Hi Friends:
Oh, the Olympics is over. Life seems less, well, lively. Sigh. If you are feeling somewhat let down by this return to real life, here are some suggestions to help you transition back to the real world:
1. You can immerse yourself in Shark Week on Discovery Channel.
2. You can come to my house and let the kittens crawl all over you.
3. You can brave the lines at Shimazu Store for green tea and red velvet shave ice.
4. You can head to the Made in Hawaii festival this weekend. Shopping should get your blood pumping!
5. You can test your Zumba skills at latin dance club--caliente!
6. You can take a surf lesson in Waikiki--preferably before watching Shark Week, so you don't freak yourself out.
7. You can have a marathon viewing session on Netflix of your favorite show.
8. You can begin familiarizing yourself with the winter sports for the next Winter Olympics.
9. You can drown your sorrows by doing lots of ZUMBA! (You knew that was coming, right?)
Hope you have a great week!
-Meredith
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
7/30: Olympic fever
Hi Friends:
I love the Olympics--the pageantry, the honor, the sportsmanship, the skill, even the commercials!
Here are my top favorite/weird things I like about the Olympics:
1. Super obscure sports that I've never heard of but someone has spent their entire life studying (equestrian dressage, slalom kayaking, speedwalking?!).
2. That the oldest gold medalist was 72 years old. It makes me feel like I could still win a medal. For something that I take up in 20 years.
3. In addition to sports for medals, there are also exhibition sports that, if popular, could one day become Olympic events, such as Ultimate Frisbee.
4. This year's Olympics opening ceremony was directed by Danny Boyle, who also directed "Slumdog Millionaire" and my favorite zombie movie, "28 Days Later." Despite the popularity of zombies nowadays, there were no zombies in the opening ceremony. I am, frankly, surprised.
5. This year, there are three Olympians who are competing but are not representing a country.
6. Also this year, every country competing has women on their team.
I hope you are finding hearps of interesting and amazing things in this year's Olympics, and that your voices aren't too hoarse from cheering.
Have a great week!
-meredith
I love the Olympics--the pageantry, the honor, the sportsmanship, the skill, even the commercials!
Here are my top favorite/weird things I like about the Olympics:
1. Super obscure sports that I've never heard of but someone has spent their entire life studying (equestrian dressage, slalom kayaking, speedwalking?!).
2. That the oldest gold medalist was 72 years old. It makes me feel like I could still win a medal. For something that I take up in 20 years.
3. In addition to sports for medals, there are also exhibition sports that, if popular, could one day become Olympic events, such as Ultimate Frisbee.
4. This year's Olympics opening ceremony was directed by Danny Boyle, who also directed "Slumdog Millionaire" and my favorite zombie movie, "28 Days Later." Despite the popularity of zombies nowadays, there were no zombies in the opening ceremony. I am, frankly, surprised.
5. This year, there are three Olympians who are competing but are not representing a country.
6. Also this year, every country competing has women on their team.
I hope you are finding hearps of interesting and amazing things in this year's Olympics, and that your voices aren't too hoarse from cheering.
Have a great week!
-meredith
Monday, June 4, 2012
6/4: fatkini
Hi Friends:
It's June already! Happy summer, everyone!
As everyone knows, one of the highlights of summer is the water: whether it's the beach, water park, pool, or just the sprinklers on your lawn, nothing feels as good as just drenching yourself with cold water on a hot, hot summer day.
However, part and parcel of any summer water antics is wearing a bathing suit. Women the world over hate wearing bathing suits, hate feeling exposed and pale and not resembling Victoria's Secret models. People just generally feel self conscious. I get that.
At this point, I could go very soft on you, and encourage you to love yourself, or focus on your best feature when buying a bathing suit, or tell you how the sun is bad for you anyway--all things which are true, but are not going to get you into a suit and enjoying yourself. So, instead I will tell you the truth.
The truth is this: unless you are hugely, morbidly obese or you do indeed resemble a Victoria's Secret model, nobody is going to look at you. Unless you act wild or wear something that does not cover all your bits and pieces, no one is going to look at you. I mean, people will see you, but no one is going to stare. You're just not that interesting--and I mean that in a freeing sort of way. Nobody expects you to be a certain way--strangers don't remember when you were a size smaller or what you looked like before you had kids.
Here is another truth: everyone has hang ups and that is why no one is looking at you. They're too busy worrying about themselves. I see it all the time in the classes I teach. People don't want to participate, because they are not coordinated and think others will judge them. To which I say, "No one is looking at you, because everyone is looking at ME"--which is true in the sense that everyone is so busy trying to do the steps right and learn the moves, that they do not have time to watch--much less judge--anyone else in the class.
Here is a third truth: you might be feeling self conscious because you are not as tan or toned as you wish you were, but no one gets tan or toned by sitting around indoors.
