Motivation

February 13, 2022

A Look Back to Look Forward

Hi, friends.

2022 came in like a warm blanket of ongoing 2020 didn’t she? Warm because, hi… where’s the dang snow? And 2020, cuz also hi… our little pandemic friend.

Today, as I was cleaning out my iPhone photos preparing for a fresh new 13, I came across this screenshot I swiped off the Gram. While full of colorful words (sorry fam), the message is important. It was an early 2021 reminder to myself as I, along with many of you, were shaking our heads wondering what the heck just happened with 12 months of our lives. Minimal photos. Limited experiences. It was, and in some cases still is, taking a toll on our mental and physical well-being.

As I look back and share with you some joyful moments of 2021 as we all look ahead into 2022, I am inviting you to move ahead with the daily reminder to live. Experience. BREATHE. To take the photos. To make time for what is good in life. To soak it in and experience every experience for what it is, and enjoy everyone for who they are.

A look back at 2021.

Spring fishing and evening rides.

40th Birthday fun for Jess

Lake of the Ozarks with the girls.

Michigan, Oklahoma and Nashville

Fall Hikes

Hardy, Kane Brown & Iowa Football

Bonfires, Friends, Fam, and Cats

And forever chasing sunsets.

Cheers to living 2022, and embracing all that she gifts us. Wins, losses and everything in between.

And keep chasing those sunsets. They bring the promise of a new day.

April 22, 2019

Life Lately | April 2019

Hey there, kids.  Nice to see you!  We are just going to jump right into this public diary of events in Jordan’s lifey-life.   You know… for the future when I don’t remember much and need a giant assist.

So, what’s been going on?  Everything!  Life is fantastic!

January trip to the Duck Races in Avoca, NE with these Quacks.

 

We had Beer Olympics… I mean WINTER Olympics… in February at EBBC.  Competition in costume and on the floor.  My team killed it in beer pong, naturally.  I love this gym.

Skiing / Snowmobiling in Colorado in March.

 

Cat snugs on the daily.

 

Did I mention Edge Body Boot Camp?   We 5am’ers are crazy… about killing ourselves.  Seriously.  Love.  This.  Place.   And the great friends made!  We’ve got the MURPH coming up next month! I live and breathe for the challenge.

Rowing below… girl next to me is Simone.  She’s a lean mean fighting machine.  And the jolliest of the 5am’ers there ever was. 😉

 

Re-did the spare bedroom, formerly Kyle’s.  It went from a Ford Blue storage unit to a grey/white clutter-free zone that Harley has claimed as her own.  Friggin’ Princess.

Cats world… we just live in it.

 

Experienced Mr. Justin Timberlake himself in March!  Claire, Briton and I had an absolute blast.  JT … dang, man.  That was a show.

 

Clint and crew are killing it at the Walkup’s.  Both WT and WWP are coming into their busy season, so I visit the shop when I can in order to see that husband o’ mine.

 

I recently got the chance to sneak a few shots of Bodi, my biker B, Liz’s, newest addition.  Future biker right here, folks.  What a little heart-breaker.  All the heart eyes on this lil dude.

 

Work.  Well, it’s fast-paced and each day something new. I love it.  It’s certainly challenging me in new ways that I didn’t expect, but am embracing and facing it on the daily.  Growth mindset.  It’s beautiful.  It helps that I have an absolutely INCREDIBLE staff.  My office mates/colleagues are equally as incredible at what they do and keep me afloat on the reg.

 

Still part of the Nebraska Wind Symphony.  We had our Spring concert a few weeks back and now I am on hiatus until the Fall season rolls around.  I enjoy playing still, but will admit the Monday evening rehearsals can be a bit much sometimes with the early 4:20am alarm clock.  Girl needs some zzz’s!

Also back to teaching fitness classes again and my heart is so happy.

 

Motorcycle season is FINALLY here and your girl is feeling all sortsa warm fuzzies.  Coming off Easter weekend and two days on the bike.  Saturday Clint and I rode down to Coin for Easter dinner at the Swanson residence, which provided us the opportunity to chase the sunset on our way home.  Sunset rides are LIFE.

 

Easter Sunday I took off on my own to Clarinda for what was hands-down the windiest ride I’ve had in a while.  Good solid leaning for all 50ish miles of Highway 34 on my way down.  Unfortunately just North of Goecker-ville I had a little malfunction.  It was little due to my low speed coming off a stop sign.  I am telling you… I have RAD angels who ride with me.  It could have been ugly, but it wasn’t, and so a quick call to my dad, Craig, and Jeanne and we had her loaded on their mower trailer and in dad’s garage in under an hour of being sidelined.

 

Saddlebags off, motorcycle up, dad’s magic hands and all necessary parts, and he had me back on the road only two hours late to mom’s Easter lunch.  🙂  Sorry Gr’pa for missing yours completely.  I had all good intentions.

 

Left Clarinda around 3:30 for what was an even WINDIER ride home.  To the folks in the white Grand Cherokee who initially set out to pass me on 34 but then decided to tail back a bit… I am just going to say thanks.  I am going to assume you held back after watching the wind own me like a little b!tch and you were just watching out for my well-being.

‘Preciate ya.

 

And, for the most part, I’d call that a nice brief wrap-up of a handful of events these last few months.

 

Happy Spring to ya.  Be Present in all you do!

 

Cheers!

October 4, 2018

Which Wolf Are You Feeding?

The Fight of Two Wolves Within You

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life:

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

”It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you–and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

What wolf are you feeding?

Our thoughts can be our own worst enemy, or are biggest advocate.  How we channel our thoughts effects the trajectory of our lives.  It is inevitable that both “wolves” will always be a part of our journey, however, we have the power to choose which one wins minute by minute, day by day, one small victory at a time.

