If we think about the people in our lives and look back at our path, we all can pinpoint at least one person who changed the direction of our journey. Someone who’s special to you for putting in place events that moved your life forward in a profound way – a person who you can’t say “Thank You” to enough – without them, life as you know it, would not be the same.
For me, this ties into hooping, too…read on, you’ll see why.
I’ve been doing a lot of reflection lately. Maybe it’s because I’m in my 60’s now and the clock is ticking. Combine that with watching some episodes of “This Is Us” the other day…
“It’s so strange, isn’t it? How just like that, a complete stranger can become such big part of your story. It’s actually kind of terrifying, you know, how a single cross with one person, you’ve never met, can change…everything.” ~ Rebecca / THIS IS US
That SHOW has a way of getting me all up in my feelings, with thoughts about my own mortality, my family, how I live my life, who I’ve met, where I’ve been and what I’ll leave behind…if you watch, you KNOW what I mean…but I digress.
Regardless of the reason I’m writing about this, it all boils down to reminding me that I’m extremely grateful…and THAT’S a great way to add a moment of joy to ANY day…so I’m passing this on in hopes it inspires you, too.
Susan
For me, at the very top of the list is my sister-in-law, Susan, who passed away back in 2000 from pancreatic cancer. I met my husband because she & I became friends in college. Actually, today marks 21 years since her passing. I have so much more to write about our friendship, but I’ll save that for another day. I have old journals to pour through, and have shared some information with close friends, but I want to write more here…and I will, in time.
For now, here’s a quick summary and tribute when I talked about her on my Facebook page a few years ago…please take a moment when you have time to watch or just simply listen. I don’t think I could say it any better than this, so I’m not even going to try. I just love sharing this as a way to honor her…
Robert
Next, would obviously be Susan’s brother, my husband of 36 years, Robert. I’ve written about him, and of course, I want to share lots more in future posts. Lot’s of joy, as you can imagine, with all the time we’ve shared a life together. Dating, marriage, kids (raising our boys WAS an experience) and now, leading into our retirement years, what we’re up to…you can get to know us a little better HERE…but look forward to more…that’s my goal, anyway. I want to document and journal, to tell more stories…while I still can remember them. So many tears, but SO much laughter…and so much joy!
Rayna
Rayna McInturf…I can’t imagine my life without seeing her randomly on TV one day. WHAT would I be doing if I never turned on that channel at that particular moment? I just can’t even! I have written about how I got started hula hooping HERE so you can find out more about the importance of meeting her in that post.
Sabra
I must also give a huge shout out to Sabra Dial, a dear, sweet, bestie for life…HOW we met was SO random back when our young boys were on the same baseball team! Years later, SHE was my original hoop sister…who is also solely responsible for directing me to an empty warehouse one day. I wasn’t even looking for a “HoopShack”…but one was born because of her. THAT story needs to be written…and will be…I was so busy that I didn’t journal as it happened, but 11 years later, I’m decluttering and finding treasures.
IF you happen to be on Facebook, if you build it… is one of the two photo albums that document our journey in the original warehouse…a wonderful time capsule. Another photo album, we built it… continues the story, in pictures, through when we left the warehouse and sized down to the smaller office space-studio…and Sabra was right there with me from Day One!
J’Lynn & Dan
There’s also J’Lynn Anderson. She approached us at an autism conference 12 years ago and asked us if we would be interested in talking with a another gentleman, Dan Selec, later that day about a new non profit they were starting, nonPareil Institute. Without her walking up to us, our adult son Kyle would not be where he is today. I have so much more about Kyle over in my Autism blog archives HERE…please read or pass along if you know a family or someone who needs encouragement dealing with a child on the spectrum.
Yes, one small chance meeting, one decision, can change your life. You never know who you are going to meet…and each new acquaintance brings some thread to your life that is suppose to be woven in. We aren’t suppose to know why. The man upstairs has the needle and if we let him do the sewing, a beautiful fabric wraps AROUND each one of us and all of the people who enrich our lives.
So, what does this really have to do with hooping, you ask?
It’s simple. EVERYTHING. I feel the more gratitude you bring to your hoop practice, the better you get at hooping. The more you practice, the more aware and thankful you become for all your blessings in your life. It’s a beautiful circle of cause & effect.
Hoop when you are grateful, to express gratitude and see how it goes…you hold your head higher, think happier thoughts and the experience becomes magnified. We all have used exercise to work out frustration, but hooping is expressive and artistic anyway. You can put your own spin on it in your own personal head space. While hooping to simply “hoop it out” when you are having a bad day is very important, it’s almost more important to hoop as a daily gratitude practice…then, you’ll notice less and less bad days…or rather, the bad days don’t effect you in a negative way…it works for me…I’m jus’sayin…
Celebrate each other often. Thank those you love while you still have the chance. Play more. Laugh every day. Smile every hour. Love every minute. Lucky are those of us who hoop, because we do all of these things as we exercise!
My clients are SO very dear to my heart and I thank God for them daily. I pray for them, too. They are like family to me, with some being dear friends for a long time, even before I ever picked up a hoop! Others are ladies I’ve never met in person, yet mentored online…I feel like we’ve actually been in class together, though, which is so powerful…all these women are my hoop sisters!
I’m also grateful for each of you who follow me on social media, too. I’m equally thankful for those I meet out in public at events. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about this…I get to connect with anyone randomly on a daily basis, so I’m excited to see who God puts on my path every morning. I put that energy and intention into my daily hooping…saying silent, thoughtful prayers, that God leads the right people to me, so that maybe, just maybe, I can one day be a special person to someone else, for whatever reason, be it for hooping or something in their life. Yep, now, you know…that’s how I hoop…not even kidding.
So, who’s special to you? I’d love to hear about your journey…please comment and let me know. As always, catch up with me anytime on my Facebook – I tend to post there most often – and I try to do at least a few Instagram Stories daily and a post every few days – always talking about daily, simple joy and of course, hooping tips…would love to see you over on those, too!
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