Overcome Challenges: Living in the now

If you would of told me ten years ago that the future view from my road bike was going to be my furnace I would of told you that you were crazy. To think I road my bike 500 miles from Minneapolis to Chicago and now I ride in my basement.  All my life I've worked out religiously. It was my escape and my companion. 

Now I ride on my trainer when I sneak in 30-45 minutes of energy while my husband is entertaining my 2 year old as they play air guitar to the hairband music I play as I ride.  Not sure if this is still considered an escape!

I struggle mentally and physically to figure out how to be all things - mom, wife, homemaker, teacher, daughter, sister, friend and most of all I struggle to make time for myself. Many women have gone through the same stress, the same balance, the same journey.  I am constantly trying to work on this life challenge.

My mentor reminds me to stop blaming others, stop living in the past and stop worrying about the future.  Live in the now! Be grateful for what you have and look at the now as an unpaved path.

Now this life challenge is really not that big when you compare it to other challenges people face- disease, job loss, tragedy, and death. I've seen my family struggle through all of it and it breaks my heart. Why so much pain? Why is life so hard? But that's exactly the problem. We can't look at it as pain. We can't see it as a challenge or a fight. We have to see it as a journey and we are at a fork in the road. We choose the path. Do we see this as defeat? Or a lesson? A closed door? Or possibilities of a new opportunity? It's our choice if we let it defeat us or if it makes us stronger.

My best advice: Choose your life, don't let it choose you.

Someone inspired me to write this post who is going through a hard time right now. They connected to the lyrics of Eminen's song "Loose yourself" which I hope you'll find inspiring as well.. Music is a great way to get inspired and stay grounded in the now - what music have you been inspired by?

Comment on the blog and join in the conversation.

Get Out of Your Environment For Inspiration

If you're new to Motivate To Inspire you'll see my reflection on life experiences.  My hope is that these reflections help you live better, do better and be better to have a more fulfilling life.

This week I attended a workshop on collaborative group teaching strategies.  My brain was in hyperactivity mode.  Can I complain about having SO many ideas?  Of coarse not, but it's always overwhelming trying to digest everything you learn at a conference.  It's hard not to think, "how am I going to find the time to incorporate all these new strategies?" Or, if I didn't have four or five preps maybe I'd have more time? Or, if it wasn't for...X...Y...Z.  OK, STOP RIGHT THERE!  Sure, stress can create those crazy thoughts but let's think about the big picture here.  Getting out of your environment shouldn't be overwhelming it should be inspiring! 

Whether the four walls in which you work are called school, a place of business or a home office - getting out of your environment point blank makes you BETTER.  Before teaching, I sold advertising for eight years, ending my sales career at MTV Networks.  Each year MTV Networks would take its entire sales staff to Puerto Rico for the ultimate, multiple day, sales meeting.  Of coarse I have fond memories of the social aspect of the trip but I got a lot more out of trip than that.  The best way I can describe it - it's like you're pumped up on a six pack of Red Bull.  You leave the conference with passion for the brand and new ideas to grow your business.

But have you ever turned down an opportunity to go to a workshop, conference or training? Often times we feel we can't afford the time away from the office or we don't want to deal with playing catch up.  Now, think of all the times you have gotten out of the office for workshops - are you glad you went?  Sure, not every workshop has been as beneficial as the next but I ALWAYS feel that I grow as a business professional or as an educator.

Now you come back from a workshop with all these new ideas and you're on that imaginary Red Bull buzz, how do you deal with it?  A veteran teacher gave me a piece of advice at the workshop this week, "pick one new idea you really like and try to incorporate it."  And that's how we grow.  We crawl, we walk, we run.  One little moment at a time.

REFLECTION: Take every opportunity you are offered to learn and be open minded to who and when you can learn.  Leave the four walls where you work - get out and live and you'll find the inspiration to move you forward.

3 Life Lessons You Can Learn From A Dog

If we take the time to observe, simple life lessons are right in front of us.  Here's three things we can learn from a dog:

1st Lesson: Soak in the sun
My dog could sit outside for hours on a beautiful day and just bask in the sun.  I see her close her eyes and enjoy the moment of the sounds of the outdoors.  Now, I'm an outdoorsy person so I can totally relate to this.  On every vacation where I've taken a hike, I find a few moments to stop, sit and think.  Even if you aren't into the outdoors, there's a big take away here - we need to take moments out of life, not just on vacation but every day of our life.  Whether it's our good fortune or our health, our family or our friends or all of the above - Appreciate all that you have, even the little moments in life like a sunny day.



2nd Lesson: Rest
If there's one thing my dog does is sleep.  To often we are running around in this busy game called life.  We juggle all the things we need to do - family, friends, work, home.  It's easy to run yourself until your immune system literally exhausts itself. Let's learn from our pets: Play hard and then sleep it off.  If you don't have time to sleep in or take a nap then do what ever you need to do to rejuvenate.  The more you can carve out time for yourself, the more energy you will have to accomplish all your goals in life.


3rd Lesson: Love life
Every day when I get home, my dog comes running with toy in mouth and tail wagging.  I always tell my dog, Brandy, that she's my first love. I adopted her during a time in my life when I was ready to start taking care of someone - before I met my husband and before I had my son.  But more than all the love I have for her amazing spirit, she loves me and most of all she loves life! She loves her family, she loves the hunt and she loves the simple things in life.  Be joyful, see the spirit in all things, open your hearts AND your mind - and just LOVE LIFE because it's there to love.

