Be Happy - Write It Down!

I'm sure there is a lot of blogging going on about the New Year and resolutions and setting goals. Well, I have just one recommendation for you. Make Being Happy your goal. Then write it down - everywhere!

You are saying, "Silly Ricki, of course being happy is my goal! It's always my goal! That's the purpose of being human, to be happy."

Ah, I say, but do you remember? Do you wake up each and every morning and say to yourself, "Today I will Be Happy!" I bet you don't. I know, because I don't. And you are me and I am you and so on and so on.

This past year has presented many challenges and lessens, and I am not alone. There were at least two months straight when I forgot that being happy was my mission. It wasn't written down anywhere and I was so immersed in the drama, in the pit, that I'm not even sure if I would have seen a smiley face sticker I would have recognized it. But I might have.

So here's my plan, and I am Happy to share it with you. I will write Be Happy as my Number One goal for 2011. I will outline an emergency plan for getting Happy when stuff happens, such as: Watch a comedy (America's Funniest Home Videos is my favorite for making myself laugh), Dance like nobody's watching, Take a walk and Big Smile everyone I meet, and Make funny faces in the mirror.

Then, I am going to write "Be Happy" on every page of every calendar and day planner and every To Do List. I'm going to write "Be Happy" on post-its and place them all over the house and in my office at the Higher Self Bookstore. In the bathroom, I'll stick a note on the mirror that says "How Ya Doing, Sweetie?" (That one always makes me smile!)

Okay, I hear you, and I know that some days it just feels too hard. Then the goal that day will be to feel better. Just better. Then work up to feeling pretty good. Draw a smiley face on your hand - next thing you know your face is smiley, too!

Just imagine if everyone took on the goal/mission/purpose of Be Happy. What a way to serve humanity! You know that when you are around Happy people it is hard to resist being Happy, too. Get Happy, Be Happy, then go out and Happy-Up the World! What can possibly be better than that?

Danger! Danger! Danger!

I have often commented that I wanted to write a book on the dangers of personal growth. Really, there should be warnings before inquiring about oneself and the possibilities of being more. One of the chapters would be about how the people in your life will change -NOT.

When you wake up, even the least little bit, you will notice how the people around you are not the people they used to be. Especially the people close to you. Somehow they are different and you don’t recognize them as you used to. Of course, they didn’t change – you did.

When you were sleeping, you daydreamed how people were – usually the way you wanted them to be. Or expected them to be. Unconsciously, you decided what to see and what to be blind to.

I took a trip not too long ago with some people I used to travel with to Las Vegas. I’d been there with them before and had a good time. Once I got there it was like I didn’t know these people at all! These were acquaintances from my sleepwalking days.

I found myself switching back and forth between judging and being in fascination as fast as I could blink my eyes! I kept asking myself questions, like “Were they always like this?” “Did they always talk like this?” “Was I like this, am I still like this?”

Answering myself, I said, yes, they are the same as they always were. One man in particular, my host, spurred my own soul searching the most. In our past, I had been quite impressed with his self-confidence, how he carried himself, how he seemed to make others take notice of him, that he was free with his money. My dream man!

The man in my wakened state was not so confident after all. In fact, it appeared to me that he tried to raise his self-esteem, make himself more important, by making himself big, and others small. I know he did not know, was not aware, that he was doing this. And I knew he did not want to know – not at this time or in this place.

He hadn’t changed. I had. My choice to become aware, to wake up to who I am and who I want to be has taken me down a path, a path I chose consciously. I encouraged others to come with me. I had encouraged him to come with me when I first started out. I thought he had tagged along, for a little ways, at least.

Not everyone you know and love will choose to walk the path with you. It’s okay, they are already on a path of their own choosing, and they just may not know it. Some will try to keep you from going down a path you chose, may even reach out to pull you back, because they know their life will change if you go. But you can never go back. Once you wake up, even a little, that part of you can never be put back to sleep again.

A personal growth trainer I worked with would get down sometimes after giving a three-hour free introductory course. She would be discouraged that people hadn’t signed up to continue the training, and she would feel sad that they apparently chose to not make a change, to not wake up. I would reminder her that each and every one of them had indeed made a change, had awakened – it was impossible not to, unless they had literally snored through the entire three-hour training. They knew too much now to ever be the same again.

Even your reading this now is an inquiry of your own to know more, to experience more, to be opened and awakened to new possibilities. And you will never be quite the same as you were.

The dangers of personal growth: You will change. Others may leave you, you may leave others. You will love and bless them, as I love and bless those from the Vegas trip.

