Monday, 18 April 2011
Growing Pains
Lately I've been thinking a lot about growing pains. My four year old son asks "mummy why are my legs sore? Growing pains. My brother's cancer has not been contained. Growing pains. I find myself sitting beside my teacher and mentor Baron Baptiste at the lululemon Ambassador Summit and teeter between giddy and sulky. Growing pains.
Growth is a version of change. I suspect that my son is more excited about his growth spurts than I am, and I am certain that I am resisting accepting that my brother has cancer, that kind of change was not part of the plan. But as the Chinese proverb goes, "When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills."
From change I am inevitably lead to make a choice. How do I choose to grow? Kicking and resisting? Creating a story around my reactions? Or do I stand up, spread my arms wide and say "bring it". This option can be messy, but I want to experience reaching too far, missing the brass ring, getting up to try again. I know I didn't come into this world asking for a boring life. I know I am up to creating something that has impact and that matters. The trouble with growing pains is that there is always something bigger to reach for.
My goal to raise $10,000 for the Africa Yoga Project through the Yoga Jam Events is coming close. Really close. So I ask myself, what's next? I up my goal to $100,000. Growing pains. So I move into the living room of possibilities. I settle into not knowing the how, but keeping a clear sight on the why. And I am quite sure that there will be many face plants along the way. 
My son will grow into strong sturdy legs that will support him. My brother's cancer offers an opportunity for our entire family to transform. The growing pains of dealing with cancer has given his children a reason to look up from their cell phones to see the bigger picture. I pinch myself as Baron Baptiste, three Olympians, a lululemon athletica big wig, one bad ass yogi and I hit Whistler Mountain with a playful reckless abandon. Each of us wanting to go steeper, faster, hit jumps, stick em or not...that's living. We dig the snow out of our pants, stand back up, dust off the goggles and set our sights on the bigger picture: to live with the wind under our wings, reach high, smile and take some hits along the way. Life is meant to be bumpy, it's weather or not we loosen the grip and enjoy the ride that matters. Growing GAINS!
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About Me
- Yoga Jam Events
- My name is Erin Anderson, I'm in love with yoga. I found out how to love deeper, live lighter and reach further through yoga. I'm passionate about sharing just that. In order to do that, I created The Yoga Jam Events as a means to elevate spirit, cultivate community and generate abundance. Coming together in play, breath and movement we can make real impact in the world, starting in Kenya with a possibility that knows no bounds. Each Yoga Jam Event donates proceeds to the Africa Yoga Project www.africayogaproject.org. This blog is dedicated to what I've learned along the way.
1 comments:
great read...thanks for your words.
just noticed last night that my graphic designer - Ceara...also a lulu gal - had changed the quote on the home page of the Joos website to the same Chinese proverb you quote here :). We are all connected.
LOVE your enthusiasm and your goals!
blessings, love & support
Jan
lulu ambassador Saskatoon
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