Try Something New

 And now for something totally different...

 I'm exhausted...

 But absolutely elated...

Aerial Silks 101-

As I stroll along life's path, I keep picking flowers to put into my basket. Each flower I come across is just as beautiful as the next, and uniquely new and enticing.  Recently, I've come to notice I'm awfully lucky not to be collecting rocks.  Rocks are heavy, they accumulate, and they never wilt or fade away.  I used to be sad when one of my flowers would die.  However, there is always something new to discover.  Often, I'll pick the same flowers as they come into season, and then willing let them go for a time until we can become reacquainted again another day.

When discovering Aerial Silks classes, I felt I was doing something that combined many of the things I've loved and collected over the years.  It felt like Rock Climbing, it felt like Ballet, it felt like Yoga, or Pilates, and it felt brand new--like Flying.  

It has been a privilege to have an instructor who has performed professionally with Cirque Du Soleil, along with other talented teachers at Darla's Aerial Arts Studio.  When watching Cirque Du Soleil performances, I'm enthralled with the added desire to join them.  Like many things I observe, it almost always makes me want to give it a try.  One of the things most wonderful about watching these amazing feats, is that there is no one person who stands out more than the rest.  They are always a unified whole.  Also, at times the performers will call up an average looking individual from the audience.  Usually this person is dressed in casual everyday clothing, but then, we slowly realize that they are emerging from something ordinary to something extraordinary, as the shed off the layers to reveal that they too are a member of the cast.  The reason they do this must be to make us wonder, "Could I do that?"

On Resolutions-

At the end of a yoga class, as a student, it seems like I'm always the last one to roll up my mat and walk out the door.  Maybe it's simply because I move slower and more deliberately that most people.  Sometimes I wonder though how much of it is just me longing to make it last just a little bit longer.  The pace of life picks up considerably after I venture home.  

The same thing happens at the end of each year.  When Christmas-time is over for everyone else, and they are all boxing up their decorations, I'm still watering my Christmas tree and listening to the occasional Christmas song on my playlist.  I suppose the end just comes to soon.  As people rush off to the gym to get fit, and start their new diet plans for the New Year, I'm still eating chocolate by the fireplace, and gradually getting myself motivated to start back on a regular exercise schedule.  But this doesn't mean I've given up.  It's just relaxing with the idea of moving forward.

Statistics show that most people have given up on their New Year's resolutions by January 6th.  That's 75% of the 45% of people who even bother to make a resolution, give up within a week!  (http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/)

Guess what.  I don't even make any resolutions until about the 2nd week in January.  Making resolutions is an important and meaningful thing to me, and I don't see why it needs to be rushed.  After all, we have all year long to try and stick to our new goals, right?  So allow yourself some slack, and you'll be surprised at how much more you can accomplish by losing the all or nothing attitude.  Simply don't make commitments you know you can't keep, but follow through on making an effort to progress in small, yet more meaningful ways.  Find ways to make your goals fun, light, easy, even joyful.  If what you have always done is not working for you, try something new.

If you'd like some more tips on goal setting, refer to my blog post from June 25th, 2012.