Complaint-free for 21 days
No complaining. Period. For 21 days in a row. That’s the challenge that has been issued to folks at Floris UMC for the month of September by our pastor. Him included. We are wearing purple wrist bands to remind us of our pledge and to help us keep tabs. Every time we complain we must […]
Go ahead, run that stop sign!
If I come to a complete stop, I’m stuck. Not that I’m prone to hyperactivity. I’m actually quite a measured person. I consider carefully what I do. I’m not a risk-taker or an impulsive doer. Just a mover. Something about being in motion gives me a sense of myself in space, in place, in life. […]
Intellectual Property
How do I claim what I know? That may sound silly but it is the topic of my conversation with Jodi, my law student daughter. This is on my mind because, as a blogger and fitness professional in this age of the internet, I give lots of stuff away. Intellectual stuff. You tempt and tease […]
Putty in the hands of a playful God
Ah, the smell of Play-Doh. Oh, the memories of…. rolling, shaping, twisting, turning, pressing and pulling. Can’t you just smell it? What am I making? Actually, nothing. Just enjoying working the Doh, which I have replaced with the “adult” version. Putty — therapy putty, to be exact. The kind they give you “for free” when […]
Dynamic Warm up for Soccer Players
Schedule time for dynamic warm up, skills training and play at every practice. Here are the first 2 phases of warm up: Gathering – when they arrive, have something for them to get started with. Otherwise, girls will chat and await instructions. Boys will see how far they can kick it into the woods. A team […]
Gift bags lobbed from above
Which way? I wish life was a flow chart. This or that? Here or there. Now or later. Reminds me of my precocious 9 year old helping her toddler sister with what to choose on the kids menu. Patiently, she would go down the list of the six kid-friendly items, 2 by 2, asking, “Do […]
When Health and Recreation Programs Become Human Performance Laboratories, Who Pays?
Last week I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in some time. She has three kids: one graduating college, one beginning his second year at university and one nearly finished with high school. “So, what about you?” I asked, “What are you doing with yourself?” “Oh, the kids are still keeping me busy. I really […]
How are your reflexes?
Stimulus–response. An amoeba does it. A Venus fly trap does it. A snake does it. We do it. A tap on the knee and our leg kicks out, all by itself! Automatically, without consulting the rest of us. Even our brain is surprised. Reflexes are part of our programming designed to protect, support and allow us […]
If finishing is your objective, Godspeed is your pace
I’m out on a hot soccer field with a young man who wants to make his high school team in the spring. It is September and he (with his father) has engaged my services to help him in this pursuit. At our first meeting, I run him through a few drills. About mid-way, I have […]
Excessive celebration
Those wide receivers and tight ends are so full of themselves, dancing around in the end zone like that. Shakin’ their booty and strutting their superiority. Right there in front of the defender they just beat to score the touchdown. It got so bad they had to regulate it, penalizing them for excessive celebration. I […]