(Photo: My dog Brandy in the backyard)

Overcoming a Challenge

As a teacher I am always touched by amazing things that happen at schools that make a difference. In my blog I try to bring you inspiration and motivation from the classroom and from life. This story is of a motivational speaker that gave a speech recently at a Chicago Public School, Julian High School in the Roseland and Pullman communities, to speak of overcoming challenges and never giving up. According to the Chicago Tribune, 85-95% of the students at Julian H.S. live in poverty and many have one parent absent at home. Motivational speaker and Paralympian, Lloyd Bachrach, spoke of his story of being born with missing bones in his legs and how he over came adversity.

Lloyd is actually my cousin (2nd, 3rd or twice removed...I'm not sure how it goes) but I've known Lloyd's story all my life. Honestly, I'm not sure as a kid I really realized there was "a story" about Lloyd. I just knew that Lloyd was one of my really cool cousins (and he just so happened to walk with a cane - which I probably thought was a cool toy). As I got older I heard family members tell his story and I've heard Lloyd give his speech. But now it's different. As an educator, I am truly moved and inspired how a person overcoming life's challenge of a physical disability can inspire others to overcome life of poverty. Check out the Chicago Tribune's story. Pat Dunnigan did an amazing job telling the story. While Lloyd's challenges of a disability were different than Julian's students of poverty, life is the same - life gives you challenges but its what you do with it that makes a difference in your future.

In the article Dunnigan wrote: Bachrach also stressed perseverance. "When you quit is when you have failed," he told the students. "There is no one way to do things in life."

I have to give props to the Assistant Principal Ihechi Sadiki and Allie Whitehurst, coordinator of Julian's Culture of Calm program for the school for bringing Lloyd Bachrach to speak at their school and make the connection for students. They are trying to help students "fill the gap" to overcome adversity - that is truly inspiring.

REFLECTION:

• Life gives everyone challenges in one form or another. Don't feel sorry for yourself, don't feel sorry for others. Look around and get a reality check - accept and move on.
• Life's challenges can teach us something - what is your life challenge trying to tell you? Sometimes you can't always see it when you're standing right in the middle of the struggle. Take a step back, relax and give it time because eventually you can reflect to find the true lesson of your story. (Maybe it's trying to teach you that you are strong than you realize)
• Make your choice! Think of your life as a choose your own adventure book. Your future is unwritten. In the end of the story, where do you want to be? Overcoming challenges or being defeated by them?

Hallelujah

Our Choir Director at school passed along this very cool Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU.   This is the recent "Random Act of Culture" where members of the Philadelphia Opera Company sang the "Hallelujah Chorus" in a Macy's department store.  Check out the expression on people's faces when they see this surprising and beautiful moment.  It's inspirational and heart warming - perfect for this holiday season.  Enjoy.   

The Start of Motivation to Inspire

At a recent staff meeting all the teachers where asked, "What's your passion?" I couldn't write anything down. What's wrong with me - come on! I have passion! Or do I? I felt like what ever I wrote down would define who I was. I kept thinking - "I used to love working out", "I used to love cooking" but now I never find the time to do the things I love and help me define who I am. I find myself consumed with being a mom and wife. And then I started beating myself up...like most of us do sometimes. I kept thinking how I start something, get into it for awhile and then stop doing it. When I was in high school (many, many, many years ago), I remember my parents reminding me of this - I tried band, cross country, tennis, track, dance and I even tried out for basketball but didn't make the team. Now 20 years later, I still run a little and dance with my 16 month old in the house but that's about it. And heck, look at this blog, I haven't written in a very long time.

But the blessing in my wandering and worrying mind is coming back to write this blog. It's been sometime since I've written but I am feeling more inspired to write than ever before. Am I inspired lately? To be honest, not a all. It's a recession and I'm seeing a lot of family and friends go through hard times while business and government budgets are being cut left and right. And then there is my job - I teach business education in a suburban high school to mostly Juniors and Seniors. This is my second career (former life I was an Ad Sales Exec.). And its been a very long time since I felt so stressed out from a job. I'm teaching five totally different classes this semester plus being an advisor to a club and starting a student-run business. Oh, did I mention that I took on a tech mentor job as well at school. Any teachers out there know, this is a lot of work to take on. (IF YOU ARE THINKING - HOW IS THIS INSPIRATIONAL...HANG TIGHT, I'LL MAKE MY POINT IN A SECOND.) Sorry I'm venting my stress here but the final thing that is adding to my droopy mood (is that even a word?) is lack of motivation in my students - ITS DRAINING. And to be really honest, its scary. I am scared for their generation because in four more years they will be applying for jobs and in five more years their managers are going to be disappointed with their performance. But as a teacher, my job is not to give up on my students.

So despite my exhaustion, these reoccurring messages and thoughts keeps popping into my head:

Motivation and Inspiration.

How do I motivate people?

What motivates people?

Why do some people overcome challenges while others let it defeat them?

Because if we could find the answers to these questions, WOW, we would have a key to unlock the potential in everyone. If I could discover how to motivate and inspire - I can help people find their passion. I started telling you in this post about my lack of passion - if I can find the keys to motivation and inspiration - passion will come.

Stay tuned for stories as I document my research in motivation and inspiration. I'll look at what works, what doesn't work and I bet I'll learn something along the way and so will you.