Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Lack of Physical Restrictions


As I was leaving Whole Foods the other day, I'm "bee-bopping" out to my car, thinking how stinkin' good my life is...feeling so stinkin' lucky about my life....feeling so stinkin' happy about myself.....taking full breaths of life... I couldn't exactly articulate to myself why. And it doesn't matter exactly why...just the fact that I feel this way is fabulous!

When I got home I started to describe to Mark how I felt, and he suggested something to me that really hit the nail on the head. I was telling him how happy and light I felt and he said, " That's because you have no physical restrictions, you can move your body how you want to." Exactly! ( thanks Honey!)

As soon as he said that, I realized that that was why.... I felt "light". Light, not only physically, but spiritually....that's happiness!

I think when you're young, and if you don't have any physical restrictions you don't appreciate it! And because you're not yet mature enough, you spend alot of time not appreciating what you do have, instead "wishing" you were thinner, your tummy was flatter, your thighs were smaller, your hair was longer, your nose smaller, not to mention wishing you had more money, had a boyfriend, had a new car, etc..THEN you could be happy! I don't have those "issues" anymore!  I appreciate not having any physical restrictions, and I don't wish for anything, really, because I know, if I don't have something I say I want then I'm the one to blame.

Because of the conditioning and strength my body gets from kettlebell training I can enjoy the movement of life, I can move my body the way I want to.

I can,

Walk as far as I want to! (even jog and do sprints on the beach)
Get up from the floor easily and squat down as deep as I need/want to!
Lift and move things easily!
Try new physical activities, like yoga, and not feel embarrassed that I might not be able to do it.
Swing a KB forever and survive an RKC! (SFG)

And how I feel about my body is,

Strong and athletic, because I know I look strong and athletic.
Beautiful, because I know I look beautiful.
Confident, knowing I can wear anything I want to wear.
Small and feminine, for the first time in my life.
And appreciation for how my body has responded to my commitment to make it work the way it wants to!  My body has been wanting to rise to this occasion of being it's best during this physical life, and I'm letting it!

I have all of this.... after being so overweight and "out of shape"for so long...how stinkin' lucky am I?

19 comments:

Lauren Brooks said...

You are lucky! But more so, you worked your butt off for it!

LK said...

good post, Tracy.
You have a way and the words to convey that energy via the web, that is hard to do.
I am sure big component of your happiness is a sense of achievement and pride. You're indeed a tremendously gifted and hard working athlete.
You may try reading Dalai Lama on happiness, I am not into Buddhism in any way, but I think this guy is onto something :)

Tracy Reifkind said...

Lauren,

Luck, hard work...I don't know what comes first!

Tracy Reifkind said...

lk,

I just, last week in fact, had a friend tell me that she thought I was a "closet buddhist"!

In fact, now that I think about it, she (my friend) had just seen the Dalai Lama in San Francisco a couple of months ago.

Jen's Gym at Crossfit Watertown, CT said...

you've been Tagged by another blogger. Rules: Having been tagged,you have to blog 5 things about yourself that mostly no-one knows and then tag three more blogger friends.

ColeC said...

WOW! Now that is a place we should all be in!
I'm very happy for you

Tracy Reifkind said...

Jen,

God damnit! I'm willing to play nice, but I hate dragging anyone else into "obligation hostage"...can that be one fact that mostly no-one knows about me?

Is anyone out there offering up being "tagged"???

Royce said...

Tracy your post on luck reminds me of what a friend of mine said. He is the lead singer of a band called Tramps and Thieves. He is a phenominal guitar player and has a masters degree in englsh so he could write better music. He gets really irritated when people after his shows come up to him and say "Damn dude you're really talented." He takes offense because he has worked for YEARS to be as good as he is and people thinking it's just talent minimizes all the hard work he has done.
Trust me I understand why you say your lucky, I feel the same way about my wife. But you don't need to minimize the work you put in either. Your life is a direct result of your energy and commitment. Amazingly well done!

Secrets of the Millionaire Mind said...

Tracy, it was reading through your blog that finally inspired me to take up the Kettlebell.

I bought my first KB yesterday and have now begun

Thanks for the inspiration you are for me and for many women around the globe

if you can do it, we can do it

ps, the video's are great

what the heck is your youtube name so I can subscribe?

Tracy Reifkind said...

ffg,

just double click on any of the vids on the blog and that will take you mark's page on youtube. you can subscribe there.

Jen said...

Tracy, I know what your saying, I hate it too. Do what you want with it. For some reason I played along with this. It's a one time thing.
I said the same thing you said..God damnit!
Jen
www.jensgym.blogspot

Tracy Reifkind said...

Jen,

I can't honestly think of 5 things that most anyone DOESN'T know about me, but I'll try.

As far as "blog tagging" 3 other people, I'll give it a go.

BTW, I love, love, love, the photo on the front page of your blog, How do I get one of me????

Tracy Reifkind said...

Royce,

I get what you're saying. I guess what I wrote to Lauren is kind of how I feel....what comes first...luck, or hard work?

If you feel lucky (grateful) does that help you want to work hard....or if you work hard, does that help make you feel lucky?

But thanks for acknowledging my hard work! Sometimes I do tend to minimize it because it's just "what I do"!

Jen said...

Tracy, I just took a photo of mine and made it fit. It took some doing go to your lay out and find the header format. I had to re-size my photo a few times to have it look good.
www.jengym.blogspot.com

Tracy Reifkind said...

FFG, Rob,

Compliments from someone that has "walked in my shoes" mean so much...so, thank you.

And, like I tell everyone, if there was something BETTER than the kettlebell, I would be doing it!!!! Nothing will change your body like swinging a KB, I swear, nothing!

carriebk said...

Great post Tracy! I loved the image of you "bee-bopping" because that is totally what you do. LOVE IT!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Carrie,

Totally! That's my new word! "Bee-bopping"

megan said...

Hi Tracy, It's megan the yoga teacher here. Your transformation is so inspiring and exciting to witness. Your arms are ripped, girl! You have a fan club of plus-size models here in NJ -- I've started swinging the 18 lb. kettlebell and am really loving it. Keep on swinging!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Megan,

Good news...bad news...modeling, YES...plus-size, maybe not...keep swinging!