Tag Archives: change

1 April 2011

Ch-ch-ch-changes

By Nicki

I have to say that I have been indulging in writing a lot lately but not on my blog.  I also have to say that somehow that disappoints me. I have worked hard to get my blog readership and then I ignored you all.  To that end, I have some changes in mind.  So here is the laundry list.

 

  1. I am going, in the next week or two, do a full overhaul of the blog.  I have had this look for a while and, while I like it, there is so much more that it could be.  I can also learn different things by making these changes.
  2. I am going to set up a Facebook page for the blog.
  3. I am going to look at other ways to publicize my blog, such as a LinkedIn page.
  4. I am going to set up a schedule for blog posts.  This way on Mondays I will also be writing about a certain area of my life.  Race recaps will always be on the same day of the week.  Having such a schedule will allow my readers to skip visiting if a particular day is not information they want or need.  This will also allow me to track which topics I love to write about are of most interest to you.

No, just to be sure, this is not an April Fool’s joke.  Neither is the weather here in upstate NY.  This is my promise to you my readers, my blog and to myself.

4 comments   |  tags: , | posted in Just my Thoughts

4 May 2010

Toughness, Resilience & Rolling with the Punches

By Nicki

I had just stopped by Motherese to read some of Kristen’s thoughts stemming from the first book club over there.  Kristen was talking/writing about the difference between toughness and resilience.  What to my surprise pops into my inbox but an email with the subject “How  Well do You Roll with the Punches?”  Coincidence?  Fate?  Just dumb luck?

In the email was the following quote:

Whatever is flexible and flowing will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.

- Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu’s teachings

I went back to thinking about what Kristen had written and the quote and the remainder of the email.  Kristen had written about being tough but not necessarily resilient and how do you teach your children to be resilient.  The email got me thinking about whether I was resilient.  Do I roll with the punches?

Change is to be expected.  There are very few things that are static.  Even nature is a dynamic, changing force.  Look at the mountains or the valleys.  Look at weather as a front comes through an area.  Constant change.  But the question is do we bend like a tree branch that is supple or snap like a brittle one.

To grow, we must learn to roll with the changes.  Change will always be in the world, in our lives.  If we do not bend, we will break.  Broken is not a good state for humans.  Humans who do not change do not learn and stagnation sets in.  Being stagnant is not a state that humans like.  Constant learning and bending when necessary, or simply changing paths, will help life more smoothly.

Do you consider yourself able to roll with the punches?  Are you resilient?  What about your partner, your children?

19 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Just my Thoughts

19 October 2009

Flexibility and Change

By Nicki

I receive a “Healthy Reflections” email every day from Sparkpeople.com.  Today’s just hit home with me as a friend has been talking about change a lot lately.  Below is the quote that came with the reflection and the reflection itself.  Keep reading!  You will find my thoughts.

How Well do You Roll with the Punches?

Change is the natural order of the world. When something tries to stand against the force of change, it’s eventually destroyed. Cliffs are eroded, trees are uprooted, granite cracks. People can crack too. For us to grow and live–to flourish–it takes adaptation and learning. Stubborn attachment to a single set of “knowledge” or way of doing things leads to stagnation of the mind and spirit. Remember to keep an open mind to new people and new ideas. Challenge yourself to always be learning something new. Focus on the possibilities of a fresh start, instead of hanging on to old frustrations. Sails are made with cloth for a reason. When they’re stiff, winds beat against them until they tear. But if the sails are relaxed and workable, the wind can take you to places you’ve never been before.

Whatever is flexible and flowing will tend to grow; whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.

- Tao Te Ching, Lao Tsu’s teachings


For whatever reason, as adults, people tend to not like change.  We settle into our jobs, our lives and never question anything as we want the status quo to continue.  What we seldom realize, until we embrace the fact that change happens with or without us, is that the status quo may not be good for us.  The status quo may be holding us back from what we are really suppose to be doing in life.  The status quo may be keeping us in relationships that are not good for us or for the others in them.

By embracing change, we can learn to be like the sails in the reflection above.  We can realize that we do not need to beaten down or torn apart by life and its changes but can roll and flow with what comes to us.

While a lot of people who know me think I am rather rigid – I live by my calendar, I really love to do spontaneous things.  I just, much against the definition, try to plan my spontaneous things.  I like to know that a new learning goal will involve a class or two and when that class will take place.  I like to know that I have time in my schedule to spend with new friends and with old friends and, when possible, with both old and new friends together.

If you cringe at the word change, learn to not.  Learn to embrace what comes your way.  Learn to love your life regardless of whether it goes where you think it will or is blown a different direction by the prevailing winds.

4 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Just my Thoughts

3 October 2008

Fall …

By Nicki

This blog entry has been floating around in my head for a few days.  I would toy with talking it through into my mp3 player, which also has a voice recorder, as I ran because that is when the difference in seasons really hits me.  The colors are so vibrant.  The breeze is stiffer and cooler.  It is coming from a totally different direction.  And, yesterday, the clouds looked more like snow clouds than rain clouds.  Autumn is here.

To that end, I start my fall cleaning.  I know most people have spring cleaning.  The ability to open the windows and air out the stale inside air of the winter helps motivate spring cleaning.  I, though, am an outdoorsy type person.  I am outside as much in fall and winter as I am in spring and summer.  So I clean to help sweep away everything that I missed that was tracked in during the summer months of open windows and open doors.

So to welcome fall to my home, I am changing my table cloth.  I am changing my water goblets – yes, they are plastic but I don’t care.  I am changing my menu as food is different in the fall from in the summer.  I am changing my centerpiece on my table – from a basket of peaches and melons to a basket of apples.  I am changing my candles I burn to cranberry apple and pumpkin spice.  I am changing my routine – from running in the early morning to running in the late morning or afternoon, from having only coffee as a hot drink in the morning to having coffee and a pot of tea.

Happy Fall!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Family, Just my Thoughts

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