Trails in the Snow

Have you ever tried following in someone else’s footsteps through the snow, only to find that the footprints have a different shoe size, that the stride does not match your own or to find that the trail you choose to take leads a little to the left or right of the already existing path?  This will most likely be a similar experience we will all have during this year’s journey in the Year of the Dog.

Although we may all start off in relatively the same spot with similar year end goals in mind, we will each have our own way of getting there that will be individual and very personal and will not fit in anyone else’s mould.  There will be lessons and experiences along each individual path that will help build and determine our own end result.  We may go a little backwards with an injury, or sniff a rabbit that leads us in a direction going right into the bush or maybe it will be a hard left in an effort to help a friend who is struggling and lost, each step leading us forward in one way or another.

Along the road you may even come across those, who with a lack of understanding will doubt, question or even discourage you.  It’s in these moments we may need to remind ourselves of our goals. We may even have to be a little selfish in making choices that look after us first, with the clear understanding that when we take care of us, we will be better equipped to help and take care of others.

It is so important that we each show patience and respect for each journey for the simple fact that until we walk in someone else’s shoes, we will not completely understand the reasons their trail led in the direction it did.

Alana Regier

http:/alanaregier.blogspot.ca

 

 

Sustainability

As I started a week late in the year of the dog, I started a week behind in blogging as well so… here goes number two!

Choosing personal goals for the year can be challenging in itself, however for me, it goes beyond a point of just choosing goals that speak to me and a way to measure them, to choosing goals that will be ones that I can sustain for a lifetime in one way or another.  I’ve learnt the hard way that I can accomplish goals I set, but without thought and a plan that will make them a permanent part of my lifestyle, they just become something to cross off a list, something that changed me for a moment but are just a memory from the good old days.  Although I have always learned a lot along the way in attaining these goals, this year I want to choose goals that yes I will accomplish but in a way that will enable me to continue on with them after the year is complete, continuing to build and bettering them as the years go by.  I want goals that challenge me today, change me each day and push me to continue to grow, taking it always to that next level.

Alana Regier

http:/alanaregier.blogspot.ca

 

A New Dog

As of this morning I became a dog.  I had an incredibly hard time deciding and had mulled the idea over for quite some time. This decision was a tough one for the simple fact that in looking at my goals and the unpredictability of what this year may bring, I am somewhat uncertain of what capacity I may be able to be a part of certain pieces of the year.  We all have busy lives and with that it’s easy to make lists of why maybe next year would be better, but really is there ever the perfect year?

An excerpt from a book I am currently reading put it perfectly:

“Take what the trail gives you.  That’s all there is to it. On one level “take what the trail gives you” simply means you should take and make the most out of, what the trail presents; that is, what’s right in front of you.  If the trail looks gentle and smooth, then use that stretch to run faster and fluidly.  If the trail turns steep and rocky, switch to slower running or hiking, and leverage your strength and agility.  If the trail churns up sticky, slick mud, just take it and run through it, keeping your sense of humor intact. It is a gift to run in the great outdoors, a gift for which we should be grateful and that we should never take for granted.  Who knows what could happen, so seize the day and hit the trail.”

Like running a trail, this year’s journey will go through easy flat land, rocky steep slopes and muddy wet puddles, but it will be the combination of all these moments and experiences that will encourage each one of us to grow into better, stronger and happier people who make a difference where ever we may go.

If we wait for that perfect moment or perfect year we will inevitably be disappointed and full of regret because the fact is that year does not exist.  Some years will be better suited than others but all will have their challenges. So as the excerpt says, be grateful for the opportunities we have today and seize the day!

The more imperfect the year seems perhaps the more perfect it becomes.

Go thru the muddy part of the trail with a smile on your face!

 

Alana Regier
http:/alanaregier.blogspot.ca

Routine

Routine, although can be very comforting, can become one that at times feels like mediocrity. I for one typically love the sense of knowing how my day is going to go down and feel relief in that sense of some sort of control.  In knowing this about myself I have been a little caught off guard with the feelings I have been experiencing with my routine.  I have found myself just going through the motions with some requirements, doing them without much thought, intent or purpose.  Take for instance the sit ups and push ups.  They are a requirement I have been doing faithfully for a few years now and I think I have got to this place that they are just something to scratch off the list of must do’s.  Please don’t get me wrong, this is not because I’m in awesome shape because the truth be known I am in probably the worse shape I have been in for years. I think I not only have lost what the value physically is but have lost the much deeper purpose of this requirement. In trying to figure this out, I think, like many things for me this year I have had the wrong perspective and attitude at times.  I have allowed myself to become distracted and have not been in the moment with a pure intent in what I have always been doing.  I recognize the need to focus on where I am and what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.  What is my intent? What value is there in strictly being able to cross it off a list or write a number of reps down in my journal if I fail to see the value in it?  What have a gained?

So like many on the team this year, I have had to hit restart.  I have had to restart on some of my personal goals that dropped off for me early on and have found that changing things up with a little pizzazz, out of the comfort of routine, to be benefitting me more than I would have thought. Changing how I do things, adding more to compliment achieving my goals and taking other things to a new level has helped me refocus in a cool direction. Each of us joined the Year of the Rooster with great intentions and plans but I believe it is extremely important to revisit those reasons ‘why’ throughout the year to gain clarity as to where you are and reassess whether you need to adjust to better your results. Quite often in examining the ‘why’ we discover much deeper benefits and value than what appears on the surface.

