Take the leap

posted by Melissa Baumgart

When I read Amy's last post, I was immediately struck by her words, "I like thinking that the body (like ones vocabulary) can be altered and improved no matter what age you are. There's always a starting place."

It brought me back to a Bikram Choudhury quote that I have shared before, I really love it and find it inspirational.

"You're never too old, never too bad, never too late and never too sick to start from the scratch once again."  

The view from the top of my impossible hike.

Which leads me to another Bikram quote, one that I live up to every once in a while,

"If you can, you must."  

It's just that with my self-critical nature, that particular quote can get me into some mental trouble.

I decided to search for more inspiration to share, hoping that one of them would resonate with you.  They encompass thoughts on taking risks, taking that first step toward something you might think impossible, and on having the courage to keep going when all you want to do is quit.

Here you go...

 “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” -George Elliot

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” -Lao Tzu

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
"  -Mark Twain

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” -C. S. Lewis


“You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go.” - T.S. Eliot


"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage." -Anais Nin

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
" - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Well done is better than well said." 
 - Benjamin Franklin

"It's always too early to quit." - Norman Vincent Peale

And in honor of our next class, the flying trapeze...
"Leap, and the net will appear."  - John Burroughs 


I plan on picking one at random and bringing it into my yoga practice today, and see what happens.
Let me know if you choose one for your own inspiration today.
-Melissa

Lotta strands in the ole Duder's head

posted by Melissa
Things on my mind:

I never updated on the therapy vs. poker experiment.  It sorta worked for a bit.  I found out the when you want to be "princessed" (i.e. treated like a princess) for 2 weeks, you should probably have a concrete idea of what that means.  Otherwise, you will never get what you want, likely because you have no idea what the hell it is in the first place.  (ps...I have no idea where this princess thing came from, and am more than a little bit embarrassed to be writing about it.)

And your husband will fail, through no fault of his own.  (I can't believe I admitted that last part.)  Men need lists, whether it is for the grocery store or for treating you like you want to be treated.  And this is especially true if you are making up a new word for what you want, it's not like he could even look it up in the urban dictionary.

OK, I just looked up "princess treatment" (because it was the closest thing I could find) on the aforementioned urban dictionary.  Holy shit, I had no idea.  And no thank you, Jamie.  My two weeks is about a lack of touching, and licking.  Ok, TMI.  Moving on.

Beets and Collard Greens, grown from seed.
I also forgot that I wanted to mention in May that I continued on with last May's topic, Growing our own food.  I replanted my little garden plot out front.  It seems to be doing quite nicely and I even have room for more plants.  More lettuce?  Kale again?  So far I have sugar snap peas, sun gold tomatoes, beets, collard greens, spicy lettuce mix, dahlias, a sunflower or two, bee's friend flowers, thyme, sage and marjoram. 

On the bowling front:  Jamie and I went to the Garage on Saturday night to try and get a game of bowling in.  The place was so packed that we never did get a lane.  The frustrating part for me was that there were empty lanes.  It's just that people were chatting or eating and not bowling, but paying for the lane.  

On the upside, we heard lots of good music, Eazy-E "The Boyz in the Hood" being one of my faves of the night.  I learned that the lyrics are "talking that trash we'll pull your card."  I always thought they were working in a car shop or something and they would come and "pull your car."  Like tow it or literally I pictured all these gangsters lifting the front of some big ass car and pulling it down the street.  Wow, all these years, singing Eazy-E all wrong.

My school quarter is almost over.  And unlike my lyrical rap skillz, I hope to do much better when it comes to remember the quadratic formula or naming ionic compounds.  I have finals this week.  I do love math and chemistry, but today I'd rather be outside in the sun.  Or at the bowling alley.  Or reading a novel, or poetry.  Or maybe cleaning out my closet and doing laundry.  Or blogging.  I just have to sit my ass down and open the book and get to work on some problems.  Once I am there and in it, I do love it.
And finally, I have been thinking ahead for the blog.  Next month is reciting a classic poem.  I have a few in mind.  Wondering if you all have any ideas?  So far I am thinking: T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" or something by H.D. or Denise Levertov or Shakespeare.
Who are your favorite poets?
(damn Blogger, I cannot get this centering to change, it is not an artistic touch, more a technical ineptitude)

There you have it, a tiny glimpse into my mind, at the moment.  And now onto studying, if I don't get an A in all three classes (and fine, I'll settle for an A-) I know I'll be disappointed.  Wish me luck!

-Melissa