Day: June 7, 2010

Peace of Me

Published on by mbcoudalLeave a comment

I am trying to run a 5K. It’s a small goal. But, as I like to say, low expectations = high results;  high expectations = low results. (I might have made that up.)

I like to write down this goal, because some Harvard study says CEOs who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. (I like to throw in Harvard studies on this blog to show that I am erudite.)

Let’s face it, a 5K is doable. I will never run a marathon. I will never win, place or show in any major sporting event. I just hope to occasionally beat my kids – or simply, keep up with them — at tennis, swimming, and dancing.

Living an athletic life is not that hard. My biggest hurdle is something within me that says I am being selfish if I pursue physical activity simply for my own well being. How can I go for a run when I should unload the dishwasher or declutter the top of my dresser?  

It seems to me there is always something better or more family-centered or more productive to do than work out. 

You don’t actually need much to do sports. Running requires a pair of shoes (and for me, a really good sports bra). Tennis requires a racket, balls and an opponent. Swimming? A suit and a body of water.  

But the thing I need for any sport is gumption or stick-to-it-ive-ness. I need the ability to leap over my Mental Block (my MB). MB is standing by the front door, tapping her toe, barring me from my exit. She looks like the SuperNanny. She says, “Stay home and do housework. Who do you think you are? You’re not all that. You can’t even run a 5K.”

And this is when I have to slip on my headphones, tune my Pandora to Britney, baby, and slip on past my pissed-off SuperEgo. Tune my SuperEgo out. Turn my Inner Britney up.

Britney sings, “You want a piece of me?” And it’s really a good song to run to. Because it feels so right. Everyone wants a piece of me and if I don’t run or work out on a regular basis, I will have no piece to give them. I will get crabby. Then they’ll get a piece of me all right. And it won’t be cute or funny.

My 7 Rules

Published on by mbcoudal3 Comments

Every six months or so, I think I should repeat My 7 Rules.

  1. Pile on the people. Or — pile on the useful people. This is hard. And you may need to pay real money here.
  2. Escape through literature. Proof in point — I am writing this on a plane going to San Francisco on route to Napa Valley with my book club. Literature leads to good things. We were talking about this at a recent book club meeting when we were talking about, “A Short History of Women: a Novel” by Kate Walbert. (Good and substantive.) The historical and present-day women in that book, like the suffragette, were definitely leading lives of quiet desperation. “Why don’t they join a book club?” asked one of the book club members. People in book clubs think other people should join book clubs. People who read think everyone should read. (Incidentally, our book for this California meeting is, “A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth, and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma” by Alan Deutschman. (Kind of fun and trashy.))
  3.  Hold on to your hoops of steel. This is my rule based on a Shakespeare quote. And I throw it in so I appear literary. And though I can’t, at this moment, even remember what play this quote’s from, it means keep the ones you love close. My work and my family – these are my hoops of steel.
  4. Cultivate a secret garden. Can’t say much about this. But if you plant, grow, weed a secret garden, keep it close to the vest, like your cards at a poker game. Don’t ask; Don’t tell. So now that I’ve thrown you a bunch of mixed metaphors, like seeds to the wind, I hope you follow the trail to your own secret garden.
  5. Expect the best/love what you get. This works well when training animals, rearing children, and getting along with annoying coworkers.
  6. Live every day as if it were your last. This is the Carpe Diem rule. And one day, it will be your last day, so you might as well live fully today. As mom always said, “They can’t repossess your vacation.” True words to contemplate while on a plane bound for a vacation.
  7. Embrace uncertainty. I had a friend who would smile whenever she said, “I don’t know.” I try to do that too. It’s difficult for me. I like knowing everything. I like being a know-it-all.

Those are my 7 Rules.