Part of The Team

We never realize it when we are younger but learning to be a part of a team will follow us throughout our lives. Teams come in all forms, from families to sports to co-workers, and if we learn teamwork when we are young then as we grow we will take those lessons with us. I mean that is generally how learning works this is no exception.

I loved playing sports when I was younger, heck I love playing them now, but there were times in the past that I didn't understand what my parents were trying to teach me about being part of the team. Though I am not super clumsy I still have my moments when something doesn't go exactly right and I get hurt. When I was younger there were a couple of times when I hurt myself enough to actually have a cast or crutches. During those times you can bet I was part of some sort of organized sport.

I remember the first time I had crutches, I was playing softball at the time. I could barely get around so of course playing in a game was out of the question. To me at the time that meant maybe sitting in the stands and watching my team win without me. My parents had another idea however. I was in uniform, on the bench, with my crutches yelling and cheering with the rest of my team. At the time I thought it was a little too much, why be there in uniform when I can't play. As I got older and again was on crutches, this time for the high school basketball team, it was the same thing. In uniform on the bench, cheering and being the support I could be for my team.

I never realized then what those lessons would teach me about being part of a team. As family we are always there to support physically and emotionally, as sports teammates we are there to cheer on those that might need to hear the encouragement, and at work we are there to cover for each other when sickness or vacations might arise. The thing to remember is that sickness, pain or other ailments may present themselves, but sometimes you have to continue to be there for the team. When you start to let the team down they notice, when they have to constantly cover for you they notice. No one is really keeping track but co-workers, family members and teammates will always remember when those times as they may become more frequent. Sometimes we have to be weary of how much we are letting our teams down.

Plant Life

The plants are alive! Now I am not talking Little Shop of Horrors alive, we all know how that didn't turn out so well. But even though I can see with my own eyes that a plant is growing I forget that means it is a living thing and it can move and change to it's needs. I bring this up because as anyone who has read my blog lately knows I am growing tomatoes in my little garden. Two of my plants are actually growing upside down in a tomato planter. What I like most about this is that some how the plants know they are upside down and correct themselves. Yes they actually twist their stems to make it so the leaves are facing skyward. You may not believe me but I have taken some pictures of course as proof. A regular Tin Tin is what I am.

 

So there you have it, how amazing it is that plants can do this. Not just grow upward and outward but that they know something is unusual and they correct it themselves. I am sure there is a life lesson in there somewhere.

Puzzle Pieces

Puzzles can be metaphors for many things, but they work really well for the analogy of small pieces making up a bigger picture. With each small piece you can't necessarily tell what the overall image is going to be, it takes a couple of pieces together to start to form the begins of the picture. Sometimes a section to the right of the puzzle forms and then a section in the bottom corner. Slowly things come together.

It can take a long time to get the whole puzzle of our lives together, in fact it pretty much takes an entire lifetime and maybe then some to get it all completed. But what I am fast learning is that each of us can take away some happiness even from the partial sections of the puzzle that are beginning to come together.

I think most recently I can apply this concept into my life through a health stand point. I am no doubt far from perfect in the eat healthy, work out everyday mind set, but today was one of those days that I notice a small section of my puzzle coming together. At work our offices get cleaned once every other week and I can usually monitor what week it is by how much my trash is full. For a while I was eating out a lot at lunch but for the last while I have been working on improving dislike of preparing meals to bring to work.

I have eaten out very little in the recent past and it definitely reflected the hard work that I have been putting into making that change in my life. When the janitor came in to clean my office this morning my trash was less than 3/4 full. Usually when I eat out more often it it compacted at least twice by my foot and still overflowing but not this time. A sound purchase in some snapware, doing more dishes at home and staying in some nights to cook food to last a couple of days has lead me to better health and a positive step towards saving the environment from my trash.

It may not be a big section of my puzzle it may not even be all that important but it is the small pieces that make up the larger puzzle, and rejoicing the small and simple things is what is going to help get us all through until we are able to see the bigger picture and how beautiful that is.

Don't Hold Your Breathe

That is the saying everyone knows. The funny thing is that in life there are events that happen where it feels like you are doing just that, holding your breathe.

Right now there are a couple of those events in my life that I can think of. I am at this point, the one towards the end where you are thinking to yourself I can't keep this up forever. And at the same time your lungs just start to burn a bit, but you push yourself to hold on just a little longer. When all you really want is for it to all be over or to be able to feel that relief when that oxygen hits your lungs.

I would give anything to be able to breath again. To know what the decision is going to be and most of all how it is going to effect me.