Turn Around Tuesday

“Going in one more round when you don’t think you can – that’s what makes all the difference in your life. “- Rocky Balboa, Rocky IV (1985)

As I approach the first birthday of TAT, I have been fortunate to receive quite a few congratulatory emails. More often than not, they contain a common sentiment and it falls into this vein.

“Wow! That first year. I remember that. All the ups and downs, trials and successes, joys and frustrations.”

I can’t help but think about how awful life would be if we threw in the towel whenever the going got tough. I can’t imagine what it would be like if the first couple bruises and hard hits that connected on the chin scared us off.

More importantly, what effect would it have on our character if we never allowed ourselves to be tested and stretched? What type of people would we be if we refused to stare down adversity and difficulty? What would we be able to claim as a individual if we never placed ourselves in the position to see just what we are made of?

Today I do not encourage reckless behavior. But I will encourage a healthy dose of, “What would happen if I tried…”and “I wonder if I could…” Do that thing you know you should do but have hesitated out of unchecked caution. Question the procrastination of the hard task. Consider what would happen if you tackled the big project. Know that there is support when you need it and a victory in the journey.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Next week we will celebrate the first birthday of Turn Around Tuesday. Lots of well wishes and encouragement has flowed in and I sure do appreciate it.

Earlier in the month, I celebrated my bloggy birthday at Making Life Work for You and My Beautiful Chaos. I had been looking forward to that milestone and appreciate you all joining in the excitement.

However, this week our family celebrates some birthdays that are even more special. My handsome husband has his day Friday and our oldest daughter follows on Sunday – she is going to be eleven! How in the world does that happen? I really do say that every year. It is just amazing to watch it all happen so fast…

So, happy, happy birthday all the way around! Let’s all have a slice of cake!

This week in history

• March 26, 1953 – Dr. Jonas Salks announces the polio vaccination
• March 27, 1929 – NASCAR is born
• March 30, 1870 – Fifteenth Amendment adopted
• March 31, 1889 – Eiffel Tower opens

Turn Around Tuesday

“Ah come on, Adrian, it’s true. I was nobody. But that don’t matter either, you know? ‘Cause I was thinkin’, it really don’t matter if I lose this fight. It really don’t matter if this guy opens my head, either. ‘Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody’s ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that ain’t just another bum from the neighborhood.”- Rocky Balboa, Rocky I (1976)

“All I want to do is go the distance.” Hmm. There is a lesson there. In fact, there are probably a few.

I have watched four children learn to walk. It happened for each of them at different times and in different ways. Some got frustrated easier and others didn’t seem to mind falling down. The one constant is obviously that none of them gave up.

We all have different definitions of success. It could be a first step, a new business, a marathon, a vacation or just being able to turn off your cell phone. Whatever that definition is, what ever that accomplishment looks like, you will never get there if you stop moving forward.

“All I want to do is go the distance.” There is something to be said for tenacity. It is a testament of character to continue on against adversity, against difficulty and on to the destination. There is something to be said for going the distance.

I want to encourage you to define your definition of success and continue to move forward. Realize that things get hard and some things don’t go as planned. But the end will never be realized if we don’t commit to going the distance.

Easter Extravaganza at J.F. Gregory Park

Easter is coming earlier this year. It hasn’t been this early since the early 1900’s. No worries, though. The New Beginnings Church, along with tons of community support, is ready with the Easter Extravaganza.

Festivities will kick off at 11am this Saturday at J.F. Gregory Park. There will be lots of activities and fun for the whole family.

Included in the afternoon is a massive Easter egg hunt with a count that is close to 15,000. The Easter Bunny will be there and available for pictures. Other entertainment and food will offered.

You can well imagine an event this size takes a lot of work. If you are able to volunteer – especially in hiding all those eggs – give the church a call at 912.308.7635,

My family hopes to see yours there.

This week in history

• March 19, 1831 – First U.S. Bank heist
• March 20, 1965 – Lyndon Johnson sends federal troops to Alabama to supervise a civil rights march
• March 21 1983 – Little House on the Prairie comes to an end
• March 24, 1989 – Exxon Valdez runs aground in southern Alaska

Happy Bloggy Birthday!

Blogging is an amazing thing. I didn’t realize what I was getting into when I started this a year ago. The thought when I started was pretty basic. I needed a way to promote my real estate website, market myself and I would get to write on a regular basis.

How limited those thoughts were and reflect just how much I didn’t know about blogging.

In the beginning, I thought I would join the impressive rank of real estate bloggers - or at least copy what they did in an attempt to remotely resemble the brilliance. I quickly realized that wasn’t my way. My approach is different and my way is different. The blog transformed into a place to discuss development, practices and general improvement. It is comfortable for me and it seems to work. After all, we have made it to the first birthday.

I am looking forward to year two here and over at My Beautiful Chaos. I am looking forward to talking with you more and meeting new folks that add to the discussion.

Big thanks to those walking with me while I follow those big dreams!

Turn Around Tuesday

*Conversation between Rocky and Paulie about Rock’s relationship with Adrian*
Paulie: You like her?
Rocky: Sure, I like her.
Paulie: What’s the attraction?
Rocky: I dunno… she fills gaps.
Paulie: What’s ‘gaps’?
Rocky: I dunno, she’s got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps. ” – Rocky I (1976)

This is my all time favorite Rocky quote, um, conversation, ever! Completely raw, honest and utterly romantic. But, if I take a step back, there is more to this “gap filling” than new love butterflies.

I have the benefit of knowing some really incredible people. I appreciate them for all that they are in the face of the things that I am not. This is not to say one is more or less than the other. It is just to say that it is a fact that we all have “gaps.” This encompasses all those things that we would do better to leave to the professionals. For instance, I will gladly help you write your vows. I will do you the favor of your life and refuse to sing at your wedding.

