“I tried to make you understand – you don’t have to be this way.” ~Black Rose/Trapt

The easiest way to feel better about your own life is to look at others less fortunate.

Oh, I know. We’ve all heard this before. Yada, yada. But it’s true.

Case in point: A quiet man has been in my Spinning class on and off for awhile and we haven’t really spoken. After class the other night he came up to me to ask my advice on dealing with an ankle weakness. I adjusted his alignment on the bike, thinking it was just a matter of bad positioning. I’ve seen this 1,000 times before and it’s an easy fix. I was in a hurry and needed to bail out of the gym and get back to packing for my move. Then he told me something that stopped me in my tracks:

Years before he had broken his neck, and now had no feeling at all on the left side of his body other than an intolerable, constant burning pain in his left leg. Here was a man in excruciating pain who still came to Spinning class because he refused to give up and live on pain medication. And I was fretting about PACKING?

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“When the world says, ‘Give up,’
Hope whispers, ‘Try it one more time.’”
~Author Unknown

Perseverance quotes are my favorite – probably because I’ve seen my share of rough times and obstacles. This “hope” quote, though, ranks at the top…and motivates me to keep moving forward.  It reminds me that every person who was ever good at something – became a success at something – just kept going, and going, and going. They did not ever give up, no matter what challenges they faced or how many people tried to dissuade them. They believed in themselves enough to “try it one more time.” (And one more time. And one more time.)

Examples?

• Thomas Edison’s teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.”
• Walt Disney was fired from a job because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.“
• Henry Ford went broke five times before finally succeeding.
• Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
• Elvis was fired from a show and told, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to driving a truck.“
• Beethoven‘s teacher told him he was “hopeless as a composer.”
• Dr. Seuss was rejected by 27 publishers.

So when hope whispers, “Try it one more time” – we should maybe listen.

Onward.

“You stupid girl, you stupid girl. All you had you wasted…” ~Garbage

I have always loved the lyrics to this Garbage song. They resonate deeply within me because I wasted so much of my own life being unhappy and spent too much time feeling sorry for myself. I had given up years before I ever heard this song – probably as early as my teenage years. A wasted life. Wasted talent. Stupid girl.

“Don’t believe in love. Don’t believe in hate…”

It was only after I took my life back (starting circa 2003 at age 37) that I first heard of Garbage. Since then, they apparently disappeared for awhile, but are now back. Where did they go? I’m not sure. I don’t know as much about the band or their music as a music writer should, but that’s neither here nor there.

When I first joined Facebook I became a fan of their page. No status updates ever appeared and I simply forgot about them. Until now.

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“When I was just a little girl, I asked my (father) ‘what will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?’ This is what he said to me…” ~Doris Day

My father was a simple man – and the happiest person I have ever met.

He owned an older truck, rented a small house, and was married to a woman he adored. He loved his job, his customers, helping others, making people smile, and flirting with the women behind store counters.

At the height of his “career” my dad probably made $12/hour. He would put in a full day’s work, then walk home, eat dinner with his wife, and spend the evening with her watching TV, a six-pack of Miller Highlife, jar of peanuts and sliced salami in hand. All in all, a very uneventful life.

Yet – eight years after his passing, so many people  remember my dad and speak fondly of him.

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“Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.” ~Author Unknown

Take everything step by step. Watch where you are going. Keep your eye on the bigger picture but also focus on what’s right in front of you. It’s the little things (the pebbles per se) that chip away at our resolutions – the daily stresses like lack of sleep, family obligations, work demands and bills. Don’t lose sight of the mountain itself.

“Maybe we’ll turn it around ’cause it’s not too late”~ Three Days Grace

It’s a strange job, but someone has to do it.

In my line of work, I get to dress in spandex and wear funky shoes. I light a fire in people’s thighs, and they they actually pay me to make them sweat and groan. It’s all perfectly legal, too. I teach Spinning®, or as some people know it, indoor cycling.

I used to love to teach. I used to love it so much I wanted to do it day and night and virtually make out with the Spinner bike. I still like it, but as with any relationship the passion has started to fade a bit. After all, I’ve been teaching Spinning as a twelfth second job for seven years. I think I’m getting a bit burned out.

Spinning keeps me in shape, does good in the world, and makes people smile – if only for an hour at a time. But sometimes, just sometimes, I would rather poke my eyes out with a hot poker than get on that indoor bike.  And I seem to not be the only one feeling a bit crispy around the edges lately. No matter what we do for a living or how good we are at doing it, at times the repetitive nature of our jobs can get the best of us. This is where I have found myself.

Enter Zumbuddy (real name: Noel. Everyone in my life apparently has a nickname).

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Running up the hill. Hard. Hunting dogs chasing you and closing in. Your legs are burning and your lungs exploding as you charge through the forest, weaving around trees and sliding over rocks. Sweat runs down your face, burning your eyes and blurring your vision. You are exhausted and confused and yet you keep running – for your life.

Up ahead you suddenly see a clearing and realize you are almost there. You feel the dogs gaining ground behind you and hear their handlers picking up speed. You accelerate, too, and head into a clearing where you see safe haven – on the other side of a wide crevice. To jump the crevice and miss means plummeting to your death. To jump and clear it means freedom. But to stay is a form of slavery.

What do you do?

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