Finally feeling calm after a long week of roller coaster. Starting my day at 4-5am every day this week was painful (worth it and still painful) and my emotions and thoughts have been all over the place. This was also the “let’s do all the things before school starts” week so we did the orthodontist, dentist, dental x-ray, tutoring, car maintenance, and hose cleaning all in one week. There was a lot to juggle and a lot to finish.

And we did it all.

As we approach to the last four months of the year, I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to do this year and how I wanted to grow. One item that was on my list was to take a class. I used to take a lot of online classes and in-person classes at local university near me. This year, except for a few art classes, I haven’t taken any and I am still craving it.

So I’m hoping I can make some progress on that this weekend.

Yes to learning and growing.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

My husband and I have been waking up at 5am every day this week to watch the sport climbing Olympics.

I watch sport climbing competitions every single morning as I ride the bike so I am very familiar with each climber in the competition and it’s been such a joy to get up and cheer for them.

This morning as I watched I could feel my heart beating super fast, holding my breath and rooting for each of them. My heart broke as a speed specialist made a tiny mistake that cost her so much and she started crying. I cheered as the favored winner topped every bolder in one shot. It was so inspiring to watch.

I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow and Friday for the finals. With live sports you never know and it’s always magical to watch and root for these amazing athletes who get to be Olympians for the first time ever.

Yes to rooting for others. Yes to being inspired.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

I have found that how I choose to show up into a situation completely determines how I feel during and after it.

My expectations and attitude control if I consider the outcome a success.

Years and years ago when I was pregnant with my first son, we used to be part of a parent group at the hospital. After we all had given birth we got together and talked about our experience. One of the things my husband and I noticed when the session was over was that the people who had disappointing birth experiences were often people who came in with particular expectations that were not met.

So if they really wanted to have a natural birth and then ended up having to be medicated it felt like their experience was devastating. Or if they wanted to have all the medication and somehow couldn’t take it, they felt disappointed by the outcome. This is not to say there weren’t several cases of just completely unexpected sad stories too but those were rare in our group. For the most part, the frustration or sadness with the experience was much more correlated to the expectation as opposed to the experience itself.

I find this to be a theme in my life, too. If I show up to a situation with a very particular expected outcome I tend to be a lot more attached to how it went. Instead if I show up open and willing to take potentially different outcomes, it makes it easier for me to pivot as needed and it makes the outcome more likely to be a success because there wasn’t such a strict definition up front.

And if I show up willing to learn and grow as opposed to just trying to get things done, I tend to again be more open to receiving and adjusting and as a result growing from the process. And even when I disagree I am engaging with curiosity and not with frustration which makes the conversation a lot more productive.

So this is just a reminder to myself that things go much easier for me when I’m open and curious.

Yes to being curious and having a growth mindset.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

Family photography day is always my favorite. I love these people so much. On days like this where I get nothing done and feel frustrated about having to drive from errand to errand, it’s a good reminder that I am so lucky to get to drive around these people I love so much.

Yes to perspective. Yes to gratitude. Yes to being in the pictures.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

I’ve been listening to Brené Brown’s podcast series that she did with her siblings for the anniversary of “The Gifts of Imperfection” and feeling so much gratitude for all the reminders and honest conversations.

There’s a lot of new at my work and I’m adjusting and learning and readjusting a lot lately. As someone who has a core value around service and helpfulness and struggles with worthiness, it can be a doozy to deal with constant adjusting to a new person and a new rhythm. It’s often 3 steps forward and 2 steps back and sometimes vice versa so it feels like so much effort for so little progress.

And it can be easy to beat myself up for not getting it faster, not landing things, not making enough progress, and on and on.

Instead I am working hard to release the pressure and trying not to beat myself up. I am showing up and trying to do a good job. Listening to the feedback and adjusting as best as I can. I am showing up and doing the work. That’s the best I can do at the moment. And when I know better, I’ll do better.

And every day I am working on letting the frustration and disappoinment go so I can start my days fresh and show up to do the work again instead of carrying it around with me all day, every day, everywhere.

Onward.

Yes to releasing what doesn’t serve me. Yes to being patient with myself.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes