Good Morning Pittsburgh, OH how this city twinkled last night!

I'm talking

tall, BIG

ICECICLIES

in Erie PA

and

oh boy oh boy

What a

Fantastic Group of Professionals

did I have the honor of spending the day with!

A day indeed we have,

with a group of the finest of professionals from around

Erie PA

gathered for a day

and

my voice cracked and splintered at times

but

thanks to a couple who left with all

for their lunch break...

they returned with

a gift of
"throat spray and lozenges" for me!

We discovered through the day,

that the work they all did was

rather remarkable

and when

added up

by

the woman who was the coordinator of the

day

(my thanks to Vicki a guidance counselor in the schools there for *ehem several years*) LOL

THAT GROUP

gathered together in that room

made up

756.5 years and 2 months

worth of EXPERIENCE

In the Professional Helping Professions

NOW DOESN'T THAT JUST

BLOW YOUR MIND???

I was indeed honored to spend the day with them

and to explore the many tools

and ways to

enhance

the work they do

as they

move with passion, purpose and mission

while living their lives to the fullest!

Thank you all for making me feel so welcomed in

ERIE PA,

hope to see you again!

At 4:15pm

after a blessingway for all who had gathered,

Vicki and I began to hear word in the halls

that someone smelled

"smoke", others smelled

something like

"wacky weed"

hahahaha

And then

I overheard Vicki say

"Oh yes, of course, it was Dr Showalter doing a blessingway for our participants, it is sage

We are done now, isn't it lovely"!!!

Yep we fired up the sage, all were smudged, and felt great when they left...

I let Vicki handle it, she was great...

And

I was off for Pittsburgh!

What a day... So as I drove,

I was reflecting on the people I met, the looks as they arrived in the morning, the eyes, and hands shook...

The changes of the day, the energy shifts and the bright eyes that left... Shifts of balance, changes of focus/change of states... Creative warriors all, weary at times... Bearing witness to the struggles, the horror of others daily... BALANCE... a fragile thing...

Striking a Balance

wow, that kept me filled with thoughts of those I had just spent so much time with as I drove to Pittsburgh.

Not used to Mountains, and snow anymore...

Sure was handy to have this GPS

compliments of HERTZ... I'm thinkin,

left me more time for music

and thoughts of the day!

Now what were those thoughts anyways...

Ah yes,

balance, teetering now as looking out over the waters

and lovely buildings brightly lit up...

Is it sometimes a difficult task to strike the right balance? All work, no play, emotional ups and downs, physical health up and down, torn between self-empowered and powerless? Relationships/friends/family/conflicting feelings and thoughts and ups and downs in all???
YIKES >>><<<


Yep, that’s the stuff life is made of.
The ever changing landscape we live on. Grass is often greener on the other side of the septic tank sort of thinking sometimes, but smells worse once you get there moments???






So how can we find the middle ground and stay there? Or, would we if we could? Would we really chose it if we could? Or would we grow weary of it being in the middle, and not powerfully up and down?


Would we really appreciate the highs, the best days if they were not contrasted with darker hours, and awful moments?


We do compare today to better and worse times. It is about perspective. So to know joy means we must have experienced sadness. To recognize our own strength we must have known weakness or at least identified it is those we have observed. Is it easier to see this lack of balance in others than it is to know when we are ourselves out of balance.


Of course,. I hate to admit that we are all sometimes blind to our own circumstances. Yet, this is where we should have the clearest focus.
We should  (don't ya hate those shoulda woulda coulda moments)
U CAN OWN your own happiness, your own "non anxious presence in the world (if you choose to).


We should be astute enough to recognize it when we are over worked, or distressed.


Our sub-conscience gives us physical cues all the time. How can we miss them?


Partly we do this because we are not always mindful of the impact others have on us. The demands of family life, work, finances, etc. We are so busy meeting the challenges of everyday schedules that we do not put our own well being on the top of the list of “to-dos”. When we are out of sync little tasks become overwhelming. We misread conversations, misinterpret the meaning behind things. We set ourselves up for frustration, angst, exhaustion, illness and depression.


That long, hot soak we just couldn’t make time for, too many fast food- grab on the run meals bogging us down. One chore left undone lending itself to a cascade of unintended consequences. Where to begin?
Do we focus on the needed doings or the human behind the tasks? I venture that if we forget the human in the equation, the rest of it will continue to smother us. When we are well rested, well nourished, relaxed and focused we can accomplish all that we must, and more.


When any one area of our life is out of balance it is contagious. First one thing than the next. We feel overwhelmed because we are tired. We are grouchy and have a short fuse because we are overwhelmed. Because we are tired, overwhelmed, grouchy and lack patience we snap at people who snap back. Now we can add hurt feelings to the mix. Just when we could use a helping hand we have snapped off all the attached heads and we are standing alone in our moment of need. Sound familiar?
So back to the task of recognizing when things first begin to circle the drain. What do we need? Rest, relaxation, organization? Should we delegate, ask sooner for assistance? Should we chuck it all and grab a much needed time-out for ourselves? Yes to all of the options. Pick one, anyone… 
It begins with self awareness. Not just how we impact those around us, but how ready and able in this moment to tackle it? If we need rest, it is worth taking the time now to be better prepared tomorrow. If we need help and allow ourselves to feel that we are less for the asking, we should revisit that mindset. No shame in meeting our own needs. We give life to the momentum that carries us through our day. Are we seeking quality or quantity here?
I, for one will sacrifice quantity for quality anytime. When I am at my best, my mind, body and spirit work well together. Let one go and they will all trail after one another until I am so far from my path I need a compass and a map. I try to assess and reassess my needs as I go along. My wants travel in a side-car. My needs come first. So be aware of the needs. Make the balance important in your life. Recognize when you are physically, mentally, spiritually out of whack and take steps to pull it back. Small repairs and adjustments are easiest when we do the maintenance regularly. Life balance left unattended eventually leads to the ole crash and burn.
So let us be mindful of balance and harmony in our lives. Let us seek to establish the balance, or restore the balance.
We are resilient.
We care about others, so we must take the time, and make the time for self-care.
I find a few quiet moments of reflection is sometimes all it takes to find my balance.
A little 2.5 hour drive to Pittsburgh is more than enough time to "reflect", hahaha...


A quick assessment of how my body feels, how light my heart feels, helps. A glance in the mirror, am I smiling or is that bull-dog face set in stone, staring back at me. I am clearly not talking about a full blown life-review here. Just a frequent check on my own emotional, mental and spiritual pulse.


The fire is burning, the coffee is strong and Starbucks here... >Time to find the conference room and meet some professionals from Pittsburgh today... I hear this city is goin wild this week-end (did I mention I am at the HOME of the Steelers???) LOL


Best of days to all who gather here, where is I am again??

Ah yes, I'm here at the Sheraton Station Square, in
"Steelers Country" ... where Warren, in this picture and John have treated me so very kindly as I got to my room in preparing for this day.... ONLY to realize... OMG, the powercord to the laptop got left in Erie~!~~

But, John and dear Warren ^ here, said, "No problem Doc" and with one call to the banquet folks, have worked out a laptop for use today while a powercord is being overnighted to Altoona for Tomorrow ... ?Atoona?

Let's get this day going, with such an attitude of gratitude,
Creator, use me UP... "just take your time ok?"

Thanks for the love with all your comments warriors, now
go... STOMP~~~
Hey Oprah??? Have you read it yet??? Is it on the list babe?
LOL


Walk In Beauty,
DRSES
http://www.drsherryeshowalter.com/