Holy smokes!
Here I sit typing on these computer keys and it is almost the end of September.
What a blur it has been! Was your ‘back to school’ season as nutty as mine?
My mom once told me that September and June were always busy months when you have kids. Why do I seem to forget this each year?! These last few weeks have probably been among the busiest of my life.
I now think back to when Will was a baby and Oliver was a toddler and I said to a co-worker something like;
‘I can’t believe how much work it is being a parent, I am just so busy’ and my colleague who had older kids at the time looked at me blankly and said;
‘You think you are busy now? Wait until they start activities and then you will know what busy is’.
Sista’ she was right!
In the midst of the ‘crazy’ I took a moment away from grocery shopping to sit down at a blood pressure booth for a quick check because I was curious to see if my blood pressure was elevated due to all that was happening.
Those are my readings below.
I was pleased to find that I was in the normal range. Actually despite the many balls I was juggling I was feeling (as Mathew McConaughey would put it);
‘alright, alright, alright’.
In fact I think this year is the first in several that I have not broken down in tears at back to school time and instead of feeling drained, weepy and exhausted as I had felt in years past, I was energized and grounded and that I believe is due to three things and…
… one big thing.
Below I am going to share the three things and one big thing with you but before I do I will give you a recap of my recent days and I’m sure it will sound familiar to some of you, particularly those with young kids.
Here we go…
-around the 3rd of September my parents fly off to France leaving us with their energetic labrador retriever Coco
-a day later our Chinese exchange student Ken (a Grade 5 student from China) moves in with us with about 2 days notice. He will be staying until the end of January.
-my husband starts his new job on the 8th
-Oliver (my eldest son who has special needs) does not transition well back to school so during the first two weeks at pick up time there is yelling, crying and major feet stamping-oh yeah and back pack throwing too!
His behaviour upsets me, his brother, our exchange student and the dog. Getting back home after pick up is a HUGE relief.
– my youngest son starts hockey, along with piano and Beavers
-…the dog eats something weird and has diarrhoea all over our living room carpet (too much info????- if so, sorry!)
-with the ‘back to school’ vibe fully in flow about 90% of my clients (some of whom I haven’t seen since May due to summer holidays-mine and theirs), indicate they would like to book coaching sessions for the first two weeks in Sept.
-TJ and I continue to fine tune our Women in Transition retreat schedule (all but one spot is taken btw!!!!) but we take a break from this to travel to Seattle to see Dr. Brene Brown speak about her new book Rising Strong. (See photo above for a pic of us post Brene’s talk ).
-It is my son’s 7th birthday so a party needs to be planned…..
…….Sooooooooo….
You get the gist- right?
And your life probably sounds a little like mine as we are all busy in our own ways aren’t we?
So what helped me?
The three things and one big thing that supported me throughout this crazy month were…
1. Nature/ Solitude– Having to get out in nature and walk the dog. Every day and sometimes twice a day.
I know if you have been following my posts for awhile you know I am a huge proponent of nature as a wellness tool along with time in solitude.
Coco and I would stand outside the doors and watch as the boys filed into school behind their teachers then we would head to the dog park where she would have a good run around.
All the while I would be taking in the fresh air, noticing the branches swaying in the breeze or how the hot summer had already driven many brown and brittle leaves to the ground.
It was an opportunity for me to get in touch with my breathing and clear my mind. Post walk I always had heightened clarity and knew what I next needed to focus on. Walking the dog was a forced ‘meditation’ of sorts.
That is Coco in the dog park below.
2. Adequate sleep.
With the sudden addition of a third child and a dog to the house and my husband embarking on a new work schedule I made it my goal to get really organized with our family schedule -so I knew each day what time I wanted to be up by and have the breakfast and lunches made so there was minimal stress for all. So this meant no more staying up late to watch Netflix or HBO and by 9:00PM on a consistent basis I was winding down and heading for the holy nighttime trinity of bath, book and bed.
Ok we are getting down to the end of the list.
Can you guess the last one?
It is…
3. Exercise.
I know I am not sharing anything new with you here as we all know that nature, sleep and exercise are good for us, but it is important to be reminded of the power of these three.
One bonus of all that dog walking was the hour plus of exercise I got in each day, along with making a concerted effort to get to the gym at least twice a week.
