Even though print was lacking, our heritage stories were not. I have talked, in a previous blog, about how the women in our family show love by cooking. We also have a heritage of strength that is passed down from generation to generation.

I loved that my Aunt Gwen and Aunt Ida would drive me down to the coast and show me where the plantation stood, where my ancestors ran the ferry, the road named after our family, where my great grandmother, after being widowed ran a store and my grandfather grew up on the second floor of the store. We went to the cemetery and read the grave markers of family members who served in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Even though the ones who fought were men, it was always taught to me that the women stayed home and took care of everything while the men were away. I knew that the women in our family were strong women, powerful in their ability to nurture, care for and love other people. I was taught that there was always enough to share with someone who had less; to care for others.

I learned the stories of our family history and I learned the lessons learned by the women in my family as they labored to be all that they can be. In fact, my Aunt Gwen went back and completed college after all of her children were grown.

This month is women’s history month. We empower ourselves and our daughters (and even our sons) as we teach them the stories of success from the women in our family. What stories of the women in your family can you share with your family members? We would love to hear them too!

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.

I have been asked to contribute to this blog and share my experiences as a female in the world of athletic training and to celebrate Athletic Training Month.  For those of you who don’t know what an Athletic Trainer is, you are not alone.  We are the best kept secret in the health care arena.  We are the medical professionals that you see running onto the football field to attend to an injured player.   The football field or basketball court is where we are most recognized.  Emergency care for an athletic event is only a portion of what we do on a daily basis.  We take care of all the health care needs of high school, college and professional athletes.  We prevent, treat, and rehabilitate injuries.  We deal with nutrition, eating disorders, heat illnesses, and every other condition that may affect an athlete.  We care for those same athletic injuries and illnesses in sports medicine clinics, in the performing arts (like the Radio City Rockettes, Cirque de Soliel, professional dance companies), the military and industry.  We care for astronauts, soldiers, factory workers, and week-end warriors.  It is a fun, exciting medical profession that allows us to work with motivated, temporarily disabled people and get them back to play or work as quickly and safely as possible.

I started as an Athletic Training Student at the Ohio State University.  I had no idea what an athletic trainer was, but it sounded pretty cool.  It was a combination of working with athletes and “helping people.”   My students still tell me that is why they go into athletic training.  Thirty years ago, women only took care of female sports, and males only took care of the men’s sports.   There were only a handful of female athletic trainers in the country.  I had no idea at the time that I was a pioneer in the field.  Today that realization just makes me feel old!  I fell in love with athletic training and set my goals very high.  I wanted to eventually work as an athletic trainer at a Division I University.  I was told at Ohio State by my male counterparts that I wasn’t as good as they were because I didn’t work with football.  Few women in the country were allowed to work football.  This made me more determined that I would break that barrier. 

After earning my masters degree at Purdue University, (and working with the football team), I spent a year at East Carolina University on my way to fifteen years of working at the University of Kentucky.   I was hired to work with the women’s basketball team and with football.  The Head Athletic Trainer needed help with football and was happy to accept a woman onto the staff.  There was a newly hired football coach at UK, Jerry Claiborne, a disciple of Bear Bryant.  He was an old school football coach that had no desire to break barriers and have a female on his all-male staff or to work with his 150 football players.  There had never been a full-time female athletic trainer in the South Eastern Conference (SEC) who worked with a football program.   Coach Claiborne was a tough, hardnosed coach, but was a great and fair man.  He allowed me the opportunity to work football and to prove myself.  He respected hard work and liked the relationships I developed with the players and their families.  The football players didn’t care about gender.  They cared if I was good at my job and if I was worthy of their trust.  I loved working football.  It was a new challenge every day.  I have to admit it was very cool running out on the field in front of 100,000 people and to be on national television.  What I really loved the most were the players.  They were such big, tough guys to the outside world.  We were lucky enough to see them as young, sensitive, kind, funny kids who entertained us every day.  The movie, “The Blindside” was a great movie and really hit home to us.  We gave a lot to our players, but they gave just as much back to us and touched our lives in so many ways.  Coach Jerry Claiborne was a wonderful man.  He provided me with an incredible opportunity, and it was up to me to succeed or fail.  He and I became great friends and admired each other tremendously.  I learned so much about honesty, fairness and values from Coach Claiborne. 

