Category Archives: Mindful Awareness

Motivational Quote of My Day

Be fit for more than the thing you are now doing. Let everyone know that you have a reserve in yourself; that you have more power than you are now using. If you are not too large for the place you occupy, you are too small for it. -James A. Garfield

Every now and then a quote will connect with me right in the heart…to remind me that I am on the right path. This one did just that this morning. I am getting my gumption up to go out and make some waves today, because yes, I know I am more powerful than I believe. Wrapping this one up and taking it with me….but not before I share it with you.

(wish I knew who to credit for the image, sigh….)

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Progress Not Perfection, A Journey of Wellness Week Three

If you have been following me since last July you might be aware that I struggle with orthopedic issues and chronic pain, and that I have had more than my share of surgeries. If you haven’t, to make a long story short, I have had both ankles reconstructed, right knee surgery 9 times with a partial replacement, my lower back fused and my neck fused. (That is the short story, With all that said, I could easily live a life of being defeated but I refuse to. Three weeks ago my doctor gave me a challenge that if I wanted to age to the best of my ability, considering my spine and joint issues, I would have to make some changes….so I am.
I started out with simple ones, like giving up sugary drinks, letting go of fast food, and such. These were easier to do than I thought. I then began to really consider my diet, why I ate, what I ate, and when. I did this because I knew it wasn’t about a diet, it was about a life change. With every little change I could see a small difference, and it feels good.
This week I started out with my biggest hurdle….exercise. I knew that I could only do that in a pool, so I joined one, and began ever so slowly to walk and then start deep water exercise with a float belt. I have surprised myself. Walking without falling is a challenge on land, but in the water I can do this well, I can even RUN, for a short period of time. I can’t tell you how important this is because one of my dreams is that I will be able to run on land again without a walker…and I will achieve that dream, despite the surgeries, despite the foot drop, despite the pain.
10 pounds down, one step at a time, and progress has been made. My challenge is a huge one, but I am determined to rise above my disabilities and love my body as much as possible. For today, I am reminded that I can do more than I ever though, it simply takes moving one foot in front of the other and allowing my mind and heart to tell me….Yes…I can.

Google+: View post on Google+ by Ardith Goodwin

Wise Words

I saw this floating in my stream this morning and it resonated with where my head and heart is. Thought it just might do the same for some of you. Hope you all have a really blessed day today and hope your self talk is filled with love and not discouragement.

Reshared post from +Nasrin Mohebbian

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How Do You Track Your Journey of Wellness?

Over the course of the past month I learned several things about my health that helped me understand which changes I needed to make to move toward a journey of wellness rather than continue staying on a path of indulgence. With this knowledge, I then realized I would need a way to track my progress on that journey if I were going to be successful because I am one of those visual learners who gain through seeing and doing. So, I decided to create a Pinterest board called “My Journey of Wellness” as a place I could collect daily progress, get support, and refer back to if I needed to resources or encouragement. This got me to thinking about what others might do to track their similar journeys? Do you keep a daily diary, journal, take pictures, keep a graph on the fridge? How do any of you who have chosen to make positive changes toward living healthier choose to track your progress? Do you think keeping track helps you actually become more successful or not?

by Ardith Goodwin
http://pinterest.com/goodwinart/my-journey-of-wellness/

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You know it’s going to be a great day when you find a superman Supergirl symbol…

You know it’s going to be a great day when you find a superman Supergirl symbol on the ground while pumping gas. I take this as a sign that I CAN GET IT DONE today! #randomblessings

Sending all of you some “super power love” today too!

by Ardith Goodwin

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Orthopedic Challenges Vs. Optimism