The dangers of not seeking personal growth: You will change. Others may leave you, you may leave others. You will stay asleep and life will happen to you.

The good news is, when you seek to grow you will change purposefully. You will take your power back from wherever or whomever you gave it to. Be grateful that it was taken care of while you slept.

People may leave, but there are people just waiting to welcome you into your wakefulness.

I meet others on the path I chose and I keep their company. It is important for me to have their support, faith, and encouragement. There are hands out there reaching even now to pull me back, put me in the cubbyhole they think I should be in. I hold on tight to the hands that won’t let me go that gently push me forward.

There are dangers in personal growth. You will never be the same and you can never to back. Ah, but the rewards are eternal!

Meaning of Life

Meaning of Life
by Ricki Blanchard

On the day I was born
I was given one canvas
And an endless supply of paints
In every hue imaginable.

“What shall I paint?” I asked.
“The Meaning of Life,” was the answer.

So I began to create
With quite elementary strokes.
As time went by, my pictorials
Became more elaborate and sophisticated.

I possessed a free hand early on.
But then I painted what others
Thought I should, or what I
Thought others wanted to see.

Layer upon layer, pictures and
Landscapes, always changing
Sometimes retro or repetitive
On my one and only canvas.

More than once I colored
Over a scene still wet
To obliterate what was there
Making a total mess of it all.

My paints would become
Disorganized and scattered
Needing patience to pull them together
into a workable palette.

How this old canvas can withstand
The many coats of my imaginings
Are beyond my understanding,
But hold it all, it does.

You see, the Meaning of Life
Is exactly how I see it when I see it
Carefully or carelessly brushed
On my one and only canvas.

The canvas itself is meaningless.
All that is and No-thing at all.
A surface on which to illustrate
My illusions, ever-changing.

Of late, I find my paintings
More unique, less detailed
Vibrant and soft at the same time.
Always ready to be the one and only canvas
for a new view.

Rainy Days and Feeling Good

What’s so bad about feeling bad was the topic of a couple of my blogs this year. Today, I am contemplating what’s so bad about feeling good? For instance, you notice people at a funeral who are smiling and laughing – do you judge them as uncaring, uncompassionate? After a hurricane, you expect the survivors on the TV news to be morose and devastated – what would you think if they were laughing and joking?

I was thinking about what the future might hold for this earth, some of the possibilities being that the landscape and the weather may change quite significantly. Oh no, you cry, do not go there! You will attract the end of the world! But wait, I am not “feeling” the energy of judgments, such as awful, devastating, fearful, woeful, panic, anger, etc. There is no energy behind my thoughts whatsoever.

We are told by many that we attract to us what we think. I don’t believe this is entirely complete in the teaching. I think it is the energy behind the thought that activates the magnet, drawing that which we have energy on to show up in our lives. If I am in a neutral, contemplative state, then it makes sense to me that the Universe will also be in that state. Only until I add energy and emotion, and of course action, that the Universe starts to move. Does this make sense? It is becoming clearer to me, but then again, it’s my mind and my reality.

So, let’s look at feeling good and possibilities of the future and feeling good in that moment which is the next now. Definitely, I know that I want to focus on the moment of now and feeling good in the now. While in the now, I can think about the future in a very neutral place. To get clearer, I read and listen, go to classes and participate in discussions. I decide what makes sense and what doesn’t, what rings true for me and what I choose not to pay the slightest bit of attention to. Then, I assimilate that information into my now.

Now, sitting in the now and knowing in the now that I want to feel good in this now and the next now, I decide how to be and what actions I will take to be that and feel good in the now and in the next now. For instance, today I decide to BE strong. So I will focus on making my mind, body and spirit strong through exercises of meditating, reading, walking, yoga, etc. As I become stronger and stronger, I am supported in being strong in the next now, and supported in feeling good in the next now.

In the next now which becomes the present now, let’s say that the rains come. Did I create the rain? Me and millions of others, in present and past lifetimes, before we woke up, unless we didn’t, but we are talking hypothetically today. Through my present moment exercises, I am stronger, and I am grateful for that, and this supports me in feeling good in this place of a very, very rainy present now. It is okay to feel good, even though others may be adding mournful tears to the waters.

We get in our own way sometimes, over thinking, over guessing, over fearing. In my present now, as I BE strong, I also help others to BE strong…or BE compassionate, or BE wise – we can BE many ways in one present now. That is my mission and the mission of the Higher Self Bookstore – as it is the mission of many individuals, groups, and establishments. To support you in your personal and spiritual growth, to offer opportunities for knowledge and clarity.

