Sarah M. KippSarah M. Kipp

Archives for January 2013

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How YOU Doin’?

I can still hear Joey’s voice from the sitcom Friends. “So how YOU doin’?” he would ask, and give a little smile as he checked out the gal.

If you read my recent post, “Olympic Geek,” then you know I have started this year with an increased commitment to my own writing as I continue to support others with their own writing goals.

What I am grateful for today is that before I began showing up, I put a tracking system into place with structures to monitor my progress. I did this mostly so that when someone asks, or when I begin to wonder how I AM doing, I have some quantifiable evidence that goes beyond my own internal yammering.

This week was a doozy. I attended two late night meetings, and finessed a major family-related interruption to my usual work schedule. In my tired state, I dumped junk food into my tired engine for more than one meal, as if that would help me feel better. It did not.

By Friday morning, I barely made it out of bed for my morning run. I did not show up for my early morning writing session. On Saturday, I made up excuses and did other ‘important’ things in the wee hours of the morn. You know, things that would make a difference in my life, like procrastinating on a proposal, watching Rachel Maddow interview Jon Stewart, and checking my email.

When I stumbled to my desk this morning, I imagined Joey showing up, winking at me, and asking, “So how YOU doin’?” No flipping idea, Joey. I haven’t shown up for two days. I don’t know what I was writing about when I left, nor what I’m supposed to be writing about today. I’m not even sure that this whole goal was really that good of an idea, you know? So go flirt with someone else.  [Read more…] about How YOU Doin’?

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Being an Olympic Geek

I have a friend who is training to do an Ironman. When I met her two years ago, she had run the Boston Marathon a few times, but was terrified of open swimming. During the past two years, she has conquered her fear of swimming in lakes and oceans, has completed three sprint triathlons and a half ironman race. She’s also a union painter, which means she’s on the job by 6:30 a.m. five or six days a week.

She’s one of the few people with whom I feel comfortable saying that, in order to fulfill my commitment to write every day this year, I’ve started getting up at 3:45 a.m. I am a mother of two young children, an entrepreneur, an athlete, and a morning person. If I want to commit to doing something that requires physical or mental focus, I put it in my schedule for early in the day. I’m committed to starting the day with my kids at 6 a.m. I’m committed to running at 5 a.m. I’m committed to working with my clients and business team by 9 a.m. That left 4 a.m. as the optimal time to commit to my writing.

I read a quote by Simon Pegg that says, “Being a geek is all about being honest about what you enjoy, and not being afraid to demonstrate that affection. It means never having to play it cool about how much you like something. It’s basically a license to proudly emote on a somewhat childish level rather than behave like a supposed adult. Being a geek is extremely liberating.”  [Read more…] about Being an Olympic Geek

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Unexpected Gifts

A few years ago, my daughter opened one of her holiday gifts from us and burst into tears. “It’s not the right one!” she wailed. The crying continued for a while. I experienced my own disappointment. I want my kids to be gracious in both giving and receiving gifts. Watching her behavior that night reminded me of spoiled Nellie on Little House on the Prairie and made me question how well I was doing at this parenting job.

When the intensity of the moment finally passed, we talked as a family about what had happened. I learned more about my daughter and myself. She explained in her own way that her disappointment stemmed not from the fact that she hadn’t received the gift that she had wanted. She understood that sometimes you get things you wish for and sometimes you don’t. She was upset because she believed she was definitely getting what she wanted, and then found out that what she received was different than what she had expected. I learned that opening presents was not the fun activity I thought it would be for my daughter. Given the option, she preferred to know clearly what she was and was not receiving so she would know what to expect and there would be no surprises.

Hmmm. Sound familiar? As adults, how graciously do we deal with outcomes in life that look different than the way we believed something was going to go? When we don’t get the promotion we believed we were slated to receive, when we do get the divorce we never planned to need, when a young loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness despite living a healthy lifestyle, how gracious are we in our response to the situation? It’s not that we don’t believe that these things occur. We get upset from believing things were going to be one way, and then experiencing a radical change in plans that we could not control.
[Read more…] about Unexpected Gifts

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Getting Unstuck

What do you do when you are between a rock and a hard place? Homer dedicated a whole section of the Odyssey to the dilemma. In order to return to their home, Ulysses had to pass through the narrow Strait of Messina with his crew. On one side, they faced a rock with a man-eating monster. On the other side of the strait, a deadly whirlpool promised a fatal end to the entire crew. With not enough room to sail safely between, Ulysses had to choose between a rock and a hard place.

In epic tales, a narrow strait makes for a good adventure and we read with enthusiasm to see how it all works out. When the rock and the hard place show up in our own lives, however, we may have a different response.
When we are in our own narrow strait, we cannot see a good option. Others around us may be full of clarity, believing that the answer is easy and sometimes even offering to tell us exactly what we should do. Sometimes, in our desperation, we take the bait—or even go looking for it. “Just tell me what I’m supposed to do here!” we plead. [Read more…] about Getting Unstuck