In honor of National Athletic Training Month, I would like to begin by saying thank you to all the athletic trainers who do so much to help keep our players playing, to create a learning environment for those aspiring to become athletic trainers, being among the best to tape an ankle and so much more. You truly are amazing! If any of those who are reading this now would like to find out more about athletic training feel free to visit http://www.nata.org or ask me about it here in the comment area. Also, because it is National Athletic Training Month, I am going to write about something related to athletic ability…

One thing I used to struggle with was doing rehab exercises at home. I hated doing them and it didn’t seem to matter who told me to do them; I would get really ticked and just not do them when I should have. This is really not a good plan, you see, because if someone is telling you to do rehab exercises you probably have something wrong with you that you really oughta do something to fix. But of course the stubbornness came out and I didn’t do decent rehab for a while.

This was a couple years ago and thankfully now I am a very changed person when it comes to doing my own rehab. In fact, I’ve pretty much done a 180 from how I used to be. When I see how far I’ve come, I am really pleased with my own personal progress in this particular area, and I often look back to see what it really was that changed my attitude and ability to succeed in this way. I think I have a good idea of it now…

A couple of things were big roadblocks for me. When I wasn’t doing my own rehab I didn’t have any exercise clothing. I just didn’t own it. The first change I made was to get me some decent workout clothes. That in itself made a world of difference for me. I was not as uncomfortable working out because my clothes were helping me instead of hindering me.

The second thing I changed was having music that I enjoyed to listen to during my rehab workout. If I was just sitting in silence it was far easier for me to find excuses not to do all my exercises. Putting on music distracted me and allowed me to have a little more fun with the rehab.

The third and what I think to be the biggest turning point was when I changed my attitude. I stopped focusing on how awkward and difficult these exercises were for me and started focusing on how much they were going to help me in the long run. With time and diligence, these exercises became easier for me to complete and I have been thrilled with the progress.

My point in all this is to show how making some simple changes like buying workout pants and listening to music along with a more positive and focused attitude can make a world of difference in overcoming the challenges you currently face. Figure out what those road blocks are for you and do whatever it is you need to do to get them out of the way.

It’ll make a difference for you, I promise, and don’t forget…nothing’s going to work well unless you do.

Don’t you find it funny that the same room temperature that makes a milkshake melt also makes your hamburger too cold to enjoy? I was thinking about this last night as I was delayed in eating my dinner due to an important phone call, and everything, whether it was hot or cold, was not quite what I was hoping for after it had sat waiting for just a few extra minutes. How can my food that was perfectly wonderful to begin with be so affected by the temperature surrounding it that I did not enjoy it half as much as I wanted to enjoy it?

And then there is the whole argument about bananas and other foods that are perfectly normal when they sit in the cabinet for days and weeks. You don’t have to heat up or cool down a banana in order for it to be enjoyable. The room temperature doesn’t destroy or even phase it really. Now, extreme situations would still cause a problem but the everyday environment doesn’t.

Come along with me now as I make this apply to the power of personal attitude. We are all in this same world, or room temperature if you will, and yet some people are thriving in this environment and others aren’t. Some people are happy, and some people are gloom and doomy. Some people take what happens to them and use that event to allow them to progress, while others allow situations to spoil them. Some people allow every moment to dictate their emotions and others take action to overcome their weaknesses. Some people freak out over every little thing and others let it roll right off their shoulders. Some people are like bananas and others like an ever-melting milkshake.

You have the choice to dictate your reaction to the environment around you. The room temperature is not likely to change unless you do, and it will most definitely not refreeze your milkshake by leaving it out on the counter. It’s your choice to have a good attitude. It’s your choice to not let the little or big things bother and even destroy you. Every moment in your life is an opportunity for you to decide to be a banana or a melting milkshake. Which one will you choose today?

I recently had the glorious privilege of watching a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie called “Front of the Class.” I was thrilled to be sitting on my mother’s bed with my mom and my sister watching such a touching film which I would like to tell you a little bit about.

Diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome at a young age gave significant challenge to the movies main character, Brad. All he wanted to do was be a teacher. Spontaneous barking, twitching and head jerking, as is common with Tourette’s made it nearly impossible for him to be given a chance to be at the front of the class. Time after time, Brad refused to give up no matter how hard the doors were slammed in his face.

I was inspired by his attitude and given reflection into my own weaknesses. I sometimes worry that, because of certain problems that I have, I might not be able to do what I want to. It’s so easy to fall into the disparaging thought process that constantly says “I can’t” when truly it’s the biggest lie there is. Brad overcame the opposition he was dished out from all fronts and proved to himself, his family, his students and the world that, though he had something that could sabotage every hope he had to succeed, he conquered it and found a way to live his dream anyway. I was given greater knowledge that I can do the same. Whatever there is that is holding you back is something that you too can overcome. Nothing is impossible! Go live your dreams…

If you haven’t figured it out yet…one of my favorite things to blog about is baseball. Everything from the national anthem to the final strike out fills me with a sense of pride and gratitude to be there witnessing such a fun game. I love the steps of a proper pitch and the graceful slides to reach a base in time. I love the form and strength that the players show. I even eat some sunflower seeds. To me, it’s so much more than a game-I’m not obsessed, just a good fan-because I see what those players have put so much into. They have spent hours upon hours perfecting their skills and becoming the best that they can, and I love that! Often when I’m sitting there watching, I realize just how lucky I am to really be sitting there-me-personally being able to wholeheartedly enjoy one of my favorite things of all time. My life is so awesome. Sometimes it seems like the opposite is true though…; each day of our lives, we have the choice to notice everything that is wrong or amiss or to focus on the constant good things that can be found with just a little bit of effort. Yours and my life both have stress and drama and misfortunes…everybody does. But we also have oodles upon oodles of blessings to enjoy if we just take the time to find them. My life is a whole lot happier when I spend time watching baseball games, listening to some good ol’ country music and doing countless other things that I love. Now is the time to fill your days with goodness and find a little less to complain about….even in the hardest of times.

Lots of screws have been missing in my everyday life…
Several months ago my bed that I sleep on had to be moved into the middle of my floor due to some enormous remodling that had to be done in order to fix a leak underground. Once we moved my very old and fragile bed frame, I was scared to move it back, knowing that it might not survive the trip to it’s origanal home. So for about 6 months I have carefully gotten on and off of my bed that has resided as an island in my room. Needless to say, this was difficult to live with, and I was never sure if I would wake up dropped to the ground.
This last week I had to move my bed back to the wall…enough was enough! My brother helped me move it back and discovered that there were some loose and missing screws. He grabbed a screwdriver, tightened them, and my bed has sat straighter ever since. I was not aware that this little adjustment would make such an enormous difference, but it has.
I’m convinced that there is meaning in this experience, and I think I’ve figured out at least one of the ways it can apply. There are things in our lives that can be thought of as screws that hold everything in place. These things can be time with family or a friend, exercise, time spent toward an important dream or goal, prayer, just about anything that you consider an important part of your day or your week. If we forget, put off, or run out of time for these things, it’s like a missing screw in the bedframe of our existence. What screw can you tighten this week?

My life, as you know from previous blogs, has been highly stressful and hectic lately. In fact, the reason–not that it’s valid–why I didn’t write my blog last week was because of the pure “hecticness” I have been experiencing.

I woke up around 6 am to head down to my 7:30 MRI more than half an hour away from my house.  I laid there listening to Taylor Swift music blasting in my ears to offset the noise of the machine for about half an hour. Upon returning home, I got together my supplies to write a reply to a friend’s letter.  I got about as far as their name on the paper before realizing it was already time to get ready to go work at the athletic training room.

I dashed to put my uniform on and get together all my stuff then worked for about 7 hours. I was ready to take a hot shower and climb in bed, being exhausted from all the running about, when I learned I was to go with my brother to church and then stop by my sister’s house to practice a song we were singing the following night.