For me, I choose to be in the present moment, focused on feeling good, and in preparation for the next now moment of feeling good, no matter what.

"I Know Your Mama Taught You Better"

I stepped in gum in the parking lot. It was the second time this summer. Instead of reflecting on the esoteric symbolism of these events in my life, my thought was immediate: "I know your mama taught you better than this!" I mean, really - what mother would teach her child to spit out gum in a parking lot?

It reminded me of a time, years ago, when I lived in Port Huron, Michigan, on my way north to a destination I can't recall. I was in the car behind a convertible with two young men sitting in it. As we were waiting for the light to change, the passenger dude reached out and dropped a large bag of Burger King waste on the ground! I had the opportunity to pull up next to him and said, "I know your mama taught you better than that!" He laughed, said something about mothers, and they drove on. We were heading in the same direction and I followed them for miles, strategizing how I would teach them a lesson (I didn't know about karma then).

They eventually pulled into a party store/gas station. Here was my chance! I would go dump one of the trash cans right into their convertible! Yes, that would teach'em!

No, I chickened out. My fear of legal repercussions, or respect for convertibles, won out but I have regretted not taking that action ever since.

Did their mothers not teach them about littering? Of course they did! As did the schools and anyone else who had their attention for a split second. Then why do we so quickly want to blame a parent for a person's misbehavior? More importantly, why do we blame ourselves as parents for the misbehavior of our own children?

If I recall correctly, I did teach my child to only spit gum into a waste receptacle (or my hand) and not to litter, and explained that it was inconsiderate to others and the environment. She did it anyway and reaped my wrath if I happened to catch her at it). Did she stop doing these things through fear of my anger? Or, did she step in gum and have an AHA moment? I can't know for sure.

I know I am not alone in my private thoughts as a mother: Did I do it right? Did I do it wrong? Could I have done it differently? The answer will always be yes, so I don't waste as much time on these particular meditations as I used to. I did my best, and I do better all the time. The kid will truly learn her lessons her way, no matter how much I'd like it to be my way.

So, to the gum-spitters, because I love you, "May you step in gum until you don't anymore."

I "C" You!

Conflict, crises, confusion, catastrophes, calamities, and change. We are all in a C (sea) of amazing and fascinating upheaval! I don't know anyone who isn't at best-juggling the present events in their lives, or at worst - appearing to be drowning in the events that seem to be just happening to them.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all just go back to how it used to be. Never mind that we were complaining and unhappy with the events we didn't prefer happening to us, it just seemed to be at a little slower pace, it was easier to handle, and we survived doing what needed to be done. In other words, we have selective memories about the past.

Well, it's not going to happen. We are all in full speed ahead! The lessons we were taking our good ol' sweet time about learning have run out of patience with us, time has sped up, and it is now or never.

By we and us, I mean you and me and humanity. We can't go back and our future depends on our addressing the onslaught of the "C's" with a new spirit, a new attitude, a new way of surrendering, and a willingness to grow. Now, not later.

Kinda heavy stuff for Ricki to be writing, you are saying to yourself right now. I can hear you. Don't try to deny it. Well, heavy is a perception and if you read backwards you will note I started out saying "amazing" and "fascinating." You can gloom and doom it, but it really isn't necessary.

If you are trying to get back to the comforts of home, so to speak, you will struggle and you will be disappointed. "C"hange is your saving grace right now. Embrace it. Practice change everyday, intentionally. That way you are already in the flow for that next "C" that shows up for you.

Make friends with some different "C's", like courage, consideration, compassion, curiosity, caring, calm, cooperation, and commitment. Your shift in perception alone could change some of those terrible (perception word) "C's" into terrific (also a perception word) "C's".

This is not a "oh, I'll start it tomorrow" exercise. The time is now. Now is the only time. You will play in the sea of "C's" now, or struggle in the sea of "C's" now. You get to "C"hoose!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Yes, ten years ago on July 7, I will celebrate ten years as the caretaker of the Higher Self Bookstore in Traverse City, Michigan. In August of 2000, another new beginning was happening - the first publication of Healing Garden Journal. I wrote the following article for their September issue. I have edited it slightly, but this is it's first re-posting since that time. For some reason, it did not get into Ricki Writes archive on the Higher Self web site. Another coincidense?

