Life Coach Gerri

My niece Monica from North Carolina and her best friend Kandace visited this past weekend. Monica turned fourteen on Saturday and I flipped sixty-one on Sunday and we celebrated in great style at Disney World. I thought that nothing could top last year’s gala party when I joined the ranks of the sixty-year-olders, but this was right up there in a memory-maker.

Disney is the king of celebrations! We were issued buttons to wear, complete with our names, identifying us as birthday girls! Cast members, as Disney refers to their employees, pay close attention to the buttons, and throughout the weekend, we heard “Happy Birthday”, along with our name, many, many times. I cannot tell you how special I felt and I know that Monica did too. My husband also was very attentive, not allowing me to carry my back pack all day, and every time a cast member said, “Happy Birthday, Gerri”, so did he. In fact, one had an accent and my name sounded more like Jeddy than Gerri, so Dave had a good time calling me Jeddy all day. It was great fun to be so special for a day.

I highly recommend visiting Disney for your birthday and if you cannot do that, find a special way to celebrate. Dave jumped out of an airplane for a tandem-parachute ride. That wasn’t my idea of a good time, but when I turned fifty, several friends bought me the Richard Petty Driving Experience and I drove a real stock car 118.1 mph on an oval track. Wow, I still can remember the excitement of going that fast.

However you celebrate is up to you, but I truly feel like God wants us to grab the gusto in life. You don’t need an excuse to celebrate either. Perhaps this weekend, you can bake a cake, blow out the candles for no reason at all, other than life is great, and why not celebrate?

What could possibly be spiritual about exercise? Well, it’s all part of taking good care of me. I hated exercise. Even though I had lost over 100 lbs in 1993, exercise wasn’t part of that regiment – I lost it by eating less. A medical problem about eight years ago resulted in a weight gain, so in addition to changing my eating, I also was encouraged to move my body. I did so, kicking and screaming.

I remember one evening, walking and whining on the phone to a dear friend. She asked me if my negative attitude may exacerbate the dislike of exercise. Her question initiated some thought. Could I change how I looked at exercise to make it more palatable? What did I have to lose?

Someone then told me about walking meditation. Wow, meditate while walking? What a concept. I have trouble sitting still, so the idea of walking and meditating appealed to me. There are many suggestions on how to do this and I found one that worked for me!

To clear my mind, I breathe in while thinking, “Breathe in God”. When exhaling, I say, “Breathe out self.” A rhythm starts and soon my head clears. I am blessed to live in a wooded area, so there are lots to see while walking. I try to look ‘into ‘the wooded area, between the trees to what lies beyond. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to see a deer! My mind becomes calm and quiet. If random thoughts begin to clutter my mind, I once again repeat my little mantra and adjust my steps to the cadence of the words, saying them slowly and deliberately.

Breathe in God.

Breathe out self.

 Here are some websites that address walking meditation:

http://www.meditateclass.com/walking/index.html 

http://1stholistic.com/meditation/hol_meditation_walking_meditation.htm

http://www.contemplativemind.org/practices/subnav/walking.htm

“Within you right now is the power to do things you never dreamed possible. This power becomes available to you just as soon as you can change your beliefs.” Dr. Maxwell Maltz

Reframing is a technique commonly used in coaching, where people discover that by changing their perspective, problems become opportunities!

A few years ago, I was invited to speak at a local church, for a kick off program called Lead Like Jesus, based on the book of the same name, by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges. It changed how I looked at my life and my coaching practice, which shifted toward helping people to see the spirituality in life. I found that any goal becomes more exciting and attainable, when viewed in a spiritual light.

Prior to that, I went on a scuba diving trip in the Florida Keys. There was an interesting coral formation very near to where we descended from the boat, but seemingly void of any fish. Instead of scurrying away to find the most colorful fish, I felt drawn to patiently wait and watch. Soon I was aware that something was also watching me! It was the biggest Jewfish I had ever seen, nestled quietly underneath the formation, resembling Elmer Fudd with his pouting lower lip! We both watched each other intently for a period of time – it was indeed a spiritual experience.

By reframing life to stay present in the moment, there is a reward. In the case of scuba diving, I reframed how I approached that dive, looking for what was right in front of me, rather than what may be up ahead. I’ve done the same thing with my weaknesses, embracing and reframing them to be strengths. It is in my imperfections that people are able to relate to me! I saw perfection for what it really is – unattainable! As stated in previous blogs, I seek excellence today, which is possible, where perfection just is not.

In 1993, I reframed dieting, which never really worked very well – each diet ultimately resulted in a weight gain! Sure, initially I’d lose weight, but as soon as the diet was over, I’d return to my old eating habits, gain back what I lost and a few more pounds for good measure. That has to be insanity, to repeat something that was unsuccessful, over and over, hoping that this time it will be different. My thinking shifted to a spiritual approach to eating. I not only lost over 100 lbs, but also, for the first time in my life, did not return to my old eating habits that had doomed me to a life of morbid obesity. In actuality, I had reframed my outlook on eating many years before I even know what reframing was! If you want to read more about this, you can order my book, Trust God and Buy Broccoli, A Spiritual Approach to Weight Loss.

Perhaps there is something you want to change in your life. Maybe it’s time to reframe it! Please let us know how that worked for you!

Here are a few websites on reframing that you might enjoy, along with the book, Lead Like Jesus.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_05.htm – reframing tools for business

http://www.vivocoaching.com/blog/tag/reframing-perspective/ – Life is a journey

http://www.amazon.com/Lead-Like-Jesus-Greatest-Leadership/dp/0849900409 – by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges

Hunnee Bunnee and me!

You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself, he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job. (Laurence J. Peter)

Having a good friend is truly a spiritual experience. There have been many people who have brightened my life with their friendship, but I also am truly blessed to enjoy a friendship with my sisters, which crosses the bond of blood ties to BFF (best friends forever,  for those of you without kids).

Our bond grew stronger during the last two weeks, as my father was hospitalized with blocked arteries. My closest-in-age sister was torn between tending to our mother (who cannot be left alone due to dementia) and seeing her youngest son graduate from Marine tech school. I had a plane ticket for ten days later, but changed it to come up and help with our folks so Joanne could see her son graduate. I’d do that again in a heartbeat; Joanne goes beyond sisterhood. She’d do the same for me.

Our youngest sister, Sandy came up and joined us for the weekend. In-between visits to my father, we visited and even had a pajama party with our mother. What fun! Both are phenomenal women and I am honored to call them sisters and friends.

I cannot leave out my two best friends, Hunnee Bunnee and Glori-Be.

Hunnee Bunnee taught me to love unconditionally. Every time I am with her, it is a celebration of friendship. I watch how she treats people and it makes me want to be just like her. I am a better person because of her.

My good friend Glori-be teaches me tenacity. She trudges forward in her life, despite work and health challenges, and is quick to ask what she can do for me. May I learn to put others before myself as this friend does.

That’s the spiritual part of friendship – recognizing the talents and character assets of our friends who love us unconditionally. Our bond transcends character flaws, and make it safe to just be ourselves.  Who could ask for more in life?

Do you have a friend who impacts your life in a special way?

Here are some interesting articles on Friendship

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/18/in-defense-of-best-friends/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl8|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2010%2F06%2F18%2Fin-defense-of-best-friends%2F

http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200303/20030301_friends.html