Olympics in your own backyard!

As we head into fall I can’t help but stop and think about all the things that have happened this year. Is it just me or do you notice as we get older the more things tend to happen in a year - substantial things? More and more of my friends are having babies, my weekends are packed with weddings, and my bank account is taking a hit from all the house warming gifts.

It has almost been a year since I got engaged and in that year I have planned and executed a fun wedding, I have a new nephew, I moved out of my apartment, I bought a house, I change jobs, my parents sold their house and the list just keeps on going.

It has been two months since the wedding and as the dust settles I find that all these adult changes and decisions have gotten the better of me. I haven’t really felt like the fun-loving, confident Jos that I rely on and love. I can’t put my finger on the reason and I have not been able to get back to the old me as of yet.

The other day I decided to go for a run since exercise tends to make me feel better. It was a very satisfying run. You know the kind where you feel like you could go for hours. When I finally returned to the house I started my “post-run” stretching routine and happened to look at the perfect patch of green grass in front of me. Then out of nowhere I had this urge to do a cartwheel, an old-fashioned elementary school cartwheel. I did laugh at this notion at first and was also unsure of my ability to do one at the ripe old age of 28 and a half, but the urge would not go away. So I did a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching and I proceeded to leap into the air like I was performing at the Olympics. It was amazing! Not my skills of course but the feeling. I continued doing cartwheels until my wrists got a little sore. This one little action was making me smile, laugh, and feel overwhelmingly happy. In a nutshell, it made me feel young and carefree again. So it got me thinking, maybe this was my first life lesson in the importance of staying young at heart while I venture down the road of adult decisions.

I know it sound silly but since I have done this cartwheel I have started to feel like myself again. I can’t imagine that something so silly would do the trick but maybe that was all I needed. As a result, I really want to pass this idea along. The next time you see that patch of grass, do a cartwheel a round-off or whatever you use to do when you were young. I promise it will brighten your day, even if you don’t make it to the other side.