This is a story about how I came to be here, and how I feel about the Higher Self to this very day. Enjoy, and thank you, from the fullness of my heart. Without you, this dream could not continue.
(this is my PR pic taken in 2000)

Why Here? Why Me?
by Ricki Blanchard - August 2000

Almost four years ago, I stepped into the Higher Self Bookstore and said to myself, "I'd like to do something like this someday." There were books everywhere (I love to read), some I've read, and some on subjects I'd never heard of. Jewelry in shapes and symbols that held my attention. Items for rituals, psychic and inner-exploration, most quite foreign to me. I wanted to hang around, but a long drive back to Downriver Detroit awaited me.

I was in the area to attend a personal growth course in Northport. Five years ago I associated personal growth with college courses and business seminars. I was introduced to a course based on the concept that 'what you believe creates your life'. It change my life and opened me up to infinite possibilities.

Just dreaming, a friend and I imagined creating an entity like the Higher Self in the Downriver Detroit area. I also mentioned having a bookstore someday to my daughter, Anna, who took it all quite seriously. She didn't want the dream, she wanted the reality - and she wanted it now. I could not see how this was possible. She started making signs for the door of the bookstore we would have - someday.

I left the corporate world and assisted in introducing the Lifeskills training to others. I helped form a company around this curriculum and learned much of what it takes to start and build a small business. Many people have taken the Lifeskills courses, and their awakening was my main reward.

While Anna and debated over gourmet coffee or a tea room in our store, other investment opportunities came my way. Though I was still in debt from the launching of Access I Education, I did not let these get away.

Last October, I asked my women's group who wanted to invest in a bookstore with me. They all raised their hands. Many voices joined in the store conversation. Anna started researching where to find investment money.

In February, during a reading, a psychic asked me when I was moving? "Oh," I said, "I couldn't for a couple years yet. She said it would be sooner.

In April a friend showed me the ad in the Phenomenews magazine about the Higher Self Bookstore being for sale. Yes, the store I wanted to emulate was available! The Universe was giving what I had asked for, and I dared not say "But God, I'm not ready!", though this was my first thought. I had no idea how to do this, but I trusted that as I took the steps, the what and the who I needed would show up. And so it was.

I called the broker for information; I called a friend who handles mortgages who called a friend who was expert in business properties; I got advise from a friend who owned a franchise; I talked to everyone I knew, made lists of questions and got the answers. I traveled to Traverse City with my sister, Cindy, an accountant. I introduced myself via telephone to the owner, Kathleen Campbell, letting her know about the synchronicities that had occurred. It was like talking to an old friend.

Now, I had arranged for the sale of my condo, but where was the rest of the money going to come from? I went to my women's group and said, "This is real! Who's in?" No hands this time. During the discussions that followed, my cousin, Carol, turned to me and said, "How much did you say you had in your retirement account? Ricki, you have the money. You can do this yourself!" I did and I could. Less than a year ago, my broker had gotten me into internet stocks at just the right time. The money was there. Coincidence?

So, I discreated the belief that one shouldn't touch their retirement account. My offer was accepted! Kathleen worked with me to put all the details in place. Utilities, insurance, lease agreements, telephone and credit card services, bank accounts, rubber stamps, waste disposal, and on and on. We closed on July 7, 2000.

In two months time, my whole life had changed. I understand about thoughts being energy, and speech making it stronger, and like matter (energy) joining like matter and eventual manifestation. I understand it, I just don't explain it so good. The store was more evidence for me that my beliefs, along with my commitment and action that supports them, do create my life, the life I want when I'm intentional.

Why this particular store? This is more than a store. This place has to be experienced. Whenever I enter it, and others have told me they feel the same way, I immediately have a sense of peace, a certain calmness. At the same time, there's an energy that lifts me up and promises happiness, excitement, and joy.

I want people to come here, take their shoes off, stay awhile, get grounded - or get high, naturally. This place is here to support all forms of enlightenment and transformation. No matter what belief system, or no belief system, and no matter if a person is just starting to explore or has been on the path a long, long time, the Higher Self will provide the tools, books, ritual supplies, and symbolic reminders for whatever helps a person get in touch and stay in touch with their spirit. The store also supports natural healing, body work, and other therapies for healthy body-mind-spirit connections. Healers/readers are here everyday and walk-ins are welcome, though appointments are recommended. Classes and workshops are being scheduled for evenings and weekends.

I feel as if I was welcomed into the store and the community with loving, open arms. My goal is that everyone who enters the store experiences this same feeling. Come see. Come feel. I am so glad to be here, and promise to take good care of this Higher Self.