The evil wolf allows negative thoughts in that add up over time to where you no longer realize you are living in your own self-made world of pity, sorrow, skepticism.  You have fed into the negative talk for so long that it has now become a part of who you are and maybe even how you are perceived.  This wolf is the easiest to feed.  It’s easy to slip into negative self-talk.  It’s even easier to complain, gossip, brush-off, ignore, or give-up.  Even the negativity that you brush off as joking is feeding into the evil.

Negativity breeds negativity.

But the second wolf?  That second wolf is full of promise.  It’s also full of work.  And THAT my friends, is where the magic resides.   The second wolf requires patience, commitment, tenacity, grit, perseverance, trust.  It feeds on learning, sharing, praising and the forming of habits.

The second wolf brings forth a sense of accomplishment, pride… peace even.

What’s that cliche phrase?  Nothing worth having comes easy.  You could apply it to this evil versus good wolf scenario.   Take the road with the challenge for the end result is worth more than its weight.  Feed the good wolf.  Feed the wolf that reaps the most benefit.

Right?

But what if I told you to feed both.

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If you read into the Cherokee story, the alternative resolution is “if you feed them both, they both win.”

Think on that for a moment.

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Both wolves have characteristics necessary to life.  The evil wolf provides fearlessness, courage and strong-will.   The good wolf provides reason, clarity, courage, longevity.  When paired together they are powerful.

It is up to us how we manage our thoughts and how we provide an avenue for both wolves to co-exist. Mental clarity, self-awareness and confidence resides in the mind over matter.

“How you choose to interact with the opposing forces within you will determine your life. Starve one or the other or guide them both.”

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August 28, 2018

End of A Fitness Instructing Chapter…

After a nearly ten year long chapter in my book of life, the time has come to say “see ya later” to teaching fitness classes.  I taught my very last class this morning at the Council Bluffs YMCA and I absolutely cannot think of a better gym to close out my fitness instructing tenure.  These people all showed up in my fave color of BLACK, with smiles on their faces, ready to get their butts handed to them as I dished out a mashup of all my FAVE moves.

Even the slackers killed it. ❤

 

I know for most, this isn’t much of a thing.  But this thing is HUGE for me and I am not sure I am emotionally QUITE ready for this chapter to end, however, professionally and personally it’s time.

With a career shift (I am still in higher education but have switched institutions and programming size), comes great opportunity, and I am eager to spend my time really digging deep into strengthening programs that cater to our under-served student population and bridging the gap between secondary and post-secondary education across the Metro area.

Some really exciting stuff, guys!

But, with that, comes sacrifice!

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My fitness instructing career began clear back in 2002 in my hometown fitness facility and after a brief hiatus in between my move to the City, I held positions with 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym, IWCC, and the Omaha Metro YMCA, specifically with the Council Bluffs branch.

I LOVE(D) it.

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Teaching fitness classes in the city opened up the door to my stint as a national fitness trainer as a Master Trainer for BBLive, which provided an incredible opportunity to meet fitness minded folks from all across the U.S. and within my territory of Iowa and Nebraska.   (You can read more of my Master Trainer life here and here).

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I still to this day talk to Sarah (second from right) at minimum once per week.  The friendship built through MT’ing was a gift in and of itself.

And the HUNDREDS of people I had the great privilege of training over the course of two years was such an incredible journey.

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To close this chapter is pretty sentimental.  But, to close it with the YMCA folks who have been with me for nearly FIVE YEARS at the same time, same day, is something I will cherish to the end.

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The CB-YMCA is where the Slacker Corner was formed:

 

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And where I earned the OFFICIAL rights to be the Supervisor of them all:

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It’s where I learned time and time again that age is just a number and mental strength always perseveres.

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It’s where I got to know members on a deeper level and held the honor of celebrating their milestones and achievements in their health and wellness journey (here’s looking at YOU Randy in your incredible journey to doing a BURPEE in class with us)

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The folks at CB-YMCA learned to live with me through all my costume themed classes and endless photo opportunities:

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The CB-YMCA is where we celebrated members, turned family, and fought with them battles never before imagined:

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We celebrated BIRTHDAY’s and HOMECOMINGS in a BIG way:

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They chastised me with signs, questionable words under their breath and always with splashes of humor:

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And celebrated with me my LOVE of all things BLACK:

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We grew together as a family as we left the old for the new:

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And banded together to overcome not only the end of the workouts, but life’s ever waving highs and lows.

Class was more than class. It was (and will continue to be) a time of togetherness, camaraderie and love.

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In my reflection over the last several years, I see grit, tenacity, passion, exhaustion, fear, triumph and happiness.  I gave it my all and I sure hope every class, every trainee, every one-timer and every regular truly felt the love I had in teaching and took away something from their experiences.

Putting that mic on brings out a side of me that is a rarity.  Taking the microphone off for the very last time this morning has left a void, but I know, in my heart of hearts, I WILL be back again one day in front of the class.  Let’s just call it a cliff hanger with a sequel to be determined.  And I am sticking around on the sub list so I can get my “fix” on the occasion… 😉

Until then, I am going to continue my participation at a gym I attend as a participant (here’s looking at you, Edge Body Bootcamp) that challenges me physically and mentally every single day.  It’s my personal happy place.  Fitness is a LARGE part of who I am and what makes me happy.  It is not something I will ever let go.  I live for the challenge it places on me. It’s my own personal competition and I am my own opponent.  I friggin’ LIVE for it.

So, on that note…

Here is a CHEERS to my run in fitness instructing.  It’s been fun!

Until next time…