Personal Growth Planet Blog

Every morning I do sit ups and supported back bends over a big plastic balance ball. After I’ve stretched and moved my body in this way, it feels so good. It’s an infusion to my system that helps me prepare for what’s ahead that day.

But, as I reach my hands backward, toward the floor, my balance is challenged. My body is gently pulled just a little bit more than it’s used to being pulled.

This is an uncomfortable feeling. Sometimes, I tumble right off the ball onto the floor. Other times, I notice myself holding back– not fully giving my all to the backward bending.

Swirls of color on a canvas. Voices and dance on stage. Handmade crafts of paper, cloth or found objects.

All of this will come together tomorrow in a Columbus, Ohio art show called KidzArtz that I have had the privilege of helping to organize with some Mother Artists at Work friends.

The creativity and imaginative spark that have gone into each craft, visual art piece and performance are amazing…all the more so because every artist is under the age of 18.

There is nothing quite so precious in both a child and an adult than the ability to imagine.

As a child, I dreamed of being a Country & Western singer (I don’t even know if such a musical category still exists today). I would sing as I did my chores, sing as I walked to school and sing every other moment I could.  I even had a stage name picked out for myself– it was Dusty Rose, I think.

I’m not sure if my elementary school-aged self really believed that one day I would be a professional singer, but it was certainly an enchanting dream. As I got older, my aspirations for what I wanted to be changed.

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new”- Albert Einstein

No matter how many wise and witty quotes I read about the value– even the necessity– of making mistakes in life, it’s still uncomfortable and sometimes painful for me when they happen.

There have got to be very few people in this world who actually enjoy making mistakes.

Even the most laid-back, easy-going souls among us probably cringe when they say the “wrong” thing, drop a plate full of food on someone’s white carpeting, forget an important deadline or some other blunder among the millions of possible blunders a person could make.

Do you tend to go through life feeling like you’re banging up against one brick wall after another?

I have certainly felt that way at times. It can seem as if I am slowly plodding along through my thigh-deep-in-mud kind of days.

Trying. to. get. ahead.

During those days, weeks or months in which setbacks and obstacles appear to be the norm, I long for life to be easy. I find myself asking, “Why can’t life be easy for once?”

The answer, of course, all comes down to me.

Why would anyone want to spend any time or energy returning to those hormone-racing, pimple-filled, angst-ridden teenage years?

Precisely because for just about every one of us there’s a lot that is unresolved about them.

Each of our raging inner teens come barging into our lives from time to time leaving us scratching our heads wondering…

Where did that reaction come from???

When you go inside and help your inner teen to heal, it’s quite likely that you’ll find a greater sense of peace, a boost in confidence and self-esteem and the space to be and do what you keep meaning to be and do.

You can ask my kids– I really don’t like clutter. I get all squirrely and irritable when the piles of books, papers, electronics, toys or whatever get too high and are spread too widely throughout the house.

I’ll be the first one to admit that it’s not just their stuff that adds to the feeling I get of being stuffed in to a space with too many things out and about.

When I reach my clutter breaking point, I generally huff around a bit barking out calls for tidiness and picking up after ourselves.

Whether you are a busy parent, one who is struggling to make ends meet, trying to keep up with endless looming deadlines at work or you are worried about the Earth’s environment, you might find yourself saying words like these:

“There are not enough hours in the day…”
“There’s not enough money in my bank account…”
“There are not enough resources on our planet…”
“There’s not enough of me to go around…”

You may have developed a case of the “not enoughs.”

Lately, my shoulders have been very, very tight. My husband massages them and I hear the icky crunch of the tight muscle. I stretch them, use counter-pressure and remind myself to breathe.

And still my shoulders get tight. This affects my neck, arms and entire back– in unpleasant ways.

I am able to relax on the weekends and experience some loosening up, but especially after an extended period of time at work writing at my computer, the tightness ratchets back up leaving me uncomfortable and sometimes in pain.

Through the peaks, valleys and sheer drop-offs of life, it can be easy to become lost.

I’m not talking about veering from the path that society or your family has set for you. I’m talking about getting disconnected and far far away from your true, authentic self.

This might be the you who you used to be. The person who knew what he or she wanted and went for it. The you who was clear, confident and self-aware.

Maybe you haven’t felt this way since you were a young child. Perhaps you’ve never ever felt in touch with the real you.