Circumstantial Evidence

I think I fell asleep a couple weeks last month. Reminded me of this article, slightly edited and abridged, found in whole at www.higherselfbookstore.com. I hope you like this share:

Circumstantial Evidence (from the Archives - abridged)
by Ricki Blanchard

When I was little, my grandmother gave my cousin and me identical dresses – except hers was pink and mine was blue. My cousin was pretty and petite, with tiny features and long, dark hair she could wear in banana curls. I, on the other hand, was a little chunky with hair that waved in all the wrong places. My mother once described me as "handsome." At four years old, I knew that pretty little girls wore pink. So what do you think I decided to believe when I didn't get the pink dress? I was not pretty enough. "Not" and "enough" being the operative words here.

Of course, I did not go around for the next fifty years telling people I was not pretty enough for pink. What I did do was forget that I made up that belief at four years old. I forgot it, then I forgot that I had forgotten it. I did, however, let the belief manifest itself in various and wondrous ways.

If you don't believe me, well... I have evidence that I was “Not enough!” I came in second place in the handwriting contest in fourth grade. I came in third in the drawing contest in fifth grade. I was co–captain of the majorettes in ninth. I was co–editor of the high school newspaper. I was tied for the best looking four–eyes my senior year. I was second chair in the flute section, then I was put on probation as a music major in college. I was the second woman my ex–husband proposed to and wore those secondhand rings.

Get the picture? Then you can understand how I created the belief over the years that someone else could do it better, and I should let them. I forgot that I made up that belief as well. And yes, I have evidence that that belief didn't just go away either. I left my husband because he deserved someone who wasn't angry all the time. I let other people take care of my daughter whenever possible, eventually letting her go live with her father and his new family. Promotions went to the better qualified. I hung out with married men who never did leave their "better" half.

When it was suggested to me that I created my life, I was flabbergasted. If this were true, why on earth would I create this particular life for myself? Because my beliefs create my life, even those I had forgotten. And, the human brain would rather be right than happy!

What if I was enough? What if I got the blue dress instead of pink because blue was my grandmother's favorite color? What if grandma wrapped the dresses and didn't even remember which dress was in which box when she handed one to each of us? What if pink just wasn't available in my size? No, I created "not pretty enough" and got to say, "See, I'm right!" all over the place.

I had given the incident meaning, and then I drew from my past to give meaning to the events that followed. Not consciously, not intentionally. Kind of like sleepwalking.

We humans are meaning–making machines. We give meaning to everything – what it means to be successful, what it means to have money (or not to have money), to be a woman, a man, to be single, married, old, young – everything! Those meanings, those beliefs, create what we experience and how we perceive. They create our reality, what's true for us, inside and out. What it means to get pink roses instead of red. What it means to get a blue dress instead of a pink one.

Yes, I bless the day someone was kind enough to give me a shake and offer me a new concept to play with. I continue to explore and learn and experience myself as the creator of my life. I read and ask questions, but mostly I have sought out and participated in courses that let me really experience just how I do it, so I can go out and do it on purpose. And I am committed to offering others a gentle shake and a new idea to try on.

Today, I am pretty when I choose, handsome when I choose, and beautiful – just as I have always been – all the time. The woman I am today still prefers to wear black. The little girl in me loves to cuddle up at night in her new pink robe. I am accepting of others and enjoy the wonders of who they are, not who I think they should be. I am accepting of myself and recognize that I am an awesome, powerful creator – even when I've dozed off and created something I didn't prefer.

I invite you all to explore, ask questions, challenge indoctrination, and wake up others along the way.

What's So Bad About Feeling Bad, Part Two

Now, I did not plan to practice what I preach. I did not intend to sit around feeling bad. I did not set out to prove a point, to you or to myself. This "Part Two" was not on a list of things I'd like to write about in the future. But I must admit, I spent a good portion of this past month in and around feeling bad. I think because in some way, it felt good.

What prompted me to write more on this subject was references in my recent reality about the Dark Side, Shadow Work, and going through hell to get to heaven. Yes! That's it!

I spent much of April being in a low place, like a "shadowland", sitting and waiting for "what next?" Like watching a soap opera and becoming addicted, rushing home at the end of the day (if I bothered to leave the house, that is) to sit on the couch and wait and watch. Then I participated in the reviews and ratings. There has been a whole lot of drama at my house lately, and I got caught up in it (yes, I knew I shouldn't but I did anyway).

I even tried to direct some of the scenes myself, suggesting more enlightened alternatives to the scripts being played out. I discovered that I really have very little influence from the low place I was in. It's about vibration, vibration, vibration!

