September 8, 2013
by BulgingButtons 3 Comments

Dancing Through Life’s Changes

If you’ve been reading this blog for more than ten minutes, you know that its main focus is change. Change in the form of getting healthy, change in the form of challenges, and change in the form of personal development. Change is good. It can be scary, or even paralyzing at times, but it’s inevitable, so you might as well embrace it. At least that’s my theory.

Not long ago, I was lamenting some little roadblock or other and my wise friend chimed in with her own thoughts. She said she often feels like her progress to get healthier is two steps forward, then one step back. Instead of complaining about this state of affairs, she pointed out that overall she was going in the right direction. Brilliant.

Life isn’t a walk along a straight path with a steady pace and no obstacles. How dull that would be. It’s more of a series of intricate moves, in fact it most closely resembles a dance. Dancers respond to music, just as we respond to the circumstances in our lives. Sometimes we move fluidly, and other times we’re out of step. There are times when we’re in synch with our partner and times when we can’t quite coordinate, and then, there are many times when we’re alone. There are also times when we’re on the sidelines, taken out by an injury or other trauma. Most of us get up and get back in the dance, though.

This dance of life is constantly changing. In one chapter it may be a ballet, smooth and elegant, another may be your own personal disco era. Any of those chapters may suit you perfectly, or you may find yourself lost and desperately waiting for new music to begin. For each of us the soundtrack is unique, and our attitudes and abilities determine how we respond to that music. Are you a tap dancing dervish or a fox trotting diva? And overall, are you moving through your life with grace and elegance, or are you bandaging blistered toes?

September 7, 2013
by BulgingButtons 3 Comments

Daily Passion Prompt 3: Happy Happy, Joy Joy

QUESTION #3

What do you do that helps you bring happiness and excitement into your life?

This passion prompt is really two questions in one for me. I don’t see happiness and excitement as the same thing at all. In fact, some of the things that bring me the most happiness would be considered coma inducing for excitement junkies.

Let me explain. The main thing that brings me happiness is being with the people and dog I love. I know, what a snooze. But for me, that’s what I want in my life. I love being snug at home with my sweetheart and my son and our darling pup. It doesn’t really matter what we’re doing, although I would much rather watch a movie than scrub toilets, in case anyone was starting to question my sanity. Running errands, doing yard work, or cooking and sharing a meal are all causes for happiness, when the company is good.

Another thing that makes me happy is taking good care of myself. I’m happy when I eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. I’m happy when I’m caught up on my work, my home is orderly, and I don’t have deadlines looming over my head. When I’m able to avoid procrastination and be productive, my sense of well being soars. None of those things are sexy, or exciting, but they lead to satisfaction and contentment, and happiness.

Now if you want to talk about excitement, I do have my share, but I’m sure most people would consider my view of excitement as tame. Still, it’s my prompt and my perspective, so here goes. I find excitement in trying new experiences. They don’t have to be earth shattering to be enlightening. To that end, I really enjoy traveling. Shaking up daily routine and seeing new parts of the planet excites me. I love finding little treasures in unexpected places and learning about the history and culture of other areas, even within my own state. Even small day trips are exciting to me. On a recent outing I was thrilled to find the perfect flying pig for my backyard nestled among iron coyotes and ceramic pots. As I do my laps in the backyard pool, it encourages me to embrace the seemingly impossible.

My take on fun and excitement has certainly changed over the years, but I’m ok with that. I’m having the time of my life.

September 5, 2013
by BulgingButtons 5 Comments

Daily Passion Prompt 1: Failure is NOT an Option

TODAY’S QUESTION

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Now how is that for a big question? I’ve decided to give Dean Bocari’s daily passion prompts a go. I know I won’t do them every day, but they will be posted for the next 39 days, so the challenge is there. I may be a bit challenge happy at the moment.

Back to the question at hand. What would I do if I knew I could not fail? How to even go about conceiving of such a situation? My immediate thoughts go to my son and raising him to be the kind of man that he ought to be. What could I do to help ensure his future success? Maybe I could take a small investment and parlay it into a small fortune of the type that might pay for a top notch education? If I couldn’t fail, I might as well do my “investing” in Vegas and have a whale of a time doing it, too. But financial security is no guarantee of success.

Having the money for an upper echelon education doesn’t prepare one for its rigors. Money can’t teach a strong work ethic, tenacity, creativity, risk taking, and people skills. In fact, in my experience, it’s those strengths that allow people to acquire financial gains. Let’s face it, money is the effect, not the cause of strong character traits. So while I would love to amass a small fortune, just to take the edge off a little, it isn’t my goal in and of itself.

Instead of a focus on pure financial gain, I would want my “can’t fail” risk to involve personal growth that would serve as an example to said son, while having the delightful benefit of providing the aforementioned nest egg. So what it comes down to is this, if I knew I couldn’t fail I would take a year off from my current career and focus on living a creative life. I would write and sew and paint. I would hike and swim and travel. I would create poetry, take photos, and visit theaters near and far. I would get healthy once and for all, experimenting with new recipes, hiking new trails, and learning to use my body in new ways. Maybe I would dance or box or do yoga. Perhaps I would try Zumba or white water rafting. During that year I would record my experiences and my thoughts on them. Then I would publish that memoir. Naturally Oprah would love it, and it would become an instant best seller.

Oh I know, the world can live without my self-absorbed prattling, but there are moments, flashes really, when I feel like I have something important to say. Sometimes I’m able to get it down in the way I imagine, and other times I’m not, but I still like to believe that there is an audience for me. There are others like me fighting the battles I’m fighting, reinventing themselves every day, and challenging themselves to be their best. If I knew I couldn’t fail, I would be honored to walk among them and be their champion.