We all do well to know our gaps and connect with our gap fillers. I am a great project manager but a horrible organizer. I do a great job at presenting material to a room full of people, but I really don’t care for long, intensive training sessions. I have gaps. I am incredibly thankful for my gap fillers.

Today I want to encourage you to appreciate those who connect with you in a way that is mutually beneficial for both of you. Gaps are a fact of life. Good thing, too – gap filler relationships are some of the best kind. Wondrous things happen when we realize the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

St. Patty’s Day in Savannah

It is that time of the year again. For those who don’t know, St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah is the event of the year. Compared in size (and consumption) with Mardi Gras, we have the big parade and the bigger party.

I haven’t been to the festivities in years. It is just too much for me now. But a lot of folks I know will be enjoying the weekend.

So the mom in me surfaces. Be Safe! If not for yourselves, then for the others that may be on the road with you.

So that I am not all talk, I called a friend of mine that runs a transportation service (our town doesn’t have a taxi company).

I am passing on her information as she will service the areas outside, as well as within, Savannah.

MC Taxi & Shuttle Service 24 hours (912) 412-9839

Be careful out there so I can see you all next week!

This week in history

• March 11, 1968 – Otis Redding posthumously receives gold record for “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay”
• March 12, 1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt gives first Fireside Chat
• March 14, 1879 – Albert Einstein is born
• March 17, 1753 – First Official St. Patrick’s Day

Pressing the Reset Button

The neat thing about life is the way it ebbs and flows. We have moments of intense success and lulls of want. We find ourselves moving at the speed of light and at a turtle’s speed. To me, this variety creates excitement and movement. However, many of us, myself included, mistake this activity for the occasional reset needed to remain productive and on top of your game.

Let me explain – my laptop is my friend and we spend a lot of time together. This means it is often on and working – processing data, keeping things moving, holding onto important information. It works well. However, I have to take some time every once in a while to run the defrag, shut it down and let it restart. This is usually most important after a big run of work.

I have found myself in this same situation. A big move, some big projects and a new big position. While it all fits well into my current path, it took some time to ramp the “new” up so that it had enough momentum to run with the “old.” This wrecked my schedule. And while we all know that I am not a strickly scheduled individual, I do require some level of structure. All that went out the window over the past two months.

Once the dust had settled, I required a reset. I needed to defrag, power down and start back up. That is just what I did. I skipped the Friday night hang out at my folks house. I stayed in most of the weekend. I caught up on some house keeping, both on and off line. I watched movies with my family. I spent some time with a friend. I slept in Saturday and Sunday (for as long as the kids would allow) and I got to bed before 11pm last night.

I am ready to go.

• Have you ever found yourself in need of a reset?
  
• Do you need one now?
  
• What does it look like?

Squash the Inner Jerk

Making Life Work for You was very fortunate to have Joseph Bernard stop by. He left a comment that still has me chewing and writes a blog that is now in my reader. Comment, blog, brain turning – yep, that’s the phenom trifecta!

The topic was believing in yourself and Joseph’s point #2 was

Shrink the inner critic. Most of how we talk to ourselves is learned. Self-criticism serves no positive benefits.

Makes my brain move and I will tell you why and I am hoping we can talk about it as it is still an idea I am moving through.

I am going to take the points backwards

• I think that self-criticism does have positive benefits. Now, this disagreement of point may be little more that semantic in nature. But, I do think that honest introspection requires that we be our own critic. However. If we are talking about that jerk that lives in our brain – the one that doesn’t offer constructive criticism out of love and want for a grand development – squash him without mercy.

• You don’t even have to feel guilty about bashing that psycho jerk to id never-never land because he only exists because you allow it. Meaning, I do believe that how we talk to ourself is completely learned. It is either developed out of our own personality or taught to us by those around us. It really doesn’t matter which. What does matter is the jerk is in our head and he must be dealt with – regardless of how he got there.

• Shrink the inner critic – yeah, shrink him, but don’t get rid of him completely. Actually, I think I feel more comfortable keeping him appropriately. If I am doing those things I am good at, he can take a break. If I am working on a new development or branching out, maybe I should listen to suggestions a bit. But only from loving critic – not the pessimistic jerk.

Now, this is a topic that gets a lot of discussion, so I know you have some thoughts. Feel free to share them now.

Turn Around Tuesday

“Nothing is real if you don’t believe in who you are.”- Rocky Balboa, Rocky III (1982)

I wonder how many of us are comfortable being big dreamers. Now that we are al grown up, I am curious how many of us allow ourselves to go to that place of make believe in our mind where anything is possible and there are no limits. That place where all things turn out just the way we think they should and nothing is impossible.

Too often on the path to our personal success, we forget that we have to know where we are going, see ourselves there and then move forward. Sound silly? It isn’t. We do this kind of thing all the time.

Remember the last time you were getting ready to leave on that great vacation. Didn’t you say, at least once, “I can already see myself there.”

Being the person you want to be is no different. You must believe that is who you were meant to be and know that you can get there.

Today, I want to encourage you believe in who you are and who you are striving to be. Know that if you can’t see that person in yourself, nobody else is going to. Self confidence is not arrogance – it is the fuel for your journey.

Can’t believe it is March!

When the whirlwind that was February was finally over, I realized it was March. Sounds like no big deal – except I am now counting down to a year of Turn Around Tuesday.

That’s right! The first issue of Turn Around Tuesday was published the first Tuesday in April last year.

So, for the month of March, we a going through some of my favorite Rocky quotes and some other notable moments in history.

I couldn’t have done any of this without you. I really appreciate all the support and positive feedback.

This week in history

• March 4, 1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt inaugurated
• March 5, 1963 – The hula hoop was patented
• March 7, 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone