Mom and I had been
out running errands and arrived at the roller skating rink before it actually opened for
roller skating hours. It was then we discovered that mornings and afternoons at the roller
rink were used for gymnastic classes.
Sitting on
the hard wooden bench, I observed a small girl doing rollovers. She couldn’t have
been more than four or five years old, dressed in a brilliant blue leotard that matched
the floor pad. She started at one corner of the mat and rolled diagonally to the opposite
corner of the mat.
Each roll
was precise in its movement. Standing in a victory stance as only gymnasts do, she
smoothly tucked into a tiny ball, rolled over on the floor and back up on her feet again,
hands springing up high over her head as if to say “Ta Da”.
Rolling and
rolling to the end of the mat, she then pivoted and rolled her way back to where she
started.
That scene
has been stuck in my mind for twenty-five years - little gymnast doing rollovers.
Did you ever
have one of those days where you spill your coffee all over the front of your clean work
clothes, you run a stoplight, and you are late for work. Somehow, you manage to ding your
car door getting out of the car. Your brief case drops in a mud puddle and all the stuff
falls out. You scramble to your first meeting only to find you’ve double booked your
schedule and you have two very important meetings for the same nine thirty this morning?
- Enter little
gymnast. It is crucial to your sanity to realize that your day consists of a series of
rollovers. You might have jumbled the morning behind you but the day ahead is flawless.
There is still a big blue mat in front of you. Your entire day does not need to be thrown
off kilter, just because you had a series of bad rolls thus far. You can stand in the
victory stance; arms high in the air, take a deep breath, and roll over again.
- Recognizing
that you have a fresh start keeps you from getting overwhelmed and frustrated.
- When a day
starts on the wrong foot, and we’ve all had those days, relax.
- Stop and take a
few minutes to regroup. Remember to breathe deeply. Get some oxygen flowing to your brain
so you can think clearly.
- Make a dash for
the water cooler and get a large drink. Like a withering plant that needs water, so do
people. Keeping hydrated allows your body and brain to function properly and work together
in harmony.
- Stretch. Even
if you are in a meeting and things are tense, you can stretch your ankles and wrists under
the table without distracting the others present.
- Allow yourself
five minutes somewhere in the day to read the comics or a book of inspirational thoughts
or perhaps you can take a brisk walk to another department to drop off some reports.
- Breaking the
pattern is necessary to get out of the funk. Once you have broken the stress pattern, you
are free to correct things and get back on an efficient and productive track.
Each
day is filled with no more than a series of roll-overs, just keep getting back up, stand
tall, and roll over again. Getting back up is the important part.
Angela Oberer © 2008, Oberer is the author of the "Be Well Series". You can send your questions and
comments to her at:
Angela@WordsofWellness.com
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