Most days I am pretty optimistic. In fact, I have often been called a Pollyanna because of my insane optimism at times despite the huge obstacles I have faced while walking the planet. But, today, in this moment, I feel the need to vent, to embrace my discouragement and frustration, and say to myself, “It’s not ok today.” Many of you know my history, but most probably don’t. The short summary is that I am on my 24th surgery in my 44 years due to a genetic orthopedic issue that wears my joints/ligaments out too quickly. Both ankles have been rebuilt, my right knee is partially replaced, my neck is fused, and my lumber has 6 screws keeping it stable. All of this led me to have to leave my beloved teaching career and face life a bit differently. I am ok with differently. I am even ok with dealing with medical challenges for the most part because I know how much worse it could be. I am not facing a terminal illness. Yes, I live with a life of chronic pain, but I will take that any day over a terminal illness and 99% of the time I embrace the fact that I live an extraordinary life. Yesterday though, on a day where I learned that another disc, the one above my fusion has collapsed, I am angry.
It would be one thing if I had lifted a car or something, or tried to climb a tree and busted my behind, but no. I simply woke up and had another excruciating shot of pain wake me to reality and remind me that my body is not my friend at times. It’s not fair, it doesn’t make sense, and it can be infuriating in light of the dreams and visions my mind has dancing around….ones I will never see to fruition for the most part.
My art and my faith will be what pulls me through again, along with the support of my family and friends. I just simply wish they wouldn’t have to. For today I simply wish that I could begin a year and know that it will be one of wellness and healing and outrageous joy. I will get there, I will. But it won’t be today, and once I get past the anger, deal with the path that is before me, I will be ok. I am grateful though to be able to say to a group of friends like you all that life just sucks sometimes. I’ll get my pollyanna on tomorrow, but right now……gahhhhhhhhhh!

In album Xrays (5 photos)

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By Ardith Goodwin

Ardithian Logic #2

#project366 For the longest time I have toyed with the knowledge that I talk myself out of so much growth and progress. The little voice in my head tells me it’s too hard, it’s too painful, I’m too tired, I’m too old and on and on. It’s that self talk that I am ready to do battle with. Because I know this like I am breathing, if I don’t change that, I won’t make much change toward progress at all. I will ram a sock down that voices throat if it kills me…..because I choose to suck the marrow out of life….no matter the disability.

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By Ardith Goodwin

Mindful Awareness – Week 6 Offering Honest Compliments

Week 5 , Mindful Eating, knocked me for a loop for many reasons. Because I wanted to spend more time with it, I decided to give myself room to breathe on that topic as it triggered issues that I needed way more than 5 days to walk through, and will come back to it when I know it is right.

This week, Offering Honest Compliments, was one that I really enjoyed. Many moons ago I struggled with this topic a great deal. Being offered a compliment wasn’t something I was comfortable with and I quickly deflected it back to the giver. Looking back on it now, it is crystal clear that my behavior was a reflection of my own feeling of insignificance, which I still struggle with. The big difference now though, is that I have taught myself to accept graciously compliments that are given and give compliments without the fear of them being rejected or deflected.

Compassion plays a role here I believe. When I found myself offering authentic compliments to certain people, especially when it came to helping them identify their own unique gifts, it was obvious when a person was tied to that insignificance. My heart went out to them because I have been there. I think, especially in relation to my own faith, that God has given me the insight to identify this and help others see that their insignificance is unwarranted. Sometimes I believe we are meant to be stewards in this regard. When others doubt themselves, we are meant to stand in the gap for them and help them change their lenses.

This week wasn’t without it’s challenges though. I often find myself dwelling on the “Must Get Dones” in regard to my son, rather than focusing on the beauty and progress that he is making in his daily life. I feel great guilt over this and it will be one of the “Stay Mindful Tasks” that I will continue to work on. I have even written a reminder in a place that I can’t forget or ignore, right on my hand, so that when I reach out physically, I know to reach out spiritually as well.

I wonder if you are comfortable with compliments or not. How do you feel about them?

This coming week our topic is “Mindful Posture” and it will be one I tie into last weeks of “Mindful Eating.” Looking forward to the challenge of touching some inner tough spots for sure.

Mindful Awareness Week 4 – Appreciating My Hands

Week 4 – Appreciating My Hands

Hands. Fingers. Fingernails. Skin. Wrinkles. 

