The Good Life

Setting unrealistic expectations sets us up for disappointment. And, there are few things more unrealistic than expecting the people in our lives that are closest to us to be our everything. One person can’t, and shouldn’t, be the best listener we know, the wisest one that we go to first with all life challenges, the smartest one that we learn the most from, the best person for fashion and beauty advice, the one that makes…

Many of us are very good with being intentional about things like our workouts, our nutrition, and even our recovery. We go into a sprint interval workout knowing exactly, down to the second, where we want our splits to be. We start our day knowing exactly how many grams of macronutrients we will eat by bedtime. And, we go to sleep at a predetermined time because we know that our watch will give us feedback…

It’s really hard to understand what people are experiencing, or help them anticipate what something might feel like, if you haven’t been through it yourself. My normal training routine has been shaken up this week from swapping classes to coach and hosting some injuries that require me to modify workouts that the rest of our classes are doing. I covered Ben’s 8:30 class on Tuesday which meant I hadn’t done or seen the workout go…

The other day, Maya brought up a recent book she was reading, Tribe. She explained how it addresses the loss of strong connections that war veterans experience when they return to civilian life. While this is a great generalization of what the book really encompasses, I couldn’t help but wonder what drew her to this topic. “Maya, I’m really impressed that you chose a book that doesn’t directly have anything to do with you.” “Everything has…

Maybe I’m a hopeless optimist, because I’m definitely a hopeless romantic, but I prefer to think of people as mostly good: trying to be good friends, trying to be good spouses, trying to be good co-workers, trying to be good neighbors, trying to be good parents. Sometimes the effect isn’t what was intended, but most people are trying to be good…and, trying to find happiness. But, it’s hard, right? It’s hard to know what the…

If you’ve ever been to a party at my house, you know the drill: don’t overthink it, just show up. Our guests’ job: Wear whatever you want. Bring something to share, or bring nothing at all. Open door policy: bring whoever will help you relax and have a good time. Show up when you can, leave when you’re ready. Be respectful of our neighbors with parking. Be open and eager to meet people that you…

We all know it. But, man, is it hard to remember sometimes that there are always 3 sides to every story. I try to always remember that whenever anyone is telling me a story: my kids, my husband, a friend, and everyone beyond and between. When Maya’s lacrosse team is dealing with some sort of drama that I hear about from my own daughter (whom I want to immediately assume is perfect and could never…

We all know and are generally open to the idea of not judging the people around us that date and marry the same sex, have a different ethnicity than us, make less money than we do, practice different religions, or choose to not have a family because they just, in all honesty, don’t really like kids. Then there are the extremes. There are certain populations of people that we almost find it acceptable to write…

I’m sitting beside Bode at his cavity filling this morning, watching him frantically squeezing the little squishy ball the nurse gave him for when he gets overwhelmed. I hear his little whimpers, trying to discern whether their from fear or pain. And, I feel the motherly anguish start to rush into the depths of my soul. I am so worried about him.  I’m worried that he’s scared, that they’re hitting a nerve in his tooth,…

It is because of our struggles that we are able to be the stronger versions of ourselves that we are today, not despite them. We have all seen the many faces of struggle, right? Past breakups with boy/girlfriends and full blown divorces. The death of parents, siblings, children, unborn babies, friends, and pets. Mental illness covering everything from depression to eating disorders to distorted body image. We’ve lost jobs, income, been robbed…both physically and emotionally. We’ve been…