It was my son’s 33rd birthday. We weren’t allowed to touch him, but we did gather outside the nursing home to sing and tell him we love him. I spent a lot of time and put quite a bit of effort into his special cake. I make the same cake for him every year; usually a massive, triple layered cake, big enough to share with all of the residents and staff. This year, I made one only for him. It was still layered and decorated in fancy fashion, but very small. I hoped it would make him feel special; loved. As we approached the facility as a group (“little” brothers, their wives and babies, little sisters and parents), I dropped that birthday cake. It slid right off my hand, flipped over and landed top down on the asphalt. I won’t go into how I felt in that moment, or how the ‘celebration’ was affected. We carried on… The fourth step in the change process is to take action. The thinking, the planning, the learning; all of the first steps done, the time comes when you have to get up and do something. Whether that means getting up an hour earlier to work out before it gets too hot or throwing out all of the junk food, this is the hardest step. If you didn’t spend enough time planning your action, you’ll find success is more difficult to achieve on your first attempt. The good news is, you learn with every effort, so you increase your odds of success as you try again (remember: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again). If you don’t stick with your action, don’t consider it a failure, think of it as a step in the right direction. No worthy effort is a waste. Consider the fancy little birthday cake I dropped. It was a success, even if not exactly the way I planned. It gave my son an opportunity to do something nice for me. He said, “It’s OK, Mom. I know it was probably beautiful.” He said he would take what was left. I cut away what once was the pretty top and gave him the ugly what-was-left. He said he loved it because I made it for him. I promised to make him another one, even if it’s not his birthday anymore. He enjoyed the sort-of togetherness (from a distance), and there was left with him the hope of something more. There’s always hope for something more when you take action. If your actions today don’t measure up to your plan, you can have a do-over. Never stop starting. It’s never too late to start. It’s time: Take action. Be well.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Handprint on My Heart

A treasured friend told me today that I’ve left my handprint upon her heart (she quoted a line from a song she heard on the way to SWEAT with me, and said it spoke to her of me). Of course, I felt a welling of emotion. She’s left her handprint upon mine, too. That’s what we do in this life, isn’t it (if we do it right)? We leave our marks upon each other, upon the rising generation, upon the land, upon whatever it may be that will remember us when we’re gone… As I write, I’m sitting in the room with my mother-in-law, as her breathing grows increasingly shallow by the hour and her feeble heart grows tired of beating. Her body is aged and failing. She’s lived a long and wonderful life. Not only did she bring six boys and a daughter into this world, but she raised them in the hills, on a farm, in a little two-room cabin, with no modern utilities. She raised happy children and happy grandchildren who were, and ever will be honored to call her mother. She did it right. This fine lady has le...
Read more

Life Cycles

Like the cycles of freedom and bondage experienced ages before Polybius wrote his theories of benign and malignant governments, we continue to cycle today, even thousands of years later. Generations, societies, governments and the governed cycle. Even the earth cycles as it spins through day and night, revolving through seasons and years over millennia and eons of time. Cycles are a theme of living things; growth and decline. We struggle for growth and cycle through periods of accomplishment and strength then ease and weakness. Time spent at ease leads to weakness; a very natural part of the living cycle. This is true for the body, both physical and metaphysical. Among my close friends, I would say this is true for both the body and the spirit. The phenomenon manifests in societies of all sizes, from that of the United States to those the size of the average American family. Around and around we go from weak to strong to weak; from poor to rich to poor. Generation after generation; hum...
Read more

Breathe Well

It’s quiet here this afternoon. Some of us are gone out for the day, some are napping and some are silently socializing on the internet. My home is very still in this moment. Stillness is good. All of us need to learn to be still…and breathe. Some of us need to learn how to move and breathe, too. That’s usually a little bit trickier, which is why part of training and learning to move effectively includes training and learning to breathe properly. Let’s talk about breathing. In a nutshell: The diaphragm contracts and expands, causing the chest cavity to increase and decrease in size, which in turn allows for lung expansion and compression. There’s a few other muscles involved, but that’s the basics of breathing, right? Most of us generally take it for granted. (If you are chronically out of breath, and you haven’t already done so, see your doctor.) At the beginning of an exercise program, breathing is probably the most difficult thing to learn and to control. A little bit of exertion, ...
Read more