rather the end of something old. We have all had years like that. 2013 was like that for me. I was SO READY to start 2014. I would have been remiss, however, if I had closed the door on 2013 without taking a few things with me: the lessons I learned and the important people I me...