That was an aha moment, but that's not the only one. I learned the subtleness of drama, drama I had never recognized before - very sneaky stuff! I woke up and noticed where I was and what I was up to. Then decided to stay a couple days longer because it really was quite fascinating to me! I opened up, sat up, took notes, and was able to get many aha moments: remembering who I am, remembering that I CAN consciously create my day and not just sit and see what my unconscious brings to me -surprises not of my preference, one right after the other. More, much more - glad I visited hell to get to heaven.

I had had a type of Dark Night, walked through my own hell, dwelled in the shadowland of low vibration. I do believe I came out Lighter than when I went in. There are many books and resources about the "Shadow" and getting to know our shadow-selves will serve us by helping us recognize the shadow, love the shadow, but not let the shadow lead and repeat the patterns that limit us.

About a week ago I intentionally started to raise my vibration. I let people around me know that that was what I was up to so they could write me out of their drama scripts. And I invited those people to come along! There are enough soap opera stars in the world and we don't have to be one of them.

By one ticket to Shadowland, get two tickets to Paradise! Free! Thanks for reading.

What's So Bad About Feeling Bad?

What is so bad about feeling bad? This question popped into my head while deep in discussion about why we do the things we do to avoid feeling bad. Think about it! Think about all the instant gratification stuff we do to avoid feeling bad: eating, drinking, sexing, drugging, watching TV or other zone-out screen watching (games, computer), spend too much money. Feel bad, do this feel better - for just a little while, then do it again.

And that is just what we do for ourselves. Think about all we do so that the others around us will not feel bad: lie, cook, pour, lend, look the other way, gift. All just so that we feel better, that we have some peace.

But look at all the opportunities we missed just because we didn't take the time to listen and understand the "bad" feeling to begin with. Fix it fast - with a bandaid. Poke your finger into the bleeding hole, and don't move! How often have we interrupted someone else's "aha" moment by handing them a tissue, a chocolate, keys to the car?

I'm sure I have missed out on some awesome breakthroughs, for myself and others, by making the bad feeling bad and trying to put the fix to it immediately. What is so bad about feeling bad? Not a thing. Not one little thing.

So use it. Take the opportunity to have a little chat with yourself next time you have a feeling you call bad. It just may be the "big" one you've been waiting for, the aha of all ahas! I'm certainly going to be with the next bad feeling long enough to get clear on it before taking any action, if any action is required. More importantly, I am no longer going to help someone avoid the bad just so I can feel good.

This will not be easy, but I do not feel "bad" about that in the least!

To Get Out Of It You Must Be In It!

I have started walking, usually in the mornings. I know, I thought an alien had possessed my body as well - the jury is still out. Anyway, I'm up to about two miles in 45 minutes. Yes! This is good.

A couple mornings ago, after wrapping myself up in coat, scarf, hat and gloves, I started out and immediately noticed just how cold it was. I've been walking in the cold (I am in Northern Michigan you know!), but today the wind was up and I was very tempted to turn around and take off all the layers (why I haven't bought long johns yet is a mystery), and put in a Jane Fonda video.

But I kept moving forward. My mind started playing with the possibilities of getting what I wanted in a shorter period of time so I could get out (of the cold!). I don't run. A couple years ago my sister and I ran across a parking lot to see if we could run because it had been so long since we did. We could, we were happy about that, and we stopped. A week or so ago I had to run across Garfield to get to the track - it wasn't awful. Last weekend end my sister was walking with me and suggested a short jog - 30 seconds. I made it 20 seconds. It wasn't awful.

So, hey, why don't I try mixing up the walking with a little jogging.....must be the alien speaking again. I'm saying: What? You know I don't run! It will hurt! I'll fall down! I'll break something! and so on and so on.

The alien possessing my body kept me walking, then jogging for 30 seconds, then walking, then jogging. On flat planes and inclines. As I was adjusting to this new "can do" I started thinking of other situations where I would like to "get out of it" and how changing what I did could provide the same effect, reap the same rewards, in less time. Wow, the possibiities!

I had to be "in it" to see a new way "out." I needed the challenge to be immediate, in this case anyway. I suppose one can look at it from a distance and analyse and come of with possible solutions. But I'm guessing the best ideas come from being "in it" or having been "in it" and never wanting to go there again.

So, I got a good work out and shaved off about 15-20 minutes (I always forget to check the clock before I head out). I just may try it again! I could still use some long johns - and a good sports bra.