Wanda's Wacky Wonderful World

Some of my earliest memories involve being in the car with my family. We lived in southern Ohio... very hilly terrain... which facilitated exhilarating rides when Dad was driving. One second, you're sitting mesmerized in your seat with the sun flickering through the trees - in an almost hypnotic daze - then suddenly the road drops out from under the car and your stomach is in your throat! There were no seat-belts in those old vehicles, and bodies would be catapulting into each other... and the silent meditative state was interrupted with little girls squealing and my Mom's sweet, but firm voice - "Stanley". That was always her response... just "Stanley"... (being interpreted as "Why in the world do you always speed over these dips when you know you're going to cause chaos?") Immediately, my sister Debbie would start begging, "Slow down Dad... please slow down!" (Debbie is four years older than me - and she was always trying to keep...

During my "power-walk" workout this morning - I had an epiphany. I had reached that point - you know that point I'm talking about - where I was struggling. My heart was pumping, my lungs were on fire, my leg muscles were screaming... but I KNEW that if I just kept up the pace - in just a few minutes - I'd catch my second wind! And then, after that second wind, I knew I'd be fine - I would even be able to speed up a bit.         So this is what I learned... in that eclipse of weakness and strength... about that second wind. That burst of energy and lung expansion would not come - could not come,  until I had reached my physical limits.            I could picture my self - just a few months ago - sitting in my recliner, tired and drained after a busy day, thinking of all the things still left to do. I remember thinking, "I'll just sit here until I catch my second wind, then I'll get up and get at...

Second Dimension "The Girl You See" When you look in the mirror, what do YOU see? Most of us are the same. What we see is never quite good enough. Too fat... too skinny... too short... too tall. We hate our nose - or lips - or wish our hair was curly - or straight... our skin is too pale - so we tan... or its too dark - so we stay out of the sun. We wear blue contacts because we hate brown eyes... This image reflects our response to how we feel about ourselves. We look in the mirror and we know we could do better – we dismiss every compliment – in fact compliments make us downright uncomfortable. I mean, seriously, how could anyone really think I'm pretty - smart - or talented? Can't they SEE what I see? To deal with this distorted image - we hide - because we are afraid. Afraid and in denial. We hide like Eve and Adam.          We hide behind a new hair color – cut – or style.        ...