Energize: Be active, eat smart. Who knew?

I've written about the often-dreary month of November in Minnesota and how it saps my spirit and stamina. The days grow markedly shorter, the skies are leaden along with most of the landscape, and my seasonal affect disorder kicks in.

By December, days are even shorter but most days the sun shines brightly in a blue sky and reflects off a blanket of snow. The landscape glows softly with taupes and browns instead of gray. My spirits lift, and my attention turns to Christmas preparations.

This year, though I was enthusiastic about Christmas, and shopping, and decorating, my stamina didn't keep up with my inspiration. I had, in fact, become very sedentary over the past few months. Looking back, the trend was obvious. A broken leg last summer left me less active than usual. When Augie started kindergarten in September, ViMae and I settled into a routine of crafts, books, and role-playing. Occasionally we danced, ballet-style, but gone were most of the marching, running, climbing, crawling, rolling, high-energy activities instigated by our energetic boy. In November, my expectations are low, but that was masking something else.

In mid-December I realized I had little energy because I was sitting around too much.

So that was going to be my New Year's resolution: Move. Be Active. Energize. I was not going to use the term exercise, because it doesn't sound like fun and I knew it wouldn't motivate me. Fortunately, I had signed up for tap lessons, and I knew that not only would I practice but I would want to be toned and strong. Perfect!

Cinnamon rolls, potica, almond tea bread...yum!

Then on Christmas Eve I put myself into what I think of as a food coma. I started with a HoHo peppermint dark-chocolate mocha from Caribou Coffee (a regional chain coming soon to a neighborhood near you). While wrapping gifts I ate candied pecans, peppermint bark, Christmas cookies, chocolate. Peter and I began Christmas morning with holiday breads including Abby's to-die-for frosted cinnamon rolls, washed down with rich hot chocolate. Meals were not a problem...at her home Abby served up balanced, healthy, and delicious dinners both days. But at home I was indulging in too much Christmas cheer.

My simple New Year's initiative boils down to one word: Energize! But it has two components, movement and eating right. I've cut way down on the sweets and breads, and I've been getting a bit of exercise (shudder) by clearing snow from our sidewalks and driveway. Tap class was to start next week, and I've just learned it's canceled because I was the only student. But I'm going to take a few private lessons and look for another class, as well as schedule yoga and other activities instead of just leaving them to chance.

My motivators, leaving Santa a snack

It was all too easy to slip into bad habits without even noticing. I'm spelling it out (or spilling it) here to keep myself aware. Life is making precious few demands of me, but it offers wonderful opportunities, including two fabulous grandchildren. If I want to feel better, have more stamina, and just maybe stay active longer in life, I'd best make some demands of myself!

Life is uncertain; STOP eating dessert first

I seem to have taken my 2012 motto a bit too literally. It was this: Life is uncertain; eat dessert first.

I meant it, of course, as a light-hearted antidote to too much living-by-prioritization, obligation, expectation. I survived a long career and a demanding volunteer commitment using to-do lists, schedules, mission statements, departmental goals and objectives, and, for a time, logging in 15-minute increments the hours I spent on each project.

Having retired in December 2010, I spent much of 2011 in the company of my husband and two grandchildren, providing weekday childcare. I loved it (still do), and I embraced living in the moment with them. But when the kids weren't here, I found myself mentally structuring my days, evaluating my priorities, and feeling a tad guilty when I put relaxation ahead of duty, "want to" before "ought."

To put this into context, let me step back further. In about 1992 I was struggling at work, not meshing well with a new vice president to whom I reported. Meanwhile the carousel that Peter and I rescued and were operating as volunteers required as much work as our full-time jobs. I went to a career counselor for advice, and after some tests and discussion he told me that if I wanted or needed a job change he thought I'd do best to stay in the same field. But with the carousel becoming like a second job, I was burning myself out and needed to build some relaxation into my life.Eventually I did drop some responsibilities at work and a few at the carousel. But I continued working long hours, feeling a lot of stress, and not knowing how to step back.

In the 20 years since that conversation, I have often felt as though I'm still trying to balance work and not-work, not just for today but over the whole period of my life. It's as though some part of me felt that in the long view, life still owed me some down-time. In fact, life has been more than kind to me, but I was looking for a way to stop feeling guilty when I ignored tasks in favor of momentary pleasures.

