So Why All The Handstands?

(Biltmore Mansion, disregard the sweat marks. It was HOT! But look close. I made that lady smile.)

Let's just say I totally get what a mid-life crisis is all about. Except on the positive side, I think of it more like a mid-life awakening. 

When we're younger the world is open to us. New possibilities and adventures are around every corner. We dream and see positive things in our future. We live in a state of blissful naivete. But as we mature, we set our path and along that path we get knocked around a bit. Sometimes we get knocked around a lot and we shut down the variables in our life so we can control the knocks a little better. We get in a routine and we set down a pattern and that becomes our law. 

Time speeds up and before we know it we're knocking on whatever age milestone you want to pick, 30,40,50 and our personal life is a little flat or lacking. Somewhere along the road we started thinking, "I just can't," or "I'm too old for that, " or "what will people think." The funny thing is, these thoughts are all illusions. 

Yes life may be more complicated for us due to family, finances and commitments. But those things do not stop the possibilities. Those things do not control your ability to dream. Those things do not remove adventure from your grasp. 

When I hit 40, I started thinking, "Wow, if I feel this bad now, what is it going to be like when I get to 50 or 60!" That was a super scary thought. I started to resign to the thought that I would never be able to live a fit life and do active stuff. I started to tell myself that exercise was done for me because it made me hurt so bad. I started to say to myself, "You're old and you should start acting your age."

But luckily my curious nature got the best of me again. I truthfully asked myself if I had tried everything to see if I could find the right combination of things to help me feel better. Of course the answer was no. I started reading and decided to radically change my diet first. I picked one thing and stuck with it long enough to test results both my perception and inflammatory markers in my blood work. When very little positive results happened, I swung the other direction with my diet and stuck with it again long enough to test results. That is when I started to feel things happen. I started to see those little things as victories. Instead of saying look how long this is taking or look at how far you have to go, I started seeing possibilities. 

And the rest is history! You see, the possibilities, dreams and adventures were always there waiting. I had just not seen them until I started to acknowledge the victories. Those little victories gave me a foothold. 

So, why all the handstands? Because I can! Because I'm 41 and people my age aren't suppose to do crazy things like that. Because I was afraid. Because I'm stubborn. Because I'm a fighter. Because my body works better now. Because it's fun. Because it reminds me of how far I have come.

Because I hope it makes you think, "Maybe I can reach my goals too!"

1. What is limiting you and how can you work around it?

2. What actions can you take today to move closer to your goals?

3. Have you even defined your goals?

4. Are you giving yourself the small victories?