9/26: Mirror

Hi Friends:

So, I added Tuesdays to my Zumba schedule, which of course made me stoked not only to see you guys more than once a week, but also because I'm really vain and want to lose some weight. But the scale hasn't budged. What's up with that?! There's always that last, elusive five to ten pounds that I can't lose that, in my mind, prevent me from wearing skinny jeans, accomplishing what I want to accomplish, and generally being successful at life. Ever do that, look into the mirror and go, "Ugh, if it weren't for this bit, or that part, or this whole thing right here, I would be so happy"? I mean, what's the point of all this exercise if I don't lose the weight or inches I want to, if I can't see results, right?

Well, whenever I feel this way, I have to remind myself that mirrors necessarily reflect only the outside (which is good, because I wouldn't want to see my organs every time I passed by a reflective surface), and sometimes the changes--the most important changes--take place on the inside, both physically and emotionally. So, if you ever feel like Zumba or any other exercise you do on a regular basis isn't showing any results, here are some questions you can ask yourself or test yourself on:

-Am I stronger than I was before I started exercising?

-Do I have more stamina?

-Do I feel more coordinated?

-Do I handle stress better?

-Do I feel better after I exercise?

-Are my bowels more regular?

-Do I sleep better at night?

-Do I have less joint pain?

-Do I have more energy?

-Do I look forward to exercise?

-Is my quality of life better since I started exercising?

My hope is that you would answer "yes" to one or more of these questions. You can also check with your doctor to see if your blood pressure, cholesterol, and/or overall physical health is better. All of these should offer a better reflection of the benefits of exercise than the mirror.

And skinny jeans be damned! : )

9/19: sight

Hi Friends:

As I write this, my mother is just getting out of lazik surgery. Last week, she had her right eye done, and this week she's doing the left eye.

She's worn glasses since she was a girl, and, in my opinion, her vision's always been pretty bad (said with affection). One of the sounds of my childhood was the click of my mom's eyeliner pencil against her vanity mirror because she had to get thisclose to see enough to put her make up on without her glasses; when my kids pretend to read things, they hold the book or paper or whatever up in the air and tilt their heads at different angles "to see it"--doing an impression of how my mom will read something, first through her glasses and then over her glasses, and then through her glasses, and then over her glasses.

But last night, with only one eye done, she was trying to get the kids to pick up rice that had fallen to the ground while they were eating dinner. "There!" she said, pointing, "You forgot one--right there."

And then she went, "Ha!" really loud.

When I think about it, my mother has never really seen me, or my kids, or even my father. That doesn't mean she doesn't know us, of course. But I wonder how different her perception of us will be, now that she can see us. You may not be getting lazik anytime soon, but I hope you find the opportunity to see things around you differently.

Ok, have a good week, and see you tomorrow? 530-630 @ nuuanu elementary.

-meredith

9/12: Carded

Hi Pals:

I hope you had a restful weekend. Two things:

1. Tomorrow is Zumba in the Nuuanu Elementary School cafeteria. Be there!

2. I have a bunch of gift cards that have, like, $2.53 or $.87 (there's no cents sign on the modern keyboard!) left one them. Not that useful, right. But then I read a story about these people who were at a dinner party and decided to see how much money everyone had leftover on various giftcards, and the total added up to over $50. They decided to start a non-profit to collect these residual balance cards and use them to help projects, people, and organizations. Check them out: http://www.giftcardgiver.com/

For the month of October (my Zumba in Nuuanu anniversary month), I will be collecting giftcards with balances of any amount, and at the end of the month our Zumba group can send it in. I'm trying to see if we can work with Gift Card Giver to keep these donations in Hawaii--with the Lokahi Giving Tree or Hawaii Food Bank--to hopefully make someone's, or some family's holiday season just a little better. I'll let you know what I find out. You can start donating whenever, but the main push I'm doing is for October.

If you want to participate, just go through your wallets and purses, take out the unused or residual balance cards, write down on one side in Sharpie the balance (there is usually a website or number on the card you can use to find out the balance), and bring it to me. I'll collect them, sort them, and at the end of the month I'll send them off. I am not going to keep anything--even if it's from a store I really like. : )

There are almost 100 people on this email list. If each of us donated $1, that's almost $100 to help someone--and that's a simple, perfect example of how powerful we are as a community.

Have a great week, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

-Meredith