Here is the last truth: once you get there, you'll have fun. The more you build it up in your mind, the worse it will be. The trick is to keep the time between when you decide to go to the beach, to when you actually get there as short as possible. Keep a bag ready. Get your children to prep themselves. Keep yourself, ah, groomed. And once you get there, get in the water as soon as humanly possible--then you can splashy splashy all day!
If that is not enough inspiration to get you to shed your self consciousness and hit the water for some summer fun, here are some real ladies, looking lovely, in their "fatkinis" (I did not make up that term, but I do kind of like how it empowers them). Enjoy:
http://www.xojane.com/fun/gallery/fatkini
Have a great week,
meredith
It's June already! Happy summer, everyone!
As everyone knows, one of the highlights of summer is the water: whether it's the beach, water park, pool, or just the sprinklers on your lawn, nothing feels as good as just drenching yourself with cold water on a hot, hot summer day.
However, part and parcel of any summer water antics is wearing a bathing suit. Women the world over hate wearing bathing suits, hate feeling exposed and pale and not resembling Victoria's Secret models. People just generally feel self conscious. I get that.
At this point, I could go very soft on you, and encourage you to love yourself, or focus on your best feature when buying a bathing suit, or tell you how the sun is bad for you anyway--all things which are true, but are not going to get you into a suit and enjoying yourself. So, instead I will tell you the truth.
The truth is this: unless you are hugely, morbidly obese or you do indeed resemble a Victoria's Secret model, nobody is going to look at you. Unless you act wild or wear something that does not cover all your bits and pieces, no one is going to look at you. I mean, people will see you, but no one is going to stare. You're just not that interesting--and I mean that in a freeing sort of way. Nobody expects you to be a certain way--strangers don't remember when you were a size smaller or what you looked like before you had kids.
Here is another truth: everyone has hang ups and that is why no one is looking at you. They're too busy worrying about themselves. I see it all the time in the classes I teach. People don't want to participate, because they are not coordinated and think others will judge them. To which I say, "No one is looking at you, because everyone is looking at ME"--which is true in the sense that everyone is so busy trying to do the steps right and learn the moves, that they do not have time to watch--much less judge--anyone else in the class.
Here is a third truth: you might be feeling self conscious because you are not as tan or toned as you wish you were, but no one gets tan or toned by sitting around indoors.
Here is the last truth: once you get there, you'll have fun. The more you build it up in your mind, the worse it will be. The trick is to keep the time between when you decide to go to the beach, to when you actually get there as short as possible. Keep a bag ready. Get your children to prep themselves. Keep yourself, ah, groomed. And once you get there, get in the water as soon as humanly possible--then you can splashy splashy all day!
If that is not enough inspiration to get you to shed your self consciousness and hit the water for some summer fun, here are some real ladies, looking lovely, in their "fatkinis" (I did not make up that term, but I do kind of like how it empowers them). Enjoy:
http://www.xojane.com/fun/gallery/fatkini
Have a great week,
meredith
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
5/23: Meetings, why oh why?!
Hi Friends:
I was supposed to write yesterday, as you may know, but I got caught up in meetings all day. Man, I hate meetings. To me, meetings are a lot of talking and sitting, and not a lot of getting things done. In the interest of being, you know, positive and nurturing, I was going to list why meetings are important. Here are a couple of articles I found toward that point:
The problem is, even after I read these articles I was not convinced about the necessity of meetings. So, I decided that instead I would compile a list of how to make meetings less painful and soul sucking. Here goes:
-Keep the meeting short. This article (http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/24/5-tips-on-how-to-make-meetings-less-painful/ ) says meetings should be 15-30 minutes, based on how long people pay attention. I don’t know if that’s possible, but I do know that any meeting longer than 1.5 hours makes me cry on the inside.
-This one is for the person running the meeting: Have a clear agenda. And stick to the dang agenda.
-This one is for the people in the meeting: Be respectful of the agenda. One person’s funny tangential story is another person’s five minutes of hell. And also, once a meeting gets derailed it’s hard to get it back on track, and resentment builds all around.
-Send the agenda out ahead of time so that people know what they should be bringing.
-If you have been assigned something for the meeting, do your assignment and be prepared for the meeting.
-Anyone who is invited to the meeting should have something to contribute to the meeting. I hate attending meetings where I don’t say anything—not because I love talking (though I do), but because someone could have just sent me the minutes and my assignment and I would have two hours of my life back.
-There are all different types of meetings, for decision making, brainstorming, informing, learning, etc. It should be made clear at the beginning of the meeting what kind of meeting it is. When you go to a meeting and the person running the meeting just wants to tell you the server is down, and half the people think it’s a meeting to complain about the server and then do so, it’s so, so difficult.
-Have a clear exit strategy. Even if it’s a free form, brainstorming meeting, know what outcomes you’d like (a list of places for lunch, a possible solution for a problem, etc.), and if you can’t achieve it, then have a graceful way to end the meeting that doesn’t involve frustration or the phrase, “Soooo...”
