Category: Events

National Root Beer Float Day

I had “a day”. Had a morning of meetings then scrambled home to do a couple quick chores; wash and dry a load of towels, pay a few bills, then back out to be with Mama.

I had asked my dear cousin, JK, to meet me at an exit off of the highway on her way home and bring Mama to me. The screen on Mama’s cell phone (old fashioned flip phone) had become completely blank.  She was able to receive calls, though it was impossible to identify the caller, and it was very difficult for her to make a call. We needed a visit to the phone store. 

On the way to meet them, I (wrongly) assumed I could quickly swing by the bank drive-thru and make a deposit. I waited at the drive-thru for 11 minutes. I considered backing out and pulling back around the front to just run inside. As Murphy’s law normally flows, I felt sure that the moment I backed out, the car ahead of me would have completed her transaction. Nevertheless, I did it.

I went inside only to discover three people in line ahead of me. There was one, ONE man serving the drive-thru window, the inside counter and a telephone that would not stop ringing. Through a glass pane I could see a woman sitting at her desk poking around on her computer. Another man was tapping his fingers on his desk as if he were bored. I waited and waited and debated. My neck was beginning to feel hot. I calmly but firmly said out loud “Is there anyone else who can help here?”  Finally, the tapping man came out and said “Oh, Jerry (chicken-with-head-cut-off man) will be with you soon. I was losing my cool. I knew that dear JK and Mama were waiting for me.

When you are 60 years old and in these situations, you begin to question yourself. Am I just crabby today or is something seriously wrong here? Do I say something and look like a cranky “older” woman or do I continue to sweat into the collar of my Gap pink gingham shirt? Am I simply saying what everyone else is thinking? I’m sure I got a few eye-rolls after I finally got my deposit made and quietly announced that this was the most inefficient bank visit I have ever had. When do you speak truth and when do you just roll with it and accept the injustice?

Well, since it is National Root Beer Float Day, Mama and I had to indulge. My hot neck and sassy mouth most definitely needed a cool down and the deliciously decadent root beer float did the trick.

Ahh…

 

Wrapping it Up

I love the physical and mental challenge of the Olympics. It shows us the best and the most disciplined of humanity.

Sports psychologist, Jim Taylor, wrote an article in Psychology Today titled “Mentally Preparing for Olympic Sports Success”. One of the strategies he teaches is ‘Dance with the one who brung ya.’ Yes, bad English but it portrays an important message.

Often, when athletes are preparing for a big event, they feel the need to do something different, something special, that they need to ‘raise their game’ because the event is so important. “That is the worst thing you can do”, states Taylor.

“To the contrary, you want to keep doing exactly what you did to get there. Dancing with the one who brung ya means sticking with the fundamentals of what has worked in the past.”

Taylor suggests that athletes maintain good eating and sleeping habits. He also says they should continue their usual conditioning program, though dial it back to ensure staying rested. He said it is important to keep to the practice and competitive routines that got them prepared in the past.

The Olympic athletes that Taylor worked with identified some specific strategies that they use as their competitions at the Games near and deploy them on the day of the competition.

One of the major ones was ‘be happy’. It seems a bit cliché but just doing things that made them happy was one of the most common suggestions among the athletes. They identified particular people and experiences that generated positive emotions. Ideas included listening to music they love, watching fun movies, reading interesting books, spending time with friends and family and meeting athletes from other countries.

With all of the information and technology available, two little words that make up one simple thought can help athletes meet the mammoth challenge of the Olympics. Be happy.

Fascinating.

The 2018 Winter Olympics are about to wrap up. As in all major sporting events, there was the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

I’ve heard that winning bronze in an event is similar to being third runner up in a beauty pageant. Sure, it is a great honor. Yes, it means you accomplished more than the other pageant participants. Of course, it means you are still amazing. But will they remember your name? It is a hard reality.

The photo above is the epitome of what many of us would love to do and look like doing it. However, most of us, perhaps it is not a stretch to say not one of us, will ever get there. It is a hard reality.