Recovery: Assessing your progress

In life, in work, with our families, we all need to take stock of where we are, where we want to go, and what we're doing to get there--especially if you notice lack of movement in a particular area. It's good to keep track so you can stay on task. Otherwise, it's too easy to get distracted.

Thus, here at BIKE WITH JACKIE, it's time to take stock of what we've discussed so far this month. For me, personally, I want to know where to take you next. So here's my Recovery recap:

Day 1: We began by starting a Blogathon with a group of speaker friends from the Arizona chapter of the National Speakers Association. This shows you we don't have to work alone. We can bring people in with us to help advance progress.

Day 2: Next, we discussed the importance of "letting go" the things that hold us back.

Day 3: We next were reminded that, even though we'll have them, we CAN move past the setbacks during Recovery.

Day 4: To be able to move forward, we had to learn a few coping skills or learn to embrace the ones we already have.

Day 5: We discussed the great things about us as a reminder to affirm ourselves.

Day 6: I'm a big fan of writing down your thoughts, so I added journaling as something very important to do during Recovery.

Day 7: Then we got to relish in the breakthroughs, thank goodness.

Day 8: After all that hard work in Week One, it was time to nurture ourselves.

Day 9: Of course, we don't want to forget to celebrate our goodness.

Day 10: And we must always remember to take down time, to give our body, mind and spirit the rest that it deserves.

Day 11: We learned on this day to avoid those absolutes, to stop awfulizing and begin seeing things as they really are.

Day 12: Some of us have to work on some of these things more frequently than others. I have to work on the one we discussed on this day: simplifying life.

Day 13: And isn't it grand when we realize we can simply start over?

Day 14: Another way to work your Recovery is to think about others. This way you're not just focusing on your problems. You realize others have problems, too. What can you do to help them?

Day 15: At the halfway point, we were reminded to have fun and think about 15 Things you love or plan to do, or anything at all. It was a free-writing exercise.

Today, we're reminded to take stock, to look back and review our progress. Every day gives us another chance to move forward in life. If we focus on what we're doing to make that happen, we can't go wrong.

In this next week, think about what forward movement looks like to you. What we discuss at BIKE WITH JACKIE is meant only to give you ideas. There's no right or wrong. Your Recovery, in other words, your Success, can only be prescribed by you. If you need to draw a picture of what it looks like, do that. If you need to write out a list, that's a good idea. Give yourself ten minutes every morning this week to consider this. If something sparks an idea, write it down. It might be helpful to keep a Success Journal where you can keep track of your progress in whatever way that works for you.

Have a great weekend!

The importance of a day of rest

I've been working semi-non-stop for several months now. To stay motivated, I find that I need to take more frequent breaks during the day than I normally would with a regular work schedule. Otherwise, I get cabin fever. I take the dog for a walk, run up and down the steps, turn on the TV and jump on the trampoline (when it's not broken)...

Since I work from home, without a boss hovering over my desk making sure I'm being productive, I am in charge of managing my own time. This weekend, I wasn't feeling my best, so took a lot of down time. I had to let the manager in me let me go. But my mind wasn't resting. My inner entrepreneur was still at work.

I know that this will be the process I go through from now till the end of this month, until I finish this book project of mine. So I dream of what I will do when I really am able to take a day of rest, to experience down time. Maybe I'll even take a vacation, I think.

On your day of rest, whether it be on Sunday or any other day of the week, what's your favorite thing to do? Do you like to catch up on reading the magazines that have been stacking up, do you pull out your favorite novel or buy a new one you've been wanting to read, do you take time to cook a gourmet meal? What do you look forward to doing on the weekend, or your days off, that you don't have time to do during the work week?

I'm wondering if doing nothing for a while wouldn't be the best thing for me. I'd embrace that idea if it weren't for the fact that I have a few other big projects coming up the next few months after this one is turned in. And then there will be editing and more scheduling and more work. Thankfully, I enjoy the work I do. It's fuels me in so many ways.

And maybe that down time I crave isn't in the cards for me this first quarter.

I do know, however, that down time is important. It regenerates, refreshes and renews the spirit, mind and body. Without it, a person could go crazy. That means my goal for 2009 will be to work harder at scheduling in those days of rest. Little bits and pieces are enough for now, but not forever.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about this.

Serenity Prayer--the original

When I look at the photo above, I see a beautiful pasture in front of me. With mountains in the distance and all the green and blue shades, it's a very serene-looking view. Actually, it's a golf course in Tubac, Ariz., but the lodgepole fence makes me think of it differently. If you saw this particular place in person, you might feel the serenity as well. It's a peaceful spot, with a lot of history that has more to do with horses and cattle than it does golf. Tubac, in fact, is Arizona's oldest European settlement, as I recall reading.

As I looked at this photo today, it reminded me of the Serenity Prayer, a four-line stanza I can never quite remember exactly. So I looked it up on Google this morning. To my surprise, I discovered the serenity prayer I thought I knew at least part of wasn't even half of what it really is in its entirety. I didn't know, till today, that there is more to this prayer.

So, here it is, in its entire and original form, the prayer as it was written by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)...

"The Serenity Prayer"

God, give us grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,

Enjoying one moment at a time,

Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,

Taking, as Jesus did,

This sinful world as it is,

Not as I would have it,

Trusting that You will make all things right,

If I surrender to Your will,

So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,

And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

Today, I needed this reminder. If you are ever in need of the same, here it is. Take time to reflect on these words. They can and will make a difference in your perspective.

All my best,

Jackie

Reasons to ride a bicycle: Reason #4

For the challenge, for awareness, for time alone...these are three good reasons to ride a bike. The fourth--and final (on this list)--is even better.

Reason #4: It will act as your reminder.

Remember that phrase, "It's like riding a bicycle, you never forget." That phrase applies here as well, in terms of the mental aspect of riding a bike. What happens on the road, doesn't stay on the road. It comes home with you. It stays with you because it's now embedded in your mind.

You remember your thoughts, your concessions, your decisions. The mind-body connection takes over. That's how I transformed what, for me, started out as a metal bike into a "mental" BIKE. As I thought about who I had been, who I was, and who I wanted to be, I realized there were ways that I had behaved in my past that wasn't the me I knew I was. I began striving for the better me.

I wanted to laugh again, to love again, to trust again. I wanted to believe I could have good things in my life. I wanted to believe I didn't have to live the soap opera life for one minute more. But it all had to begin with who I was and how I defined myself. I needed healing.

Just as a deep physical wound can heal, so, too, can a mental wound. There may be scars left as reminders, but reminders are a good thing. They tell you how far you've come, and they tell you what not to do again, because, clearly, it didn't work before.

I was too fearful of challenges before. I wasn't paying attention before. I wasn't taking care of myself properly before. And I wasn't sure about who I really was. I hadn't really given much thought to that. I'd just been going through life in survival mode. That's what I'd learned to do best. But it wasn't the best I could do.

From the seat of my bike, I took a good, hard look inside myself and saw areas that needed improvement. Once I realized where improvements could be made--for one thing, by taking that moral inventory I mentioned earlier--I could begin the real work. Not only that, but I realized I wasn't alone in this process, that I had a spiritual advisor who would help hold me accountable. Some people might call that conscience, but if you're a spiritual person, you know you have a higher power to act as your scaffold. You, alone, do not have all the answers.

When you reach the ability to believe this, you can release the mental chains that pull you down and begin to embrace the freedom found in abundance. Abundance comes from self-love, and I don't believe you can have self-love without your higher power living within your heart. I really don't. I don't define that for anyone other than myself, but that's my belief for me, for how I expect to achieve success.

It's a worthy endeavor to seek personal development and improvement in our lives. But it requires a reminder. Just as a business needs to reevaluate its performance, so, too, does the individual. To hold yourself accountable requires something to remind you of what you're seeking to achieve. My bike did that for me...and still does to this day. Every time I ride, I remember what I've learned about myself. I remember how I expect myself to behave. I remember who I am at my core. But I don't have to ride to be able to go through the letters one at at a time:

B--Who am I when I'm being my Best self?
I--How deep do I need to go for that Inner strength today?
K--Am I listening, am I in tune with my feelings, have I connected with those Killer instincts?
E--Have I spoken up, reached out, asked for help by using my Expressive voice?

The bike I rode became the BIKE in my head. Every time I'm now faced with a new challenge, my special brand of BIKE acts a reminder for me to connect with my core being so that I respond in ways that move me forward. It allows me to be the person I know I was meant to be. It's there for me whenever I need it. I don't have to ride to find it now. It's there, with me, always. It's the spiritual navigation tool that leads me to live a life that I deserve.

Isn't that the best reason to ride a bike?