-Encourage people to move around a little. Like, small groups where people can brainstorm, or having people stand when they present, or putting the snacks on the far side of the room. Dynamic movement breeds dynamic thinking. Also, I’m a Zumba instructor and want to see you move it, move it every time you can.
-Have healthy snacks. Because everyone likes snacks.
-Right before you go into the meeting, don’t complain about having a meeting. Instead, have a little mantra you say, like, “This meeting is useful” or “We are going to come up with something great!” Or something else to trick yourself into having a good attitude.
-At the close of the meeting, the person running the meeting can briefly (briefly!) summarize the meeting’s main points and next steps. Briefly.
-After the meeting, follow up on tasks right away, so that action is actually generated from the meeting and not just talking.
I know this post is different than usual, but the last two weeks have been so chock full of meetings for me, that’s it’s on the top of my mind. Hope these help. If you have any suggestions on how to make meetings good, or at least not as bad, let me know and I’ll post on Wednesday.
Have a great week,
meredith
Monday, May 14, 2012
5/14: Click for Change
Hi Friends:
Zumba class is back in session this Thursday. Get ready to shake a leg!
Today, I just wanted to show you a quick way to support causes you believe in. http://www.change.org/ is an organization that helps create and distribute online petitions, on a local, national, and global level. From politics, to parenting, to the environment, they have several petitions people can sign, no matter your political affiliation.
It's an easy way to show your support for different causes--and in case you think clicks don't matter, I can assure you they do. High petition numbers can generate publicity for causes, help get funding and other financial support, and make you more aware of the different concerns of our global community. And it's painless!
Anyway, I hope you find ways to feel vital, informed and involved. Have a great week!
-meredith
Monday, April 30, 2012
4/30: An easy way to make money?
Hi Friends:
I hope your week is going well.
So, I can't find the original article, but recently I read a really interesting idea. Often, we have jars we set aside that we have to pay if we violate a rule: you know, put a dollar in the jar every time you smoke a cigarette, or put a quarter in a jar every time you use curse words. Sound familiar? You do this payment in an effort to break yourself of a bad habit.
Here's the interesting idea: putting money in the jar--rewarding yourself--every time you say something nice about yourself. I don't mean to go around bragging about yourself--but often, we are our own harshest critics. If you, say, forget your keys, instead of saying to yourself, "You are so absent minded. Get it together!" you can say, "Luckily, you are a creative thinker and can figure out how you're going to solve this one." Or, instead of saying, "You'll never get this right!" you can say, "It's all right; try again." Or, instead of saying, "You look bad/fat/tired/old/weird" when you look in the mirror, you can say, "You are beautiful, inside and out." I admit, some days it might be a lot of effort to do this tactic. ; )
And at the end of the month, you treat yourself to something really indulgent with the money in the jar. Hopefully you'll be able to buy yourself a massage and not a McDonald's ice cream cone.
Have a great week,
Meredith
Monday, April 16, 2012
4/16: For the RUN of it
Hi Friends:
Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend!
Today is the Boston Marathon, and it is also the 40th anniversary of women being allowed to participate in the race. Here is an interesting article from the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/women-boston-marathon_n_1424775.html?ref=marlo-thomas#s868169&title=Roberta_Bobbi_Gibb
There have been varying forms of discrimination over the decades over letting people of varying genders, races, physical or mental challenges, gender orientations, and ages participate in sports, or even be physically active, period.
Now, I'm not much of a runner, but when I see the picture of the woman who looks like some guy is going to tackle her, just to get her out of the race, I feel like I should at least jog around the block once or twice, just because I can.
The women who participated in the Boston Marathon before it was allowed weren't trying to set a world record, or get a shoe contract, or even beat other runners. I'm going to guess they weren't even trying to make a political statement (because who's going to train for months and run for hours just to make a political statement?--Certainly not me). I think they ran because they loved to run--and no one was going to stop them from it.
I would encourage you to do the thing you love, fully and without regard to people who tell you it's impossible or that you can't. If you believe you can--you CAN!
Have a great week,
meredith
Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend!
Today is the Boston Marathon, and it is also the 40th anniversary of women being allowed to participate in the race. Here is an interesting article from the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/women-boston-marathon_n_1424775.html?ref=marlo-thomas#s868169&title=Roberta_Bobbi_Gibb
There have been varying forms of discrimination over the decades over letting people of varying genders, races, physical or mental challenges, gender orientations, and ages participate in sports, or even be physically active, period.
Now, I'm not much of a runner, but when I see the picture of the woman who looks like some guy is going to tackle her, just to get her out of the race, I feel like I should at least jog around the block once or twice, just because I can.
The women who participated in the Boston Marathon before it was allowed weren't trying to set a world record, or get a shoe contract, or even beat other runners. I'm going to guess they weren't even trying to make a political statement (because who's going to train for months and run for hours just to make a political statement?--Certainly not me). I think they ran because they loved to run--and no one was going to stop them from it.
I would encourage you to do the thing you love, fully and without regard to people who tell you it's impossible or that you can't. If you believe you can--you CAN!
Have a great week,
meredith
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