Author: Lake Girl

Pick Up Your Pom-Poms!

Good health is incredibly important to me and it is my dream for all of us to grow old gracefully and with boundless energy. The way I see it, the daily decisions we make now will help to determine how healthy we will be as we age. In addition to writing about my own health journey, here at My Little Blue Kayak, I work as a health care professional, read books, blogs and listen to a variety of relevant podcasts. Last year, I became certified as a Health Coach through the National Society of Health Coaches and am exploring the possibilities of how I will use this certification to support others to improve their health thru lifestyle changes.

I work with a lot of people who suffer from one or more chronic diseases and by the time I meet them, their health is a major issue and will likely get worse, if they do not make lifestyle changes. It is not just my patients though, that live with chronic illness. I have family members and close friends that I love who deal with the pressures of obesity, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and stroke. I am willing to bet that you know and love people who also live with a chronic illness. What are they one step away from?

Life doesn’t come with these…

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Good Habits = Success

I am sitting in my living room at 7:30 in the morning looking at my nicely decorated Christmas tree. My honey is sleeping and Fenway is waiting patiently by the front door, a sure sign she is ready to go out for a walk. I love a quiet, lazy morning with time to reflect, relax and strategize. After the walk that is!

I am not a technical person, but have been experimenting with a new app called Productive. The free version let me track 3 habits that I wanted to incorporate into my life and I had so much fun (and success) doing that, that I asked for a 1 year subscription for Christmas. So now I can track unlimited habits and am enjoying the process. This is not a review of Productive, there are a bunch of apps available to help develop good habits and increase productivity; this is just the one I stumbled upon, liked the look of and decided to check out.

Still learning to embrace technology!

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Flip The Switch

In the past, I tended to get in a groove and just flowed from one activity to the next. I would go to work and stress out about it. I would grab a beer with friends and complain about it. But I wouldn’t spend much time thinking about what I wanted or how I could make life better. There is something to be said for being in the groove but it can lead to complacency.

Even now, I get comfortable working a few shifts, doing my yard work on the side, cooking awesome meals for my honey, helping Child #1 and her honey with some small projects and writing my blog posts. I like my life and tend to get comfortable sitting on my couch. But as we know, life doesn’t get better while simply sitting on the couch.

To keep from getting too comfy on the couch, I have been spending some time thinking lately. Can you smell the smoke? See the flames? Hear the crackling?

For me, thinking is a powerful but underutilized tool!

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The Hell with Being Perfect!

You know that saying “practice makes perfect”? The idea being that if you keep working at something you will get better and as you get better you near perfection.  I don’t totally agree with this idea as there are plenty of things that I do frequently but don’t  get better at. For instance, I have been tying my shoes for over 45 years but still find that they come undone during the day. I played squash for several years; playing in a league, practicing drills and playing with others but I never felt competent. I could practice drawing a picture of my dog for the next decade but the picture would always look like it was drawn by a 3 year-old. 

If only I could draw this good!

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Time to Get Assertive – Pick Up The Phone!

For the last few years, I have managed to live solidly in the middle class but only had to work part-time. I call this my semi-retirement and the joy that it brings me never gets old. It gives me the flexibility I crave with plenty of time to spend with my loved ones doing activities I enjoy. I just got home from a 3 hour shift at the Nursing home and now am getting ready to go out to lunch with my honey. Not bad for a Wednesday afternoon!

My part-time, flexible schedule works for me because several years ago, I decided to choose wealth. I got out of debt, stopped shopping for fun, cut my cable and got assertive with my money. You can learn more about how this has worked for me here and here.

As money doesn’t actually grow on trees and winning the lottery hasn’t worked for me – How does one actually choose wealth?

Wouldn’t this be nice?

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Finding it Impossible to Change? Try This!

I am a 50 something year old woman who is learning to embrace the gray by being comfortable in my own skin and by  letting go of societal expectations regarding what success, work, and retirement looks like. Several years ago, I took 2 months off to hang with Fran after hip surgery. After those 2 months, I went back to  full-time work as an Occupational Therapist in a Skilled Nursing Facility. But I returned a different person with a whole new set of priorities in life. My biggest goal became moving back to the Finger Lakes so I could be near my family, my honey and the lake.

Going back to work was tough!

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Heads Up!

You know that feeling when you get into intense concentration mode? Your head is down and you are focused on the task at hand. You have a deadline to meet, a goal to reach, a task to complete. You don’t have time for anything else and you do not want to be disturbed. You won’t stop to stretch, to pee or even to get a drink of water. Depending on what you need to get done and how far along in the process, this can be overwhelming or satisfying.

Some of us are so stressed we never get out of this mode. We always feel under the gun, far behind and unable to catch up. Can you think back to a time when you felt like this? I know I can and my stomach turns just thinking about the pressure. When I am under a great deal of pressure, I start to shut down. I am unable to think about anything other than completing the work.

Heads Down leads to stress…

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Could You Live in a Van?

Have you ever thought about living in a van? I don’t mean being homeless but purposefully living in a van that has been converted into living space. This is kind of like my Tiny House idea but with a twist!  With a conversion van, I could travel without ever leaving my home. No need to pack, to get someone to check in on the house, to worry about forgetting something important. Everything I own would come with me wherever I went. Just gas up the van and get on the road. A friend of mine owns one and she recently gave us a tour. It had everything one needs for living a simple life and you can take it with you wherever you go.

I would love to wake up to that view!

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Sharing a Gratitude Letter

2018 is winding down and I have a few goals I haven’t yet reached. One of my happiness goals is to complete a 7 Days/7 Gives. Every day for 7 days I plan on doing something for another person, an animal or the environment. One small  step every day for 7 days. I haven’t yet figured out what steps I will take but I figured I could get myself in the mood by sharing something I did last year in an effort to not quarantine gratitude.

Last year, I wrote a letter to my friend Sue who was my first boss when I was in high school. She and her husband Chris (who has passed away) ran the one and only local restaurant and I worked for them all through high school and college.  Both of them have had a tremendous influence on me and I wanted to express my gratitude to her for everything they did for me. If reading this inspires even one person to write a gratitude letter themselves, I will be thrilled!

So happy I wrote it

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Everyone I Know Needs Therapy – Even You!

I use this blog as my therapy. There, I said it – my secret is out. I don’t write for you or for my friends or family. I write this blog for me. I write to keep myself sane. I write to figure out how to solve big and small problems. I write to make better decisions day in and day out. If you follow this blog at all, you know that I have been slacking lately. One of my goals for 2018 was to average six posts per month. I am currently averaging less than four. Oops – time to get back on track.

It is all about me…

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