Chi Running Instructor Certification Pending...

Just today I sent an email submitting the last of my requirements to become a certified Chi Running and Chi Walking Instructor. The irony is that about 6 weeks ago, I was ready to throw in the towel. So what happened?

Here's the background. At the end of last March, 2013, my sister, Denise, and I attended a training/workshop that was part of the requirement to become a certified Chi Running Instructor. To be honest, in preparing for this workshop a lot of work and studying had to be done, and I was in the midst of a very rigorous full-time massage therapy program. I almost gave up. I felt like I couldn't possibly comply with all the requirements just to get to that workshop, let alone to actually become certified. So I called my sister up early one morning when I was supposed to be studying, and I told her I wasn't going because I just couldn't do it. Mind you, this was about 2 weeks before the workshop, and we had been preparing for months. Well, my wonderful sis talked me off the ledge, so to speak, and I ended up going to the workshop. As it turned out, the 2 of us were much better prepared than we realized and we passed through the workshop with flying colors.

Fast forward 10 months, and I am staring the one year completion deadline in the face (we have one year from the workshop to complete the remaining requirements). I felt like I was sinking into a pit of complete overwhelm as I was trying to grow my business and manage my time and my stress levels (no, I was not living in the "now" very effectively at that time). In an effort to avoid a complete breakdown, I switched to damage control mode. I looked at everything I had on my plate and found what I felt I could get rid of--and the Chi Running certification made the list. I knew I would eventually get certified, but missing this deadline would mean I would have to go to another weekend workshop, with additional travel time and cost thrown in, and then I would still have to complete all of the very demanding requirements at some future date. But why do today what you can put off until tomorrow, right? So I sat down with my sister and very gently told her, once again, that I wasn't going to be able to complete the requirements and that I would have to miss the deadline and get certified at a later date. We talked about it for a while, and in the end she accepted it with some reservations but also with understanding for my situation.

A few days later, however, I found myself thinking it over once again while I was out on a run, and some very persuasive reasons came up that had me rethinking my decision. When I got back from my run, Denise happened to be at my house, and without my saying anything about my own reservations, she brought up the very same things I had just been thinking about, and then started laying out a plan that would enable me to navigate my busy schedule and get the requirements completed.

To make a long story short, I pushed through, took things one day at a time, did the best I could, and with lots of support from Denise I completed the last of the requirements just 3 weeks shy of the deadline. Phew!

So here is what I learned from this experience:

• When you are stressed out and on the verge of a breakdown, having a true friend in your corner is invaluable!!! I don't know what I would do (or where I would be) without my sister Denise! She has helped me through rough waters more times than I can count. What a miracle she is in my life!
• When you are in a state of overwhelm and can't see any way out, try taking a step back and looking at things from a different angle. Sometimes you get so lost in the midst of the trees that you can't see the forest. When this happens, try climbing a tree. As they say, it is always darkest before the dawn, so don't give up!
• Trust God, open your eyes to your blessings, and take it one day at a time. All you have is today anyway, so quit worrying so much about tomorrow. Just make sure that when you go to bed tonight, you don't have any regrets about today.

So that's that. Within a week or two, I will be a certified Chi Running and Chi Walking Instructor.

Thanks for reading! February results coming soon!