Friday, November 4, 2016

Five Things About Me

Linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for the Friday Five.
Today's topic is "5 things about you."

I've already shared a lot of things about myself in my 100 things about me and the ABCs of me, plus the various random quizzes I've done over the years. Here are five things about me that I don't think I've ever mentioned in the past:

1) I used to hate running.
I saw Lesley mentioned this for herself today, and remembered it is true for me, too. Growing up, I remember having to run a timed mile in gym class every year, which I completely dreaded. I had nightmares about it. Some of my classmates would cheat by only running three laps around the track instead of four. I was tempted to cheat, too, but ultimately I did always unhappily push through the entire distance.
Dramatization of that horrible day in gym class each year when we had to run a timed mile
There was one year when several of my classmates and I decided to just walk the entire mile together since our gym teacher allowed it. It was an enormous weight off of my shoulders!

2) I take notice of open cabinet/closet/locker doors.
If I go into, say, a locker room and see a single empty locker hanging open, I instinctively want to close it. For example:
3) I haven't gotten into the winter holiday spirit in ages.
When I was in college, we had winter final exams leading right up until the holidays. Since we were all cramming, none of us had time to put up decorations, shop for gifts, attend holiday events, anything. Ever since then, I've never gotten into the holiday spirit.
Over the past few years, I've put forth some moderate attempts. Unfortunately, I've only had marginal success. This year I want to try again more intentionally. Must. Bake. Cookies.

4) I frequently get teary-eyed.
I saw Ana mention this for herself, and it is true for me, too. I cry at movies. Sentimental commercials or music bring tears to my eyes. When I'm not feeling well or if I get very emotional/angry/frustrated, especially in public situations, I'm frequently struggling not to cry. Thank goodness for bathrooms.
This is the type of face I might make when I'm trying to hold back the tears.
Nice and nonchalant, yes?
5) I'll do power poses.
I strongly believe in the mind-body connection. It seems to be widely acknowledged that the mind can control the body, but I believe the body's control over the mind is just as powerful. Along those lines, I was fascinated to learn about power posing from Amy Cuddy's TED talk a few years ago.
Wonder Woman doing the original power pose
The power pose strategy has been a game changer for me. If you haven't seen the video, I highly recommend watching. I think the subject matter is fascinating.

Your turn! Do you have any previously unknown facts about yourself you'd like to share???

22 comments:

  1. That's funny! that you have to close open lockers!

    Yes exactly what bathrooms are for! A good cry!

    have an awesome weekend!

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    1. I like symmetry. =) Thank goodness for bathrooms, right? I hope you had an awesome weekend, too! Loved your outfit at your Hero 5K over the weekend!

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  2. This has nothing to do with what you wrote but ... Wow! Super Woman's waist is tiny. I just spent an ungodly amount of time analyzing her outfit, trying to determine if there is a corset in that costume or if that was her natural shape.

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    1. You are right - I didn't notice until you pointed it out, but she looks almost like a Barbie doll, right? Wow!!!

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  3. Gosh, I'm an emotional person, too. It doesn't take much to get the tears flowing (happy or sad). Yes, and I fight that "ugly cry" a lot LOL I also HATED the 1-mile timed run in high school....it was totally humiliating. Of course, now days, a mile is kind of a cake walk...but back then it felt like a marathon

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    1. Isn't it amazing how a 1-mile run feels like you've barely even gotten a chance to warm up? Although, admittedly that is purely in distance, not in tempo. Even to this day, I shudder at the thought of running a timed 1-miler, just because of the speed involved!

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  4. I would close that locker too. It's ruining the feng shui of that wall haha

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    1. You know it, Alexandra!!! Gotta have symmetry!!! =D

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  5. I used to hate running too! My friends still remind me of that!

    Power poses for the win!

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    1. I find it hard to believe you ever hated running. You're such a powerhouse, Wendy! =)

      Hurray for power poses!!!

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  6. I'm all about that power pose! I do it before job interviews, and so far it has been successful! I think I saw an article floating around that the power pose stuff could just be placebo effect, but I don't really care. I think there is something to the idea of me thinking that it helps even if it doesn't. (Like when Ron thinks that he drank the good luck potion in Harry Potter.) I've done it before two big interviews and got hired both times, so I'm a believer.

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    1. WOW!!! If that isn't a testament to the power of the power pose, I don't know what is!!! I'm with you - I don't care if it's just a placebo effect, the point is that it works. And that's all that matters. Hurray for nailing those job interviews, Amy!!!!!

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  7. I've gotten more emotional as I've gotten older. I blame Pixar. I swear it started with fighting to not cry during UP.

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    1. I've never seen UP!!! Keep hearing great reviews, though. And if/when I do see it, I'll be armed with lots of Kleenex. =)

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  8. I hated the mile in gym too AND I always obsessively close lockers! Haha! I've never known anyone else to do that. I actually tried to "break" that habit though because it was a bit OCD.

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    1. Is there no worse memory of high school gym class than the timed mile? UGH!!! Although, even now I shudder at the thought of running a timed mile. I don't mind running at an easy pace to warm-up, but doing it at tempo is killer. Glad you understand the desire to close those empty locker doors, too! I've contemplated whether or not I have some mild OCD, too, LOL.

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  9. Amen, my friend! I am having a hard time thinking of anyone who has always loved running, even as a young child. Maybe some of it has to do with being "required" to run in high school, versus choosing to run as adults??? I think instant gratification is a huge factor, too!

    Very interesting to hear about diaper commercials! I don't have any kids so I haven't been impacted by those commercials yet, but I can imagine how they would make folks very nostalgic! Do you ever go back and read your earlier blog posts and look at all the pictures and get teary-eyed, too? Because I bet that is what I would do!!!

    Yes, please try the power poses and let me know what you think!!! =)

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  10. Awwww, Abel and Swede, growing up so fast!!!

    Very interesting to hear about how it feels so wrong to say phrases that clash with your body position!!! I totally get it. It reminds me of a psychology experiment we did once where we would see a color name written out phonetically, but the text was in a different color. E.g. you'd see "Orange" but the text would be in blue. We were supposed to either read the text out loud or name the text color, and it was so hard to do it correctly when the two clashed!

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  11. I LOATHED running when I was younger. I did cross country for two years in middle school and hated every single second. In retrospect, I think what made me hate it, aside from the effort it took, of course (which I've since grown to appreciate) was the fact that I was really, really bad by cross country standards. I was the slowest runner on the team for both years, and that's a pretty miserable experience. Road racing is so much more casual for the majority of us, which takes a lot of the pressure off, especially if you don't have a team counting on you and are only running for yourself!

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    1. Really interesting to hear that you hated running when you were growing up! As you know, though, cross country is a whole other world of running compared to road running. I once did a very mildly technical race and I felt like I was running in quicksand! I am curious what changed your outlook on running since middle school???

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  12. I hate when winter arrives so I don't get into the holiday season very easily either. I wish I did, because once I do, I feel like it goes way too fast. I can't believe it will be hear soon. Where did the year go?

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    1. Yes - it always seems that November and December just fly by! This whole year has gone by crazy fast. It'll be interesting to see what 2017 has in store for us from so many different levels...!

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