The older I get the more I am feeling the aches and pains (Voltaren anyone?) and my husband always says he can tell when I have been on the computer too long as I get all hunched over with my head sticking out in front and the back of my neck protruding out- ugh! Not a good look right? Like a nerd neanderthal!
I need to counteract the ill effects of too much desk work by stretching at the gym or doing that amazing ‘L’ move I talk about in my 6 Secrets to Managing Overwhelm e-book -that works EVERY time.
There you have it- the big three;
•Nature / mindfulness (which cannot be achieved without solitude)
•Adequate sleep
•Exercise
And you know what?
TJ and I sat through Brene Brown’s talk the other night and she spoke about her work and the key factor in her research that she uncovered, the one element that enables people who ‘fall down’ or experience some kind of failure in their lives to pick themselves back up and get back into the game, and you know what it was?
Mindfullness.
That sometimes elusive but always soothing state that you can achieve when you slow down, be it by taking your dog for a walk in the woods, or sitting outside and watching the birds at your feeder, or being like a kid and watching the clouds scud across the sky.
Yep, mindfullness.
She also shared a breathing exercise she uses regularly to get back into her body, to ground herself during hectic times or when her emotions are starting to take over.
It is this;
‘Four breaths in, hold for four and out for four’.
She also spoke about how during the course of her research she met with senior military personnel and asked them how they trained their troops to keep them focussed in the heat of battle, so that emotions like fear and anxiety and anger don’t take over.
You know what these senior military leaders told her?
‘We teach our military breathing exercises, stuff like…’
‘…Four breaths in, hold for four and out for four’.
No joke.
This stuff -breathing, mindfulness -it really does work!
But let’s not forget my ‘Secret Weapon’ either…
There is however one other constant that must be factored in when I take into account how I thrive these days as opposed to just surviving and that is my husband Steve.
Whether it is him saying;
‘Go for it-start your own business, I believe in what you can do‘.
Or the fact that he repeatedly will get up with Oliver in the wee hours of the morning and let me continue sleeping, or the way he is down in the trenches with me day in day out-driving kids to activities, doing the shopping or the biggies like cleaning dog poop off our carpet at 6AM – without his support I could not get a quarter of the stuff done that I do.
He truly is an equal partner in every sense of the word and for that I am very grateful.
So there you have it the four pieces I need to keep the wheels on my bus;
•Nature / mindfulness (which cannot be achieved without solitude)
•Adequate sleep
•Exercise AND…
•…A strong support system whether it be a husband, wife, partner, family member, neighbour, good friend or a coach
I’d love to hear if you have any specific tools you use when life gets challenging, so drop me a line or comment over at my blog.
and
Just a reminder that my Overwhelmed to Optimal special offer *for Full Flight newsletter subscribers only is on until the end of September, so for those of you contemplating making some ‘big’ moves and you want extra support shoot me an e-mail.
This special offer includes 9, 1 hour coaching sessions for $999 + 1 free Dream Analysis session, so 10 coaching sessions for $999.
Regular price is $1200 so a great deal!
Some of my recent Overwhelmed to Optimal clients have made some significant moves in their lives such as;
-opening themselves up to the idea of dating again after a period of being alone
-making bold career changes in pursuit of a more purposeful life
-taking steps to end a marriage
-taking steps to mend a marriage
-renewing a fractured familial relationship
-kicking butt in their small business
-getting brave enough to share their ‘art’ with the world
-getting clear on the type of work they want then landing their ‘perfect’ job
Yes- these are epic moves!
…and I am so grateful that I have been able to share in my clients’ journeys as they have tuned into their inner wisdom and started taking the necessary steps (and in some cases scary steps) to creating their ‘best life’. Kudos!
Interested in creating your ‘best life’? Check out the below link
http://www.fullflightlifecoaching.com/overwhelmed-to-optimal/
If you are reading this on the web or elsewhere and aren’t a subscriber click the link below to sign up for the Full Flight Newsletter and I will send you my free e-book 6 Secrets to Managing Overwhelm
http://www.fullflightlifecoaching.com/newsletter-signup/
Keep good and enjoy the rest of September!
PS
I am off to Arizona for our retreat next week but will be sure to write a post telling you all about it after. I am super stoked to see TJ’s gorgeous ranch, meet the retreaters and dive into our Women in Transition program!
That shot below is TJ’s ranch house (for the October cover of Phoenix Home and Garden) and it is where I will be staying for our upcoming retreat.
I know – a tough job but someone has to do it! lol