I was worn out beyond belief!   When I finally did get that shower and went to bed, you can guess:  all my blogging time had vanished. My point in telling you all this is to, one, apologize and to, two, illustrate what has been the constant fast-paced race I’ve been running for days. It’s barely stopped and I know it won’t until at least next Wednesday…the day when I am planning on going in for my third knee surgery. Then all this craziness will take a sudden halt where I am, as I put it, doomed to a couch for a few weeks until I can move around without crutches again. My doctors are moving bones and putting them where they should have been aligned when I was born. This surgery will hopefully heal me from the problems I’ve been dealing with for quite some time. As crazy and hard as it has been for me to get everything ready for the weeks when I won’t be able to live my usual life, a few things have really helped to keep the endurance going–for that has been a challenge. Sometimes I just want to give up, call the whole thing off. It’s so tempting for me to ignore the issues I have and move on with my life as if they are not there. That would be the easy way, not necessarily the right way. I’ve gotta figure out the best thing for me and go with it. The thing that gets to me most would have to be how much I know I’m going to miss this busy, wonderful life of mine when I’m on a slower, recovery-centered time. I take all these moments that I have and breathe them in, feeling them, experiencing them, loving them. Even the things that are difficult I find myself thankful for. It could be wiping off a table or folding laundry and I find myself appreciating wholeheartedly the ability I have to stand on two legs and do them. I haven’t been taking much for granted because I know deep inside me that they will not last forever. What has provoked that for me is having surgery and knowing that soon I won’t have both legs to stand on. Now one of the greatest things is that with time I will have both my legs back in full capacity; there is always a silver lining…

But seriously, I have learned a new level of appreciation for the things in my life which I hold dear, and even some of the things that I don’t. I know that each challenge comes with something good to get out of it.

I am amazed how words flow freely from my mind to my fingertips when I am writing in a creative mood.  It can be early in the morning or late at night when I feel those creative juices running.  How I am creative can come in a number of ways: words, colors, or textures are often involved depending on what my project is at hand.  Creativity is something I crave…especially when I am bogged down with school work or anything else pressuring to me.  Not always do the hours in the day bring the amount of time that I wish to spend on creative projects, but, some way, somehow, I find a time to fold it into the crevices of my days or weeks before I burst.

I feel that all people are given the gift of creativity in some form or another.  I can not help but cringe when I hear someone around me complain that they are not creative.  I simply refuse to believe it.  You may not be one with shelves full of scrapbooks or tables of elaborately decorated cakes, have dozens of written works and walls lined with personal paintings, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t creative.   Anything that you add to this world is a creation from you.  It may be the child you hold in your arms or the memories that fill your heart.  It may be the quiet walks you have with a friend or a letter you send in the mail.  It can even be a message you send to someone on Facebook.  We are always creating the lives around us.

So, yesterday I didn’t write my blog like I usually do on Wednesday. It wasn’t that I didn’t try. In fact I had been trying for two days to think of something worth writing in a blog, but the words simply didn’t come.

I couldn’t think of anything inspiring to share with you or words that would give you solace in a challenging time. The reason for this is that over the last week or so my life has been taking unexpected, devastating falls bringing me deeper and deeper into the pit of despair that has temporarily become my life. Not fun. Some difficult news came last Tuesday that made my complicated and stressful life more complicated and stressful. As hard to swallow as that news was, I made an effort to keep things level headed without any kind of significant break down over the holidays, and basically succeeded. I did my best to not let it take over, even though it was resting heavily on my mind. That was a good thing. The holidays were wonderful and I was thankfully able to enjoy them despite the struggles.

Last Saturday meant a dive back into reality for me as I started to gather more details that needed to go into the mix for my difficult decisions ahead. As I was coping with that, some even more-totally unrelated-news came on Monday that made matters worse bringing me into some of the most difficult of times I’ve faced. All I could seem to think about was the horrible situation that I had been placed in almost completely out of my control. That was why I didn’t have anything to say. My world was colored by tragedy and dismay to the point that everything seemed totally awful. Even the good things in life seemed insignificant in comparison to the devastation.

