fbpx
LoginSHOPshop

A New Normal

So many things on my mind these days, which is pretty normal. The reminder that we are standing on the edge of regular life happened for me this morning. I’d been up since 5:30, my favorite time of day is when the sun is just over the horizon.  Anyone who knows me understands that it’s […]
By
Wendy Jones
June 14, 2020

So many things on my mind these days, which is pretty normal. The reminder that we are standing on the edge of regular life happened for me this morning. I’d been up since 5:30, my favorite time of day is when the sun is just over the horizon.  Anyone who knows me understands that it’s the time when my optimism is at it’s peak. I had already done a meeting, a drop off, a dog walk, and was sitting down to write when the text came in

“Are you close?” 

I was supposed to be on the beach playing volleyball, which I would never knowingly skip! For a moment, the overwhelm crept in. Life is coming back, and after days of quiet and ample time to think, the demands of regular life are calling.  I knew I was enjoying the quiet and the extra time to think, talk, and write at a slower pace. As much as I want the world to be healthy and the economy to churn and have us all back to work, feeling our sense of purpose, if I’m honest, there are things I’m not looking forward to…like traffic and more options to choose from than there is time. But the time spent at home has helped me organize, not just my files and home, but my mind.  It has made me focus on intentional choices, like what I want in my day, by way of conversation and experience. While we all have obligations that we must honor as we get going again, I have made a pact with myself to do what matters and not let the busyness of life take away the meaningful interactions in my day. How can we pinpoint our actions to honor our own uniqueness? Or are we just going to get back on the hamster wheel and start running again? 

I’ve never been one for small talk, I want my time and effort going into things that deeply matter to me and to the world. Over the past few weeks, as a country, we have been asked to experience the deep questions that race in America brings to all of us. For people from my vantage point…white, suburban, given the gift of safety and belonging in society generation after generation, who have had the ability to be underexposed to the real nature of the experience of being black in America, my mindset has been that it our turn to listen.  We can actively seek out content, there are so many good reads and podcasts out there for us to broaden our lens, but in the end, we have to hone the ability to be masterful listeners. Not to probe for answers in someone’s experience that may be an open wound, but rather patiently hold space and see what experiences are offered up and entrusted to us. Then figure out how to respond with empathy.  For us to be able to access that empathy, we need to be able to think and experience from a place of calm, rather than being activated by shame or our own ignorance. We have to have the ability to look honestly at ourselves and the struggles in our own lives to access the ability to understand what another human is going through. We have to be able to realize if we are triggered, breath through it, not react, and continue to listen.  If we are hardened to our own experience, we will be hardened to the experience of all humanity. If we can muster the humility to not need to be right to calm our own nerves, then maybe this time we can make real lasting change.  Let’s not wait this one out, go back to “normal”, and wait for the next thing to spark outrage, let’s build bridges. 

The truth is I’ve used this unprecedented pause in life to start something that is aligned with my values and close to my heart. Lots of thought, intention, and work has gone into creating a new business…by next week you will all hear about it.  It combines my passion for sports and the game of life mentality that grows healthy human systems and families and I’m filled with optimism for what it will bring to the community. It’s for anyone who wants to get better everyday, whether in sports or in life.  I can’t wait to share it all with you…stay tuned.  We’re almost there! 

1 2 3 13
hello world!
About the author:
Wendy Jones is a mother of four, lifelong athlete, writer, and optimism & resilience coach and speaker. Through 20 years of parenting and relationship struggles, she believes that vulnerability and our willingness to share our stories is a way to heal ourselves

Related Posts:

What Is Generational Healing?

March 19, 2023 I don’t remember the exact date, but it was a Friday afternoon in 2014.  Clear blue skies, volleyball practice had been canceled for some reason I can’t remember, and our family was on the beach. There were four kids running around in the sand with nowhere else to be.  I remember thinking […]
Read More

One Generation Away

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” - Ronald Reagan As a kid, 4th of July was my favorite holiday next to Christmas.   Staying in my bathing suit all day, feet burning on hot pavement, and popsicles and fireworks in the street are among my favorite childhood memories.  This holiday weekend […]
Read More

The Real Sisterhood

"What if the world was already good? What if what you seek, you find? What if everything wasn’t an emergency? What if we cared more about stories and less about labels? What if we stopped shouting so we could listen?" -Chrissy Kelly greatest mom, friend and writer Her words put a lump in my throat.  […]
Read More

How To Inspire BETTER

I saw Top Gun this week. It’s so weird to see the actors of my youth get older. Like so many of us, it took me back to 1986,  getting dropped off at the movie theater at least 3 different times to see it. Although I loved the story and cinematography, what struck me most […]
Read More

The Top 10 Things I Want my 17 Year old to Know.

Kate turned 17 on Thursday. For anyone who hasn't followed her story, she's the one who stopped playing volleyball to be a theatre kid. And man does she blow my mind on that stage. It's so fun to see her risk, I would have been terrified of that at her age. Maybe she is, but […]
Read More

Is Competing Actually Keeping You from Success?

As a writer, I am thankful that I have a good memory of my early life.  So many of my thoughts take me back to places and days from long ago.  When I am able to feel those feelings of the younger me, it gives me perspective for what I’ve learned and fills me with […]
Read More

My America

Our country is hurting. As much as I am an optimist who looks for the good and the growth in all things, you can’t have a week like this one and not feel like you have been kicked hard in the gut. When you attack anyone’s child, the horrific trauma of an unimaginable situation knocks […]
Read More

Alchemy Over Strategy

I usually don’t have the title of  a blog when I sit down to write, generally speaking it comes last.  But I have leaned into something new that has given me so much peace in the hardest moments of transition  that I knew it was time to write about it.  I’ve been working with Emily […]
Read More

Everyone Needs a Song

Hi.  I’m Wendy.  Even though I’ve written over 200 blogs, you don’t really know me.  I show you glimpses of me in my writing, if you have seen it.  But even though I write openly about my life, you don’t know everything; I suppose that’s how it should be.  I worry about exposing too much. But […]
Read More

Circa 1994

I had the chance to revisit my 19 year old mind this week with a reconnection that happened because of this crazy social media world. I have journals, but the chance  to look back on a letter I wrote to someone else about life in that season, my sophomore year of college, was even more […]
Read More

What Makes A Great Athlete?

Every athlete I know, including myself, has always wanted to BE BETTER.  My mission and this concept can sound a little brash to some but it’s not meant to be harsh, or make anyone feel like they aren’t measuring up. The goal is to put the emphasis on BE (instead of do) so that we […]
Read More

New Beginnings

People care, or they are curious, or both:) When people ask me what happened to my ankle, I tell them I had ankle surgery. “Wendy, you need to start saying I had an ankle reconstruction.” said my amazing PT.  “I did?” I said.  Well, suddenly it made a lot of sense. Both because of the […]
Read More
1 2 3 18
crossmenu
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram