Welcome to the Motivation To Move Community Forums!
Well Hello!
If this is your first visit to the Motivation To Move Community Forums, Welcome! You are currently viewing our forums as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions. By joining our free community you will be able to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, and more. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so join our community today!
I’ve shifted to walking and getting outside from November through to now. And, I’ve been part of the Mastermind group. Most days have been 65-80 minute walks around town, outside and enjoying the colder winter weather.
Wowzers… did you say enjoying the colder winter weather? That’s what I call motivation! WTG Ross!
Yep, I’m still at it in the Great White North. And, again I’ve been at it today. Today, it’s been an aerobic workout and the walk to run program - one minute, in five minute cycles; 7.0 mph at 0% incline for running; 3.5 mph at 6% incline for the walking. And, it’s been Coldplay’s 2003 Concert watch and listen to in front of the treadmill.
It’s a cardio session for me this morning. I’ve mixed a walk-to-run program with the LSB steady state burn at an incline of 7%. While on the treadmill, I watched ‘That Night in Toronto,’ and live concert DVD of the Tragically Hip in Toronto. The Hip has taken a while to grow on me ... years ... and the lyrics and music ‘are’ good for something. This morning it’s been Bobcaygeon that’s hit home. It’s about an Ontario police officer sent in to break up a protest during a G7/G8 summit held in Toronto in the late nineties. Imagine the absurdity of situation and devaluation of the officer when sent in to clear out a riot in which the protesters are looking-out for the poorer countries of the world ... neutralizing heroes. I think I can connect for students within our study of Anne Frank Remembered ... in terms of what they’d do as the police officer and by connecting the officer’s situation to the average conscripted Nazi in World War II. I’m aiming at concerts these days. There hasn’t been a lot of music in my world prior to Christmas ... it’s been podcasts and audiobooks. My son, at 15 years old, is starting to dig around the music of the 80’s these days ... Depeche Mode has shown up in the purchased area iTunes. And, then, he’s downloading Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers. Anyway ... with all that at play, I did finish my workout with some stretching.
The weekend’s been good for setting exams for my students. I’ve also gotten out for two swims and yesterday managed to pull off a mile and a third in an hour. This morning has been an Upper body workout followed by the long slow burn while watching the Live 8 concert DVD.
Thought ... perhaps to start a new thread seeing as this current one was targeted to 2008. Hmmh?
Sorry to read about the calf pull. You’ve had me recall Ada/AJ from a while back with Motivation to Move. Good!
For me, I’ve been on the treadmill this morning with the walk-to-run program ... a minute and a half of walking in five minute segments, done ten times; beyond this I’d use intervening minutes to set the incline high and walk the long, slow burn ... a demanding workout, that would have produced a superlative entry for the ‘Sweaty T-Shirt’ thread a while back. I was definitely flinging sweat this morning ... while watching Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds “Live at Radio City Music Hall.”
I’m glad that members continue to use this forum. I wonder what Scott and Carlyn have in mind for us with the new, world-class website. For me, walking has been my primary exercise through 2009 and it’s allowed me quality time with the MTM podcasts. Yesterday, I got two 6-mile walks in, bundled well to deal with -37C temperatures.
MasterMIND - What 2009 has also been about is the MasterMIND group. We’ve been going through James Arthur Ray’s ‘Science of Success’ book and doing so has yielded lively, poignant, insight-filled conversation; the dialogue has always been recorded and provides the opportunity to review what was said once, twice or several times. What’s extraordinary is that there are nuggets of wisdom that show up ... as we go ... that apply to the laws or principles we’re discussing. It’s real-time discussion that’s understood at the time of the call; yet, it becomes discussion to refer back to afterwards and in the post-call hearing often you can understand a little more of what someone was talking about. And, it ‘is’ insight-filled. In every call, right down to our last and most recent, there has always been something that adds to our understanding of how to bring forward success. It’s been the practical considerations and the associated outcomes. The straight-talk approach within the calls is world class and the people involved (ordinary, everyday people) have each revealed greatness in their approach to Life and to achieving success. I’m grateful for the MasterMIND group; I’m proud of what we’ve achieved – there’s been wisdom, humour, experience, questions, understanding of fears and frustrations, and straight-talk.
Average Perfect Day - the other thing that the forum presents is the opportunity to work through and refine our average perfect day. It’s possible to set out what will make it a good, good day. And, it’s possible to review the day with others, here, in the forum. It’s possible to talk about why we value certain things in our day. It’s possible to recognize what we don’t want in our average perfect day experientially. All this can be talked through with others ... something to capitalize upon.
Also, we’re closing out 2009 and with that a decade. More than a few times, Scott has referred to our under-estimation of what can be achieved in the ten years that make up a decade. As we leave this present decade behind with all the things that have occurred between 2000 and 2009, perhaps for the first time in any of our lives we have the opportunity to look forward, not for just one day or one week, but for ten years. We have the opportunity to take skills and practices that we’ve been refining with Motivation to Move and to set-out and achieve the extraordinary. We do have the option to look forward ten years and ask ‘What will we achieve by December 31, 2019?’ It is no longer the carpe diem of seizing the day; it now becomes seize the decade. Are you up for that?
