Reality Check and Taking Action

Written by Cheryl on . Posted in Cheryl's View.

We all need a reality check sometimes, and that can result in taking action. I got one of those reality checks last week when I went to the doctor. After having my temperature checked twice (just in case it spiked from my brief walk down the hallway), I was asked to step on the scale. Everyone’s favorite step. I wasn’t worried. Even with all the talk about the “Covid-15,” which is another unexpected consequence of the pandemic and a reference to the significant weight gain many of us experienced, I felt pretty safe. After all, even though I was stuck at home for over 3 months I felt like I was still getting enough exercise and watching my diet. More or less. Before I stepped on the scale I asked the nurse if I should take my shoes off. She replied, “It’s...

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Patience, Perseverance, and Incomparable Stubbornness

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Patience and perseverance are two traits of the Ninja that I was taught in my martial arts training. Notice I said that I was taught, not necessarily that I learned it. Patience may be a virtue, but it was something I was never very good at. However, I killed it when it came to perseverance. I attribute it to my incomparable stubbornness, which I am incredibly proud of, especially since it usually seems to pay off. Usually. I am thrilled to say that it has certainly payed off when it applies to my book, which was published exactly 4 years ago this month. As a newly published author, I was naive enough to think that everyone would want my book and it would fly off the shelves. I scoffed at the marketing experts who claimed that the “real” work in writing a book came after it was...

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Independence Day and For the Love of Country

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It’s the fourth of July. Independence Day. This year is extra special as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday. On this very special July 4th I would like to share a story about why Independence Day is so important to me, and so near and dear to my heart.  And it begins with a story about a little boy. The boy was born on a small farm in Czechoslovakia in 1927. One year later, he and his parents left their farm and traveled across the Atlantic to begin a new life in a small steel town in Western Pennsylvania and pursue the American Dream. That dream turned into a nightmare one year later, when the little boy had a terrible accident, pulling a pot of scalding chicken soup over him, severely burning himself over 90% of his body. He spent the next six months in the hospital, with...

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Swimming With Sharks and Taking a Risk

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When the movie Jaws was released in June of 1975, everyone was terrified to go in the water. It wasn’t safe. So, instead of going for a refreshing swim in the ocean, beach goers sat immobilized in the sand and sweltered in the hot sun, dreaming of the day when it would be safe to go in the water. If ever. The following summer, people began to dip their toes in the water. After all, you can only be immobilized for so long before the desire to return to normal becomes overwhelming, and you’re willing to take a risk. Eventually, swimmers went deeper into the water, and they survived. The water was filled with happy swimmers, bobbing in the surf. But, just when we finally forgot the horrors that lurked just below the water’s surface and began swimming again, Jaws 2 was released....

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The Eyes Have it

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Making eye contact with another person is crucial to the human connection and establishing a relationship. Averting one’s eyes makes you appear suspicious, furtive, unapproachable, and even dangerous. Or it can communicate to strangers that you are insecure, vulnerable, and an easy target for perpetrators. However, when you look someone in the eye, there is an immediate connection, and an exchange of information. Your brain processes this information, sending electrical, chemical, and hormonal signals through your body how to react. Eye contact gives you an instantaneous respond as to whether this person is a friend or foe, safe or threatening. That’s why it is so dangerous to walk around in public with your head buried in your cell phone. First of all, it’s not safe. Second,...

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Patience, Perseverance, and Number #1 Best Seller

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Patience and perseverance are two valuable principles I learned in my martial arts training. It means that our focus is on the journey, rather than the end result. And it explains why the students that come to our dojo with their primary goal of becoming a black belt are usually gone in just a few months. Because everything takes time and effort. The same applies to every aspect of life. Focus on the journey, put in the time, the effort, and see what unfolds. That’s exactly what happened when I published my first book. I just focused on the journey, even though it was incredibly labor intensive. When I heard that the “real work” in writing a book begins after it’s published, I found it hard to believe. After all, it took me two and a half years to write it. In reality,...

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Groundhog Day–Again

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It’s Groundhog Day. Again. It always reminds me of the movie with Bill Murray where he finds himself living the same day over and over again. Repeating the same day and the same patterns drives him bonkers, until he sees a way of turning the situation to his advantage. Quite simply, he changes his patterns, and magic happens. We all get stuck in habits and patterns that aren’t serving us well, and we end up getting stuck in a rut. The good news is that we can crawl out of that rut with just a few simple changes. Here are a few tips that sound really easy and downright silly, but trust me, they work. 1). Sleep on the “wrong” side of the bed. It might sound strange, but it can give you an entirely different perspective on bedtime. You might even sleep better. 2). Change...

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Writer’s Block

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Writer’s block. Two words that can strike fear in the heart of every writer. And, like every writer, I have experienced it before, but nothing like I did over the past few months. It was so bad that I couldn’t write anything, not even my grocery list. I would sit at my kitchen table, pen and paper in hand (yes, I am that old-fashioned), and stare off into space. I even tried to get some inspiration by flipping through a few of my favorite cookbooks. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The blank paper seemed to mock me as I tapped the pen to my head trying to get some creative synapses firing. And still, I had nothing. Great. My Red Booth Writer’s Group was getting ready to rally and come up with another four new articles to submit to The Pueblo Chieftain, and I couldn’t even come...

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Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, or Not?

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Should auld acquaintance be forgot? What exactly does that mean, anyway? When Harry met Sally they pondered that very question one New Year’s Eve. Sally said it was about old friends. After extensively researching the topic, I discovered that she was right, but to me it represents something more than old friends. It’s about saying goodbye to the old and ringing in the new. And a lot of us are ringing in the new year with New Year’s Resolutions firmly in place, which I think is a bad idea, for many reasons. But the main reason is that we all have a tendency to set goals that are way to ambitious which sets us up for failure. That’s an awful way to start a new year, a new decade, or even a new day. I have another idea. Instead of looking ahead at what you are hoping...

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What We Believe is What We Become

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One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my Feldenkrais Training is that what we tell ourselves really does matter. Our mind (our brain and our nervous system) is constantly listening and processing the information that it receives. What we tell ourselves is what we believe. And what we believe is what we become. This became quite obvious during ballet class a few days ago when I listened to several of my barre buddies beat themselves down with negative self-talk. Our teacher had just given us a challenging and complex combination. A group of dancers stood around discussing their limitations, their short comings, their injuries, the reasons why they wouldn’t be able to do the combination and what would happen when they tried. It was fascinating to see all of their dire predictions...

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