Alana Regier                                              

http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca

Value of Goals

The value of setting goals is not lost on me. Without goals life seems somewhat lost and without purpose.  If a person is not working towards something, then they are living without direction.  Without direction comes chaos, confusion, disorder and ultimately little completed in the end.

In the past it’s been the physical goals that I have found the easiest in respect that they usually seem more measureable to me.  It’s in the goals that are more mental, spiritual, relationship orientated that can be a little trickier for me to tell whether I am making progress.  I can make myself do push ups, sit ups, squat thrusts, running etc. but those goals that dig a little deeper, are more complicated or involve other people are unpredictable and sometimes requires me to change my plan many times along the way. Not always easy or comfortable but necessary.

Not all progress and successes are visible to the outside world, however, I believe the fruit we bear in all areas of our life will be evidence that we are on the right track. It is your future goals that determine the energy and effort you put towards what you do today.

Alana Regier

http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca

 

Splattered on the Wall

As I find myself in a funk in my training, unable to explain why and unsure of how to crawl out, I read one of Tom Callos’ recent posts titled “Hitting a Wall.” The timing of this particular post could not be more perfect as in many ways I think I may actually be more splattered on the wall.  As I read it I could without doubt nod my head with complete understanding.  I could visualize myself too choosing Star Bucks over going to class and not understanding why. 

For almost 7 years I worked my way from white belt to black belt, continually being taught and led in my training and then I reach this black belt level and all of a sudden I felt somewhat lost as to the direction I was supposed to go.  I remember the realization quickly that this was completely the start of my training and that I hadn’t even scratched the surface.  So how do I progress with taking my training to the next level? I’m not an unmotivated soul. My drive and determination is mimicked off the mats and beyond the four walls of the kwoon. One would think that it would just be a constant progression, reach one level continue on working to the next, however , I haven’t been able to get to that place and find myself  trying to figure out why. It’s not the belt or the red stripe that I am so fixed on getting, for me it is the journey in reaching that spot.  It’s the lessons and growth along the way.  It’s the difference I can make in the world around me.  I want to know with every fiber of my being that when I reach that level I have truly earned it.  The one lesson that stands out vividly that I can say I am working on steadily on this journey is patience.  I wish I could say it was easy and that I was successfully winning but it seems to be one of the lessons that is more of a work in progress, the one step forward two back type.

 It can be less visible that everyone has struggles, that we all have valleys and mountains tops.  Mentors and heroes can be easily put in a category of having special powers that make them untouchable and perfect but in reality they are as human as I am.  They still hurt, struggle and feel frustrated and disappointed. The difference is how they overcome and persevere.  How they don’t allow the crap stuff to beat them down and allow it to become an excuse as to why they didn’t or why they can’t.  They are determined and because of this become the leaders and mentors that stand out and motivate others.  It’s in witnessing those I admire and look up to struggle, fail and overcome that I am truly inspired.  They are extraordinary because of what they have conquered and become and give me hope that I am capable of the same if I choose to be.

As Tom Callos said in his post:

 “Yes, I hit the wall too.  When you see me do it, then watch me. Watch what I do.”

Alana Regier

http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca

Decluttering

“The hot desert sun vaporizes all manner of luxuries.  Then the cold shelter less nights expose the essential guts of life.”

Deserts declutter the soul.  When things are taken away or lost it forces us to see what remains, what has been hidden under the clutter we have accumulated and piled.   Decluttering can reveal a deeper appreciation of the things that really matter.  It can eliminate the things that aren’t important, those things that steal our focus and exposes the true nitty gritty.  To completely embrace a moment, to not see, hear or worry about all the ‘stuff’ but to at the same time see everything a moment has to offer, to take in every sight, smell, feeling and lesson is a blessing. 

We live in a fast pace world, generation and country that demands us to be connected through cell phones, laptops and the like.  The funny thing is in this effort to stay connected we have actually disconnected ourselves from the lives we were meant to and designed to live, the life that would rejuvenate us, give us joy and allow us to live a life worth living. I have discovered this is where injuries, job losses, moves etc. become a gift.  These are the moments that give us the quiet down time we may need to refocus and redirect or to simply get the rest we need.  If we adjust our perspective to see it as something with a positive to offer rather than a punishment of sorts we will come out changed with needed lessons learned. 

A big lesson for me this year has been the need to get to the bare bones of some things in my life.  I’m learning that there are reasons why things haven’t been going as planned and hoped and the answers rarely have been on the surface.  I’ve had to dig a little deeper to try to start to understand and adjust.  So 2017 did not turn out as I had written on paper but really it can only be seen as a ‘wasted’ year if I allow it to be.  Some of my revelations haven’t been easy to discover and some have even set me back further than when I first started and then others have me seeking more answers, but they have all been lessons I needed and are leading me a step closer to where I want to be.  It’s not always easy or comfortable to own up to the part we are responsible for in what goes astray but it is necessary if we truly want to change our direction.

Alana Regier

http://alanaregier.blogspot.ca