I had several women mentors along the way who empowered me to set my goals high and to work hard to reach them.  Linda Daniel, my head athletic trainer at Ohio State instilled a strength in all of “her girls” to stand up for themselves and to prove women can be as good as men in athletic training.    My fellow athletic training students at Ohio State fought the gender battles side-by-side with me and are my best and forever friends today.  It turned out the males that I worked with at the University of Kentucky and in the SEC were the ones who empowered me to be the best athletic trainer I could be.  It is important to note that I worked hard to be the best athletic trainer, and not the best female athletic trainer.  I always wanted to be known as an athletic trainer who just happened to be a female.  My friends and colleagues were the ones that encouraged me to become involved in athletic training at the national, district and state levels, to travel all over the world with USA Basketball, and to eventually teach the profession I love.  That Head Athletic Trainer that hired me to work beside him on the football field….  I married him 17 years ago.  He and I were the first couple inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame together 5 years ago, and I was the sixth woman ever inducted.   He and I are back working side-by-side at Florida Southern College, just like we did for so many years at UK.  Today we also share the joy (and challenge!) of raising our 14 year old daughter, Logan.  My athletic training success has everything to do with the support I received from both male and female friends and colleagues, plus the determination and responsibility I felt to break the barriers to make it easier for the females who follow me into the wonderful profession of athletic training.

Sue Stanley-Green – Hall of Fame 2004

Our twins wanted to go to Disney. We thought about going to celebrate their birthday. I had heard about giving a day of service and getting a day to go to Disney. What a wonderful program! (They are definitely getting a thank you note.) I felt that giving service was a great idea and I wanted our family to be a part of this experience. We can give something to help someone, and, in the process, we get to celebrate as a family.

So, my son did some research, and we went through the list of possible service opportunities. My daughter is recovering from surgery, so we needed an opportunity to serve while being at home. Conkerr Cancer had the opportunity to serve by making pillowcases for smiles. We purchased bright colored fabric, followed the directions for making the pillowcases and set out to make pillowcases for children who need to have good things in their lives.

This opportunity for service also appealed to me because our family has been through a difficult experience with a sick child last summer. Daily trips to the hospital over an hour away from home, caring for the older siblings of the sick child, just not knowing what was going on, and wanting more than anything to be able to do something to help (yet feeling the hopelessness of not being able to help), and remembering this experience all made us want to help other families with children struggling with serious diseases.

I approached my family. Everyone was in agreement. A Saturday would not work for us, so we have spent this week making pillowcases. We have learned a system, and each person in our family contributes what they can. Even the children too young to participate and get the Disney prize have been involved in our family service project. The members of our family serve as they can–before or after work, after school; they come and they go, and we work together. We have made several trips to the fabric stores and have perfected a process of cutting and sewing. Our smaller children turn and fold the pillowcases; our older children pin and cut the fabric. We had a little resistance which had to be overcome, but we have been so blessed by this project.

One of the highlights of the week was when one of my grandsons asked if we can keep making pillowcases even after we are finished with our Disney pillowcases. I had already decided that this was a cause we could keep serving. My daughter shared that we could ask the women at church to set aside a night to sew pillowcases and make a project of helping each other.

I have met Carol, the local coordinator for this project. We had a lovely phone call where we became acquainted, and now I have a new friend. I am so excited to meet her in person as I drop off the pillowcases. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience. I will not tell you that it has been easy. It has not. We have had many problems arise, not from sewing pillowcases, but from life. Carol has been encouraging and accommodating to help us reach our goal. I discovered that a group of ladies will be meeting this Saturday to make pillowcases at a local fabric store. How blessed we are to live in a community where service is important!

All of these blessings have come to us because we said “yes” to the opportunity to serve. It started out as a way to “earn” a day at Disney, but it became a bigger, more important cause to us. I think we will even discuss it as we take our children to Disney. How grateful I am that our children and grandchildren have seen the higher purpose and want to help others. I recommend this cause to everyone. The website is www.conkerrcancer.org. Explore the site. Watch the powerpoint and see if you can help.

I encourage you to find a way to serve. It is the most rewarding experience we can have, to give back. I have wondered how the children who receive the pillowcases will feel. I hope that they understand the loving care that we have given and that they feel that someone somewhere out there is praying for them and hoping that their day is a little brighter because of a pillowcase.

How have you served someone today?

So if I’m not blogging about my right now, what the heck am I blogging about? Good question. I told someone recently that I felt like I’d lived a week in two days. It’s been that crazy and non-stop. (Anybody feel the same out there?) I come home every day, exhausted and sore (I’ve decided I need new shoes, because none of the 500 pairs I own are professional, comfortable, and supportive all at once). And you know the funny thing? I love it! It feels good to know that my energy has been spent on something that benefits me as well as other people. Although I’m really tired, I’m also energized not only because I’m helping others, but because I love what I’m doing. It makes me happy.

