Secrets of the Caped Crusader…or flying out of the rut

When you see someone who has lost a remarkable amount of weight and you ask them how they did it, chances are the responses you’re wanting to hear don’t include “well I started eating right and I exercise regularly.” Why? Because we…or at least I…want an easy solution that is attainable with little personal cost or time on my part.

The same is true of getting out of the rut to which I alluded in Wednesday’s post Super Powers. I had to work myself up to energy of dynamic proportions just to dislodge myself from my muddled sense of complacency. I came to the conclusion that it would take the same effort—or even greater powers—to see to the ordinary details that were weighing me down as to the big complex issues I love to tackle. So, I vowed to strap on my cape and use my super powers and I promised to get back to you with what I learned. So hear are some highlights…

1.     Eat right and exercise. Sorry. It’s just a fact. I was trying not to eat much and I was nibbling randomly on things like yogurt covered raisins (which aren’t nearly as healthy as they sound) instead of eating a fresh, healthy meal. And I had cut out my daily walks entirely because I was tired…doing little is somehow exhausting. So, for the last two days, I’ve been back on the healthy eating plan that has enabled me to lose 10 pounds and I re-energized my stride in my robust walking routine. How easy is that!? No gym required; no personal trainer; no expensive eating plan…taking care of my health is another one of the things I tend to over complicate. My energy over the past two days has had a dramatic comeback. And it’s simple.

2.     Worst things first. I suggest this in my time management training all the time, but I am guilty of not always perfectly practicing what I preach! The Worst Things First idea is simply to do that which is causing you dread first thing in the morning. Not only do you get it out of the way and eliminate the shadow it casts when you leave it hanging over your head, but you also tackle it when you are fresh and able to process things at your best. So, I took care of some website administration and made some calls for professional help to get me through some of the business basics I don’t handle well. (This is where you will hear me mention QuickBooks for the bazillionth time if you’re a regular Bloomin’ Blog reader!)

Often times, I—even as independent and high-spirited as I am—wait to be rescued. I just know that someone will come along who will help me. Well a) you’re better off learning how to do it yourself and b) your job isn’t to be a helpless victim…you’re supposed to be God’s channel for goodness, remember? So minimize the wait for “things to get better” by going out and finding the help you need. In my case, I found out the Maricopa Community Colleges offer f-r-e-e help to small businesses. Voila! Now if they just offer a course called, quit your whining and just deal with it, I will be practically perfect in every way.

3.     See simple beauty. After I donned my cape and left the house on Wednesday, I was astonished by the simple pleasure of being out of my rut. It didn’t take a mini-vacation. It took stepping outside my front door and paying attention. I stood transfixed by the sight of a hummingbird carefully sipping from each bloom on a yucca plant. I marveled at the bees dancing around the opening blossoms of the saguaro cacti; I let my mind wander to happy childhood times as I walked past a golf course and smelled the freshly cut grass (that’s not a scent we experience much in the desert!). All these simple pleasures can refill and renew you at absolutely no cost. It also sets your place in the universe aright. We are no more meant to be in a rut than we are meant to be in charge. What we are meant to be is on purpose…like that hummingbird….seeing with all our care and attention even to the little things in our lives.

So those are three lessons I’ve learned so far. Now I am going to carefully and deliberately do laundry. I hope each of you finds goodness this weekend. And then I hope you share it with the heroic capacity of a caped crusader out to grow goodness and save the rut-rooted.

Onward and upward!
Mimi

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