I hate being in that place where everything seems bad and rotten. So this morning I woke up and decided to bring the levels of negativity down. I had to choose not to let this devastation take over every waking minute of my life anymore. Yes, my challenges are still totally present in my life. However, there is a time and a place for them which doesn’t need to be dominating my life for more than a couple of days.

So for you and for me there is only so much time we can spend in agony before we pick ourselves up again. We cannot spend every day complaining over the misfortunes of our lives for they will be easily found as long as we live. Some things are harder to deal with than others and for those things we must allow ourselves time to heal. Something I am working hard to learn how to do is let things be what they are, especially the things that are out of my control.

Finals week is usually stressful and straining. This week has been no exception. I have spent much time studying and taking care of myself in order to perform at my best in the subjects that challenge me. I have tried a variety of techniques to make sure I remember all of the important information and taken good breaks to keep from overloading myself. Overall this week has gone well. It has been far less stressful than it could have been, and I think my attitude has had a lot to do with it.

Now, I don’t know about you, but something I struggle with is knowing if I am doing enough. Even if I wear myself out, there is more that I could have done. The same thing is true about studying. Even if I were to read each text book ten times, there would still be something more to get out of it. Perhaps there is a glitch somewhere that causes many people to feel like they need to do absolutely everything in order to accomplish anything. How I have been working to overcome this glitch, if you will, is to tell myself–when I have done my best–that it truly is enough. “No Marissa, you don’t have to read every single written word about the kidney in order to ace your Physiology final; you just have to study the material your professor has given you.” And, “no, you don’t have to worry anymore about this because you have studied.” By telling myself these kinds of things over and over when the self doubt comes in, I have been able to spend less time worrying and more time focusing on the material. I have done my best to keep the stress levels low and been able to do better than I have in the past.

In what way could you change your thinking to mpower your life?

What’s in my heart today, and seems like it has been every other day in the last few weeks is the unstoppable end of this semester. When I think about it I feel stressed, fearful and sometimes excited. I keep having to remind myself that next semester will be just as good, if not better than this one, for that’s what I am fearful about. I keep telling myself that finals will be ok as long as I study, for that’s what I’m stressed about…And every time I feel excited I let my heart fill with that sensational feeling that wonderful things will be in the near future just as I enjoy them now.

This semester has been great, probably the best I’ve had in college or ever actually. I have made so many friends and grown as a person. This growth might be hard to see, but I see it. I have spent hours upon hours doing what I love most, and hours and hours studying things that are difficult to understand. I’ve eaten lunch and average of 66 times (thankfully only once in the cafeteria), gone to three massive collections of the students called Convocation, attended advising meetings, every sports game possible, review sessions, and the occasional random meetings thrown into the mix of my everyday schedule. I’ve started out almost every day with a bowl of cereal, taken lots of tests/quizzes and managed to somehow write at least 1 sentence in my journal every day of class. I’ve lifted weights, carried books, climbed stairs, written assignments, and dozens of other random, yet strenuous, activities.

How I’ve done all this, I’m not always sure. College is hard stuff. Yet at this point, I am sad to see this semester end. It’s a time of change…huge change for me, which seems horrible to deal with. These classes I’ve finally gotten the hang of are ending and my class mates leaving with them. Will I see most of them in January? Yes, however they won’t be sitting in the same place they sit now and we will all be working toward understanding different things. It’s hard for me to think about this but I still think about it.

I’m not quite sure how to calm the anxiety that comes with the close of the semester but am doing my best to figure it out. Keeping a positive attitude and being optimistic about the future helps. The winter holidays also give a greater source of comfort to the weary soul. So the advice I give to myself and any of you who might be facing similar situations is to keep your head high in this difficult transitioning time. One thing I have come to know is that even when the worries seem to pile up they truly can be dismissed for with time all things work out. So for me, who doesn’t really want next week to come, I take hope in the fact that even things that look grim from a distance can turn into the greatest experiences of our lives when we get closer. Those things can even become something hard for us to leave. Truly though, moving forward is the best way for us to grow.

How will you empower yourself to move forward and grow today?