All Wrapped Up in a Brown Paper Bag

     A few weeks before Christmas each year, my Grandma would show up with the back of her car filled with gifts.  These were not the usual kind of gifts with shiny paper and bows.  There would be boxes filled with brown paper bags.  One for each of us.  They were not new bags, but ones that she had recycled and usually they smelled a little funny.  However, these gifts were the highlight of Christmas, because you never knew what you were going to find in those bags.  Flea collars, demon statues, garter belts, odd sized bras, just to name a few.  One year my dad got pink leg warmers and another we each got a harmonica.  We had more fun running around the house creating music, even though none of us knew how to play and it sounded horrible.  We got more joy and priceless memories over the years from those brown paper bag gifts.

My dad opening his gift.1985

      I have been thinking about Christmas gifts and realize that there are very few gifts that were wrapped in shiny paper and beautiful bows that I even remember what was inside.  The ones I do remember aren't wrapped the usual way.  The first kick of a baby whom a few days before the doctor told me I might lose, the family sledding down the stairs party (and I believe my mom was first), the ornament off the fireplace challenge, spending Christmas Eve with my brother doing our traditional lunch and shopping.  The gift of gracious forgiveness from my mom the Christmas morning that I spilled orange juice and totally ruined the breakfast she had worked so hard on. The time my brother miraculously pulled my car out of a deep ditch with no damage and my son who drove the horrible roads in a blizzard to get us safely to our destination that Christmas. There are so many of these gifts in my memory and the common denominator is not beautiful shiny paper, but people. 

  It has been many years since I have received a gift wrapped in a brown paper bag, but the cherished lesson taught by Grandma continues to live on.  The true joy of Christmas does not come from how a gift is wrapped.  It comes from the love we have and share with one another.  The best gifts don't come wrapped in the typical "normal" fashion. Sometimes, we take something so simple and make it complex.  The magic happens when you take a step back and take the time to look at how the best gifts are wrapped.  So far this year's gifts have come wrapped in the skilled hands of a cardiologist, the quickness of a caring nurse and in the power of healing.  They have come in the form of a PA student, an RN, an Athletic Training major, a Marketing major, a straight A Sophomore and a fuzzy demanding little dog along with FaceTime, phone calls and texts with family and friends.

May your Christmas and new year be filled with the treasures of
"the brown paper bag gifts".

A very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

XOXO

Tiffanee

 "The best gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of 
a happy family all wrapped up in each other." ~Burton Hills

Are You Changing or Becoming Root Bound?

     Recently, on a crisp Saturday morning it took a lot of motivation, but I finally got myself out of the door and went for a run. It felt really hard and I was just trudging along, but since it was Saturday I need to get extra mileage in so I kept pushing forward.  All of a sudden, I felt pretty good, started to relax and enjoy it.  Then I realized it was because I was going gradually down hill. I felt good and I continued on down the hill, until my brain kicked in and realized I had put myself in a little dilemma in order to get home I had two options:    

1. Take the hard route back up the hill 
2. See if I could bribe my daughter to pick me up and take the little longer route down the hill to a trail head.  

 I had a decision to make.  Did I want to challenge myself and struggle or take the less painful route?  This simple issue got me thinking about something I had heard recently.   That when a plant becomes root bound and starts to deteriorate an experienced gardener will tell you it cannot just be taken out and placed in another container.  Soil needs to be shaken from the roots, straggling roots need to be pulled and clipped from the root system. Then the plant is placed in the new container and soil needs to be vigorously pushed tightly around the plant. In most cases (unless your thumb is brown like mine) the plant will then take on new life and grow.  How often do we set our own roots in the soil of life and become root bound?   We become comfortable where we are and may treat ourselves gently and not let anyone disturb the soil or trim back our root system. When things start to get uncomfortable or a bit scary we retract back to that comfort zone, even though we know it is not where we need to be for progression.  We remain root bound, stuck.  
     During the last few years of my marriage I knew it was over, we were both not healthy.  Several times I got to the point of actually saying it was over, but when the reality of what I was saying would set in I would back down and go right back to what I had known, too scared of the change that lied ahead of me. It took time but I finally realized I was never going to change if I stayed root bound. There was gonna be pain no matter what I chose, but the pain of progress would lead to change.  I still remember the night I uttered the 3 hardest words I've ever said, "I am done."  This time I was sticking to my guns. In those first few days afterwards I was numb. Little did I know that the dirt was being shaken off of my roots.  I was being prepared for what lied ahead.  It's been just over three years and my roots have been pulled, clipped, I have struggled, battled and crawled my way up many hills.  
     I've come along ways, but still have a long way to go. I still find myself retracting to my comfort zone when things get tough and a bit scary. I tend to really do this where relationships are concerned.  It has been said, that life is ever changing and in order to learn we must change too.  Don't become so stuck in your comfort zone that you become root bound.  Fact is, there is going to be pain in change, but there is great satisfaction in the progress that is being achieved.  The growth is priceless.  

         
That Saturday morning, I let the hill scare me and I chose the more comfortable option to end my run. Yes, I would of gotten more out of my work out had I taken that hill option.  It would of made me stronger.  At the moment, it was worth bribing my daughter with lunch to get her to come get me, it took the pressure off and it gave me about 3 miles of thinking time.  Change doesn't have to come in huge ways, sometimes it is the small scary steps you take to just keep moving that matter most. I went home, emailed a race director and told him I had been chicken and asked if he would change my 5k registration to the 10K and I accepted a date for that night.  
Both scary steps for me, but steps in the right direction out of my comfort zone.

XOXO
Tiffanee