Fridays of course are great. It's the start of the weekend and when I am very lucky I have the weekend off and can spend time catching up on my life. If I am very very lucky, I can rely on my dear husband that I ask way too much of to watch our boys so I can go to a training. This weekend I am very very lucky. I'm getting Flirtified! I keep thinking that I really need to quit racking up certifications and spending way more than I make on trainings, but I really love them and Flirty Girls in particular because I love to dance. It is so fun and free-ing and who cares what ya look like! Since I dont frequent clubs that have dancing (smoke and drunks really make me wonder about the intelligence of the average person) then this is a great outlet for me to have some fun and the bonus is I also get to teach it thereby providing that outlet to someone else who may be as socially awkward as I am. I dont need the credits, I've already lost count of how many I've gotten and I dont recert for another year, it's just so fun to be a student sometimes. Plus, I get a kick out of trainings/conventions. I love people watching. I remember in my 20's I was so a front row attendee, first, because I'm short and cant see, but second, like most front row students, I was going to make sure someone saw me show my stuff. In my 30's, I was a middle row gal. A little older and wiser, I was learning to pace myself at trainings and not work at critical mass so I had the juice to finish the day, plus, at 30, I had a few more aches and pains than in my 20's. Now I am almost 45. I am a total backrow participant and proud of it. I've had mine, I'm letting the perky little 20's have theirs. No need to impress anyone with my mad skills now right? Lots more aches and pains and old injuries than in my 30's, and while I usually finish the day, my ego will now allow me to sit down and take notes and chuckle at the front row I used to be in.
So tomorrow, Saturday, I will pack my healthy lunch and snacks, because at trainings, we ALL eat healthy right, even if we normally dont. I will have my gym bag with my water bottle, towel, pens, notebook, extra socks and dry clothes for the drive home, and lots of Advil. On the drive to the workshop I will be praying my IT band holds out since I injured it two weeks ago. The training will start, I'll be in the back dancing my little heart out, I'll spend money I cant afford to spend. I'll get credits I dont need and I will be one happy girl because besides my faith and family, this is what I, like so many other instructors live for. Once I get home, I will drag my aging butt through the door, exhausted of course. The puppy will jump on me, the boys will throw me a hello over their shoulders, the dear husband that held down the fort while I trotted off yet again will ask "How was your day?" I will say, "Oh, it was great, SO much fun, I cant wait to teach this!" I will then lay down on the couch and as I drift off to sleep, I will thank our good Lord for having the best job in the world.
I've never been a fan of the phrase or practice of being "politically correct". Basically it means to me, say what others want to hear whether you believe what you are spewing or not. It means to disguise the reality of what you believe with lovely words and platitudes and warm and fuzzy feelings so no one is offended or forced to face the truth, because as we all know, the world comes to an end when we are faced with the truth. I am not saying to throw away good manners, tact, empathy, sympathy and all the other golden rule niceties. What I am saying is being political or politically correct is manipulative. It makes one less than authentic. It certainly in my book makes one much less than trustworthy. I've had moments where it was required to be politically correct, and I just couldnt do it. Maybe because I'm an instructor, and of course to be an instructor and stand up in front of 50 people one must have at least a certain amount of ego, but maybe because of that I feel I dont have to lower myself to being politically correct, and I say lower myself because it is the lowest form of civilized behavior. Common if you will.
Now, as I stated in my previous post,, love my job,,, love my boss, however I work for a corporation. Being politically correct is rather essential. My two biggest problems at my job are masters at snow jobs, manipulation and politically correct behavior. They are the walk on water can do no wrong employees. Then there is me. Honest to fault, not a yes person, not one to hold back and I say what I think -in a nice way,, always, and I'm very hardworking. I put in lots of 12 hour days at my job. But you know what? I never get ahead, and I am seen as a bit controversial. When did being honest become a bad thing? To be otherwise is a waste of time. I feel we owe our members and participants the truth. No, Mrs. Jones,, you cannot lose 50 pounds if you are only going to devote 10 minutes a day to exercise and not change your eating habits. Sorry. Is that so bad really? Do I HAVE to say,, great goal,, good luck? Apparently, yes I do. In being politically correct we can do more harm than good, We open a gateway towards weakness and teach people that everyone makes the team, no one loses,, all of our ideas are great and all of our jokes are funny, when the reality is some of our ideas suck, and we should be made aware of that, and all of our jokes are not funny, and we should be prepared for the awkward silence after a bad joke.
I understand why being PC is popular,, why people expect it (because we cater to the lowest common denominator) why we are forced to practice PC behavior. I just dont understand why being forthright and honest,, which is much more noble, is such a bad thing.
Sundays are a day of rest. Although, I must say, not so much in my life these days. A day of rest is a goal I have yet to achieve. I suppose I could just say no to all of my obligations and ignore all I have to do including meeting the needs of my family, but who does that right? I'm a mom and a working mom at that. So, yesterday, I did ignore laundry, dishes, housework, but a day of rest it was not. I was very busy doing "stuff" all day. Today should have been a day of rest, but I got up at 6, got the family ready for Mass, went shopping for school supplies and spent the rest of the day cleaning and doing more "stuff", making dinner etc . It makes me wonder what my life would be like if I didnt teach group exercise most days of the week and if I was a sedentary person as so many are. Would I have the energy to do all my stuff? My days start to finish are around 17 hours long and I'm usually exhausted by the end. How would they be if I had no stamina? If I wasnt strong and healthy for the most part, what would I be doing with my days, and would I have the energy to do all I have to do? I think maybe rather than working towards a goal of a day of real rest, my goal should be to find balance in my life. I work all the time, whether it's at home, or my job, family, whatever. I know I am not unique and lots of fitness professional moms are just like me, and sometimes we can teach our students mind body and spirit, take care of yourselves, find balance in your life, but we are not the best at following our own advice. I worry though,, if I stop and slow down, would I be able to start back up again. So maybe my goal for 2011 should be to find the balance and perspective I advise others to find. I think I'll start working on what that looks like and how to make it happen without feeling guilty.
A techie I am not so I'm surprised I've made it this far on this cool little site. I've never written a blog, although I do have streams of conciousness on Facebook. I can't imagine that people I don't know would have any interest in what I have to say or think about, but I am willing to give it a shot. It will be a fun little experiment to see if someone finds me interesting, or very much not. I'm going with not, because quite frankly, I have a quiet life with my family and my dual personality. I have of course,, group exercise instructor me,, one personality, and wife/mom/homebody private citizen me, my other personality. I am the typical extroverted introvert. When I am in conmand of a class in my domain, I'm fine, outgoing, authoratative, friendly all that stuff. Outside the class, I am actually a bit shy, although strangely, no one believes that, but it's true. I love to be in my office alone with no noise, my email and spreadsheets, numbers, and projects I work on as the Group Exercise Coordinator (among other things) at my wonderful little YMCA in Western North Carolina. I love my job, I love my members and find both to provide endless amount of joy and sometimes frustration, but it's all good. My boss is an angel, and I am lucky to work for that girl! Bottom line, life aint perfect, but it's pretty dang good. Sickening right?