As much as I depend on these two hands of mine it is true, I don’t stop and give a ton of thought into being appreciative of them. This week our challenge was to make a special effort to consider the importance of our two hands. 

I gave this a good bit of thought at first, I mean, I paused and considered how to look at my hands this week through different eyes. I wanted to ‘see’ my hands as separate entities so that I could gain some insight in to just how vitally important they are. To do this, I decided to use a strategy I loved back in the day of when I taught elementary school. I used my Wonder Cards. 

Mini Wonder Cards

Wonder Cards are simply a way to organize information about a topic, in preparation for writing a paper about it. My Wonder Question was “Why Are My Hands So Significant?” Once I knew my Wonder Question, I made cards asking more detailed questions that would truly give me a complete perspective about my hands. These are the ‘Mini-Questions’ I asked myself:

1. What function do my hands mainly serve?

2. How do those functions affect my daily life?

3. What causes my hands to change over time?

4. Does the appearance of my hands stir emotions? Why?

5. What do I love/hate about them?

6. How would my life change without them?

7. How do my hands affect others? 

As I began to answer these mini-questions I realized my answers were too easy, too obvious. I wanted to think through them, to challenge my intellect and approach this topic out of the box, so I began to research a few things. 

I attempted to complete tasks using no hands. 

I asked people questions about their own hands. 

I looked back through my photographs to see if hands were significant enough to have been photographed.

I studied the form and function of their anatomy. 

I pampered my hands and showed them love. 

I listed inward and outward factors that altered my hands. 

I meditated, pondered, and considered how my hands were used as instruments of peace or instruments of hate. 

As each day went by, I became acutely aware at just how significant they are. Not simply from a use point of view, but from an attachment point of view. This exercise stirred emotions I was not aware of, like how important it is that I see my mothers and fathers fingers in my hands, and the connection I feel when I see that. It also made me value their ability to show love to my hubs, my child, and myself in a physical way simply by touch. When I realized how much I hated certain parts of my hands, but loved others, it made me understand a lot more of how I see myself and how I perceive that others see me. This all was enlightening. 

After all the reflection, research, writing, drawing, and thinking about my hands I felt that I could answer my Wonder Question with greater insight than I had expected. Here is what I learned: 

My hands are used to create beauty.

As a matter of function, they rule.  They hold, caress, grip, stroke, tap, tinker, and take apart the tiniest parts of my life and allow the largest parts to exists. Without them, I would lose many of the juicy tidbits about life that I love. They hold the reflection of who I am, where I come from, and the promise of where I am headed. My hands are the vessels that allow me to express beauty, love, and emotions which show the best of me and the worst of me. They speak, they feed, they nourish my days through fragile moments and at times, with great strength. My hands are beautifully made, connected to my mind and heart, and by my choice can serve as agents of peace or agents of madness. They never act alone. My hands are significant, because without them, my ability to live as a Creative would be affected beyond measure. As hands are measures of time as well, I am deeply grateful to understand their connection with that greater consciousness. May I value them always, and choose to use them to share beauty, never to harm. 

My hands are the keys to unlocking who I am.

Plastics We Discard….Remain

When I came across the story of Richard and Judith Lang my first impression was the connection I had with them as trash pickers. Picking up discarded trash, be it on the shore, the side of the road, or in a dumpster is something my husband and I do with zeal. It is part of our philosophy of life really, finding the purpose in the discarded. The second impression was one of being an artist, and taking the discarded parts of life and turning them into art. I admire this couples passion for picking up plastic since 1999 and creating a way of life to educate the world about the nightmare of trash in our oceans. Yes, they create art from it and sell it, but their art made me more aware of the impact I have when I toss a discarded piece into the trash can. It can remain. It can survive a landfill or end up washing ashore. As much as I shudder at the fact, I look around and realize plastic, like many substances is ingrained in our way of life. What I hope the inspiration of this couple does for me is cause me to pause, think before I purchase, think before I throw away, and find a use for the discarded. They are cause of inspiration for me today….

You can read more about their art, life, and cause to change the environment at www.beachplastic.com

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