Archive for the ‘Other Stuff’ Category

I teach Nordic Pole Walking classes on the beach here in southwest Florida. This past Sunday as I was walking along the beach with my class, we saw hundreds of starfish washed up on the shore. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one starfish on the beach here, nevermind hundreds. These starfish were huge: anywhere from 6 – 10 inches across. Regretfully, they were all dead, having been washed up on shore early that morning with the high tide.

I asked my students if they had heard the “Starfish Story” and most of them had not. As I was driving home, I kept thinking about the Starfish Story. (In case you’ve not heard it, I’m posting it below.) While in my car I decided that every day I would do one small thing to make a difference in the life of a stranger, as long as I had the opportunity.

My first opportunity came the next day. I was walking into Macy’s and passed by a bell-ringing Salvation Army volunteer. (Have you ever noticed how people rush by these volunteers, eyes averted?) I smiled and said hello. She seemed shocked. We chatted for less than a minute, I praised her for her volunteer work, and I continued into the store, leaving her with a big smile on her face. 

It’s the little things that count. It takes minimal time and minimal effort to put a smile on the face of a stranger. What one small thing can you do today to make a difference?

The Starfish Story

Loren Eiseley, while writing his book The Unexpected Universe, was walking along the ocean in Costabel early one morning. It was shortly after a storm had subsided and as he continued walking, he noticed that thousands of starfish had been washed up on the beach. Ahead of him was a gigantic rainbow of incredible perfection shimmering into existence. At the base of the rainbow stooped a little boy, gazing fixedly at an object in the sand. Eventually, he flung the object far beyond the breaking surf.

Eiseley went up to him and asked, “Son, what are you doing?” The little boy answered, “I’m throwing starfish back into the sea because if I don’t they’re going to die.” “But there are thousands of starfish. In the larger scheme of things you’re not going to make much of a difference to all these starfish.” The little boy looked up at him, stooped down again to pick up another starfish and, gently but quickly, flung it back into the ocean. “It’s going to make a big difference to that one” he replied.

Eiseley was embarrassed, uncomfortable with the contrast of the little boy’s youthful, innocent love for the living with his own hardened, “mature” indifference to death. He had nothing to say and left, continuing to walk on the beach but unable to get the picture of the little boy out of his mind. It was a moment of truth for Eiseley, of deep soul searching and self-confrontation. In time, he returned to the star thrower, silently picked up a starfish and spun it far out into the waves. “I understand.” he said quietly. “Call me another thrower.” Together, still under the hues of the rainbow, they spent hours throwing starfish back into the ocean. It was a task not assumed lightly, for it was men as well as starfish they sought to save, sensing intuitively that man cannot exist spiritually without life.

Beautiful Lake Solitude

I guess it only makes sense that The Goals Diva would set a lot of goals for herself.  Yesterday I accomplished the second half of one of my “summer goals:” to hike to the summit of the two mountains in our area of New Hampshire, Mt. Kearsarge and Mt. Sunapee.

In mid-July, I had hiked to the top of Mt. Kearsarge. Two months later, with only another three weeks here in New Hampshire, time was running short to achieve the second half of my goal. Given the forecast for fabulous weather over the weekend, hiking to the 2,743 Mt. Sunapee peak got scheduled for Sunday.

Lunch Break

It was a gorgeous day: mid-60’s, bright blue skies, puffy white clouds, and lots of sunshine. My hiking partner, (my hubby), and I chose the Andrew Brook Trail on the backside of the mountain. The highlight of the trail is the beautiful Lake Solitude, a mountain pond surrounded by fir and spruce, at about the 2-mile mark. We stopped there to enjoy the views and take a rest, at which point my husband decided he had no need to go to the summit. I did, however: my goal was to hike to the peak. I left my husband to enjoy the peace and quiet of  Lake Solitude while I climbed another 1.1 miles to the top.

View from the Summit: Lake Sunapee and the Mountains of Vermont

I’ve been to the top of Mt. Sunapee numerous times, but the breathtaking views never cease to amaze me. I spent some time taking in my surroundingss, then made my way back to Lake Solitude to rendezvous with my husband. We enjoyed our packed lunch, and had a few laughs watching a German Shepherd and a Chocolate Lab playing in the lake, before hiking  back down the mountain.

Today I have a great sense of satisfaction: not only did I achieve a goal, but I spent a day in nature, which always shores up my emotional reserves.

Do you have a “summer goal” you’ve set for yourself? If so, you’d better get moving. Tomorrow is the first day of autumn!

Enjoy the Journey

Let’s face it, in today’s world, busy-ness has become a status symbol. We’re all so overwhelmed with the “doing” of our lives, we rarely take time just “to be.”

Do you fail to take time to smell the roses? Are you so focused on the end result for which you’re striving, that you don’t enjoy the process of getting there? Whether it’s achieving a goal, getting to work on time, or having company for dinner, do you enjoy your journey?

James Gleick, in his book, “Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything,” says we have become so obsessed with time and the need for speed that we’re getting nowhere fast. In our efforts to cram more and more life into the 1,440 minutes that make up a day, we risk losing out on the whole point of life.

So what are you to do?  How can you slow down?  Making progress in this area means making choices and it will probably mean saying “no.”

The first step towards enjoying your journey is to raise your own level of awareness as to where your time is going. You might want to track your time on paper for a couple of weeks and see what you discover. A number of my clients have done this exercise and they’ve been amazed at where the minutes and hours go. Get yourself a small spiral notebook, and for two weeks, make notes about how you consume your time.

Or try this exercise: Make a list of the things in your life that are most important to you (family, friends, work, personal growth, etc.).  Now transfer that information to a pie chart, with the most important things getting the biggest slices of the pie.  Next, make a list of all the things you spend your time on. Figuring 100 waking hours per week, note how many hours you spend in each area and then transfer this information to another pie chart.  Now compare your two pie charts. Are there gaps between what you say is most important and how you spend your time?

Here’s my challenge to you: first, raise your level of awareness as to how you spend your time. Perhaps you’d like to track your time over a two-week period, then take a half-hour for yourself and do the pie charts. Once completed, ask yourself what needs to change.

I believe in taking small steps on the way to big change. What’s one small step that you can take this week?  For example, are you putting in too many hours at the office? How about cutting back from 80 hours to 75 hours?  Now you have an extra five hours each week to slow down and enjoy your journey.  How will you spend that time?

What are other small steps you can take?  Why not take five minutes each day to appreciate the sunset or play with your pet?  Take small steps on the way to big change and before you know it, you’ll be taking time to smell the roses.