Finally, Happy New Year to each and every one of you who have been a part of Motivation to Move. Your stories and experiences shared within the forum and on the Motivation to Move podcasts has been much of what has motivated me and others toward the many facets of success achieved. It is my hope that each of you will prosper and thrive not only in 2010, but within this next decade.
Hello, Ross. Your post makes me think that I’d like to talk with my husband after he gets home from work as to what we imagine for the next ten years. The past ten years have had their ups and downs but the second half of the decade saw lots of positives despite the economic situation in the world.
It’s good to read your post. I hope you’ll consider opening-out, if appropriate, the nature of the changes you’ve seen within the decade ... especially how things became more positive in the latter half.
It’s good to read your post. I hope you’ll consider opening-out, if appropriate, the nature of the changes you’ve seen within the decade ... especially how things became more positive in the latter half.
Ross
An afterthought has me thinking that by doing so you’d be tracking steppingstones (your route toward current success).
You are so right, 2009 was a fantastic year full of new insights and change. The challenges of the times are really opportunities for us to test ourselves and to grow. Now at the beginning of 2010, a new decade I am at a place where I never imagined I would be at the start of 2000. I’m looking forward and wondering ‘What’s Next?’.
Seize the decade is a great challenge, and one that I look forward to working on with the help of MTM, and MasterMind.
I started to reply to you several days ago, Ross, and lost the post. I’ll try again. Most of my journey I’ve already posted between my bio and my 100 days of exercise posts, but I’ll try to be succinct. And thinking about this over the past few days has been good for me.
What I have to say may sound contradictory but it works for me. I’m contrasting the first five years of the decade (A) with the last five (B) and I’m talking personally, not the world situation.
During A I was focused on others. Three people died and I mourned them, cleaned out their houses, and settled their estates and worked full time. I took on a more challenging position at work because I was the only person who would do it and I cared about what happened. I ignored myself. I can’t/won’t change my basic values, but I learned a lesson from all that. While I couldn’t change all that went along with the deaths, when the job became horrible, I could have resigned from the semi-administrative position and gone back to full time teaching. What I’ve learned is to analyze when I can make a difference and when I can’t and let go of what’s not working.
At the same time as all that was going on, my jaw became restricted because of all the tension. First I learned to listen to my body. Secondly, I learned not to give up (which seems to contradict what I said above) because often solutions exist beyond our horizons. We have to go look for them. I sought a solution to my jaw and got to a fantastic dentist who gradually repositioned my jaw fixing that problem and then I wore braces for 3 years to make my teeth be in the position they needed to be in to go with the jaw. That process taught me that huge changes can happen over time just a tiny bit at a time.
I retired in 2004 and started the journey of focusing on healing myself. I subbed at school as a way of getting back on the horse that threw me. I didn’t want to carry anger and hurt with me for the rest of my life. At first it was very hard to walk into the building. I’m thrilled to report that just last month I ran into my main tormentor and I had no internal reaction. I am healed emotionally. Yea! I also ended up managing the care of an 87 year old colleague along with two other friends. I watched Physical Therapy make a huge difference in her stability when walking. And I realized that I was out of shape as well as overweight and that probably being out of shape was the more important issue.
So in 2006 a gym opened in town and I joined it figuring I would do to my body what the dentist had done to my jaw. I didn’t realize how out of shape I was or another way of putting it is that I didn’t realize how much better shape I could be in. My goal was to be the best I could be and I’m still pursuing that.
Finally, I made the decision that now is the time to do things that are uncomfortable for me. So I participated in fitness challenges and I’ve run about 8 five K races. While on vacation last month we had the opportunity to milk a cow. Part of me wanted to do it and the other part didn’t want to do it with a group of people watching. In the past I would have bypassed the opportunity. This time I milked the cow. The cow isn’t important; it’s just a concrete example.
So I head into the next decade emotionally, mentally, and physically healthier looking for opportunities to extend my horizons yet at the same time monitoring whether I’m taking on too much. I still have issues to work on but it’s an exciting place to be.
wow. thank you Joan. lots of things for me to be aware of as i begin a path of my own re-invention with a few lessons that maybe i can learn from you, rather than the University of Adversity. =) i have to tell you, i’m thankful to have found this reader’s digest version because you have nearly 3300 posts. it will take me a long time to read through all of those. =)
hi Ross. i came looking for “your thread” because i had the opportunity to read some words of encouragement and motivation that you shared with somebody else. just wanted to say hi, in the event that you felt me “lurking” in the back ground.
You’re welcome, Daeja. Many of my posts were responses to other MTM members so you definitely wouldn’t want to track them all down. I appreciated that Ross made me think.
Take good care of your good selves. 