Plus, I look super cute all dressed up for work – I mean, this is a no-lose situation here!

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?

Motherhood is a daily lesson in humility, at least for me. Take, for example, the little experience I had just a few years ago. I was doing my daughter’s hair for church one Sunday morning (a rare act for me at the time) and—horror of horrors!—I noticed something move. I wanted to rub my eyes. Was I hallucinating? Nope, there it was again. A tiny looking bug, smaller than a grain of rice. In her hair. Yup, it was head lice. Suppressing my desire to jump up and down and scream, I took those ten calming breaths they used to natter on about, and tried to calm down.
I was powerless to prevent a shrill tone in my voice. My daughter knew something big was occurring as I demanded of my husband, “Look, here! What do you think? It’s lice, right?” He muttered something non-committal as I went into full-combat mode. I requested that my husband stay home with the kids—I had church responsibilities, and we didn’t want to infect anyone else—and calmly suggested that he shave the boys’ heads, military-style.
After my due diligence at church, I decided my “ox was in the mire”, and went to our local large-mart to acquire every last lice removal product known to civilized man. Here’s the lesson in humility. Forget buying family planning or feminine hygiene products…true embarrassment is achieved with the perusal and purchase of lice-removal shampoo. To compound my problem, it wasn’t found in the shampoo aisle (where it should’ve been, and I could have been pretending to examine the merits of full-body versus moisturizing while in reality studying the brands of lice shampoo.) No, it was in the First Aid aisle! So, I had to pretend to study bandages (Antibiotic included? Fabric? Plastic?) while surreptitiously gathering intelligence on the various brands of lice shampoo. In the end I purchased a dozen of the most likely-looking boxes, (with overly-optimistic names like “Lice-B-gone” and “Lice-X”) wishing vainly that I had brought a hat and dark sunglasses inside the store. Ah, mortification at its finest!
Long story short, we eradicated the lice threat. As a bonus, I believe I actually learned a few things from the experience. I learned that those so-called lice shampoos don’t work, but that the combs do a fair job getting the nits. Also, five gallons of olive oil worked through the hair, and the application of a cheap shower cap (overnight, or at least four hours) does a fair job at sending those little buggers to their eternal rest. Marathon combing sessions are a great way to bond with your daughter. Additionally, any promises made to your teenager who comes to complain after you made him cut his hair (even though he didn’t have lice), and the subsequent teasing at school forces you to promise (rashly and emotionally) that you will never make him cut his hair again, will be remembered each and every time you make a comment about the hair for the rest of his life. It’s those rash promises that you remember the most. Good times.

Well, I don’t really indulge myself too much in music like that anymore, but I did have a recent thought:  “Ohhhh, we’re halfway there…ohhhhh, livin’ on a prayer.”  Sometimes we live in moments, or challenges, or experiences that feel like they are going to last forever.  They aren’t.  I promise.  They are but a blink.  But they feel like forever.  Believe me.  I know.  I have felt those feelings.  But, my recent thought gave me a glimmer of hope.  What if I’m halfway there?  What if I’m over the hump?  What if the end of the trial is just around the corner?  I’ve made it halfway…probably the uphill halfway.  Maybe the next half will be fairly smooth sailing.  I’m halfway there!  I can do this!  I can finish this experience!  I am going to make it!!

So, live on a prayer.  Eat a little chocolate.  Talk to good friends who love you.  Listen to your favorite inspiring music.  And live Mpowered!  You’ll be glad you hung on…you really are halfway there!

We live in a world that constantly changes. The weather changes. What we eat for dinner changes. In our lives, our routine has been changing. Some changes are good: friends calling to check on a loved one, seeing old friends, trying a new recipe a friend recommended, making up new recipes to accommodate newly discovered food allergies. Some changes are hard: sickness, surgery, job loss, loved ones who pass away, weather changes that make you weary.

Yet, changes are all around us. It’s what we do and how we react to the changes that make the difference. I think we can learn lessons from the changes in our lives. This week, I have been working on organizing while I am homebound. It feels good to go through papers, put books back on their shelves, give away and share. I have relived memories as I sort through papers, pictures, talks given, lesson outlines for teaching and craft supplies.

The changes in our home help us feel loved and connected. We have spent more time together reading, talking and just enjoying being together. Not all of our family members have had this reprieve, but I have enjoyed the changes in my schedule. In fact, I have decided that change is good.

What change will you make to improve your life next week?