That's what I was feeling a year ago when I posted the motto about eating dessert first. I wasn't choosing to stop being productive or useful, I just wanted to relax and not feel guilty about it. Ahem. I may have taken it a little too far. In the past few months, I've been much less careful about to-do lists and schedules, and yes, a few tasks have been overlooked while I, blissfully unaware, lounged. I read and commented on blogs, but my own posts appeared less often. And somehow I got into the habit of eating not just a couple of bites of chocolate at about 3 p.m. (always my need-a-lift time) but eating six or eight, the equivalent of an entire chocolate bar. Possibly followed by cookies. And more of the same after dinner. So really, I've been eating dessert first and last.

I can feel the difference, and I don't like it. It is time to eat in a way that sustains my health and my energy levels, and time to get organized again. We still care for the children, I want to be active in their lives, I have a book to write this year, and there are many other things--both work and not-work--well worth doing.

I will tell you a bit more about that, but this post is already long enough. So let me just say Happy 2013, thanks for stopping by, and I promise I won't wait so long to post again. 
 

Christmas Wishes to All

The decorations on our mantel include many Santa and Father Christmas figures, as well as tiny toys, all symbolizing the spirit of giving and childlike joyfulness this season inspires.

I wish you the very best...natural wonders, glorious music, loving friends and family, and soaring spirits. I know full well that some years we can't have Christmas the way we would like it, and if that is the case I wish you solace and peace and hope.

All the best,

Nancy

aka BLissed-Out Grandma

I coulda been a diva...or a lieutenant

When I was a high school sophomore (all the way back in 1959), I took a test called the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII). The questionnaire, still used by career guidance counselors, attempts to predict success in a given career field based on shared interests.

Do you like, dislike, or feel indifferent toward visiting an art museum? White-water rafting? Collecting stamps? These and dozens more questions generate an individual's profile. Then that profile is compared with composite profiles of people working successfully in a variety of fields.

The SCII results were revealed to me and my classmates not one-on-one but in our social studies classes. Any subtle analysis went over our heads. What we heard was, This is what I’m supposed to be.

My result: “Musician-performer.”

I did absorb the caution that while my interests matched those of successful musician-performers, this test didn’t address whether I had the talent or ability to succeed. In fact, I did have musical skills; I played both piano and organ and I performed a fair amount. I accompanied church choirs from age 13 to 20 and played for many weddings and funerals. On the piano I entered a variety of talent contests including the one in which my friend Sharon Nelson and I won first prize, beating Bob Dylan.

Nevertheless, I never really considered a career in the arts. I was already planning to work in advertising, a notion that eventually led to a satisfying career in public relations, writing, design, and marketing. These, too, are creative pursuits, and the profile that matched with “musician-performer” likely would also have matched with some variation of public relations or publications professional.

Alas, one of the serious flaws of the SCII at the time was an almost non-existent set of career fields for women. Profiles were compared only with sample groups of the same gender as the test-taker. Test designers focused on careers that required training. Results depended on having enough women employed in responsible positions in a given field that they could be surveyed. But in 1959, few women were well positioned in business and the professions. My business-minded friends were told they would be good candidates for leadership in the military, the only female group large enough to yield a reliable profile.   

I’ve been thinking about this only because I’ve been trying to figure out why I am drawn to the TV show The Voice. Twice a week when Peter and I settle in the den to watch, he points out that he is only watching this show because I am, and we like to spend evenings together. Should I ever start watching another reality show, he says, I’ll be watching it alone.

We’re probably safe. I’m not a fan of other reality shows, including other talent competitions. While shows like American Idol often feature harshly critical judges, The Voice features coaches (all of them popular singers) who assemble teams and then try to coach them to victory by helping them expand their vocal and performing skills. Even negative feedback is specific and kind, along the lines of “I enjoyed that but you had a little trouble with pitch,” or “This wasn’t your best performance; I don’t think the song showcased your strengths.”

Monday night this season’s final six contestants will perform, and Tuesday night we learn which four remain, having garnered the most votes from the public. I don’t vote for my favorites; I just enjoy the performances and the coaches’ feedback.  

After all, I have a lot in common with them. The Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory told me so.