Destiny is not a career

You get in life what you have the courage to ask for. Wait a sec. That’s not mine. Oprah said it before me. I like Oprah, don’t you?  And I do agree with her if she agrees with me changing a word, or maybe two. You don’t get anything actually in this life even if you have what ever Gods or Goddesses on your side, but you may get a piece of something if you have the courage to ask for… or if you have the guts to fight for it. Life is a fight, don’t you agree? We fight for our jobs, our rights, our children, we fight to be liked, appreciated, respected, actually we are just gladiators fighting for our lives... the lives we believe we deserve. What do you think you deserve, guys? An easier way of earning money, a better partner, genius kids, more time off? What are your dreams, folks? Just say it loud; it won’t hurt you. The naked truth is that none of us deserves anything as long as the real us doesn’t match the imagine we try to create about us. That imagine should be a reflection of who we are. Be as you wish to seem. Again, not me, Socrates said it way before me. 

To be honest, I’ve met so many people who tried to be what they were not. Don’t be one of them. I’m not. I say it loud to the whole world that I may seem out of boundaries….because I am. That’s the reflection of who I am. I won’t hide that, why would I? “Many people have tried or continue trying to impress others, to make others aware of who they are and what they are doing”. Not mine again as you already know. This statement is Miriam’s, the other blondie who blogs. You probably wonder why I mention Miriam so often. It’s not just because she is a better blogger than me. It’s mostly because, a while back, we decided over a topic we would both develop, we had a bet, we’ve done our research well, we put it in real life, actually we were the mystery subjects and…we both failed. Mostly me, because Miriam is still young. But I’ll tell you about it when the time is right.

Anyway, back to the image and reflection. There is only one man I had the honor to meet who never compromised on that. Not just that I met him. I raised him…and I’ve done it well apparently. Amos is a guy who doesn’t try to show what he is not. Strong, opinionated, but always right by the way, he doesn’t care about how people may perceive him. He oozes power. Amos has great buddies, never best friends; his only true friend is himself. Amos never lies, but please believe me when I’m saying that you may not like his truth, because it may hurt you…and he says it as it is! He doesn’t even smile if he doesn’t want to. Actually he doesn't do anything if he doesn't want to. Amos has his own standards and would never fit in regular ones. Just a strong guy, that’s who he is. Amos fought for everything he’s got: great career, super wife, amazing house, the best dogs, the most amazing body, everything just A plus. On top of all, he is smart, smarter than me anyway. Amos started building his destiny long time ago. As a lifestyle…not as a career! I know that not just because he is my son. I trained him for years and I know how hard and smart he can work out. So, yes, this is my Amos, the most important man in my life. Right after him, Hendrix, my puppy!

Happy birthday, Amos! Don’t ever change! Let them believe about you what they want. I do the same! I hope you still remember that, when you were just a little boy, instead of reading you stories, I used to involve you in dissertations on Socrates “Know yourself” and “I only know that I know nothing”. :)

Standards?

If Miriam woke up today with Schopenhauer in her mind, my first thought was Hegel. You may not know Miriam and that’s a shame really. She is another blondie who blogs. Actually we blog to each other, but you guys, don’t know that. Anyway, Miriam’s point is that “getting lost in this crowd called society to gain a status can really mean that you are losing your own self”. So being yourself and acting the best you can at a certain point in your life may be the key of our whole existence? Maybe, but I rather agree with Hegel, just because I usually go with my first thought. Hegel once said, “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion”. Passion for what, you may ask. Actually for everything… if for Miriam may be for being who she is, for me is for my work. What’s your passion, guys; what keeps you going forward? Work I said is mine and work it is. I wasn’t always like that, but I surely am now. This is the only aspect of my life where I excel a little bit in. But in my work, Hegel is not my only mentor. Kant is as well and I kind of remember at the beginning of each working day that he once said to  “Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law”. Therefore I am into fitness not just because I want to make a difference. I try to state my kind of training as a universal law and I’m making my statement as clear as possible.  

You may find me nonconformist or just not able to fit in your standards. What are your standards by the way? Statements about what exactly? What should and what shouldn’t? Who should and who shouldn’t? Should or shouldn’t what exactly? Maybe I lived so long only to get more confused than I was years back, but I still don’t get some of the rules this society makes…like the one on what’s beautiful and what’s ugly in this century. But if I started with Hegel, just because I woke up with him in my thoughts, and Miriam challenged me a little bit this morning, I will then end with my dear Hegel as well: “I'm not ugly, but my beauty is a total creation”. And it is!

Have a great week, you all! :)

My Bucket list

Everybody has a Bucket list….except me. That’s quite a shame because I deserve what everybody else has. Do I? I haven’t quite decided on that, but today I want a Bucket list more than ever. So here I am,  3am on this great Sunday morning, cuddled up with Well. I told you about him. Well is my laptop, who understands me so…well.  He is a he, always by my side, always willing to help by reading my emails and typing what I dictate. Perfect relationship! But today even Well kept a silent moment when I told him that I’m going to design, plan and put in writing the list everybody already has and I don’t.  Well, this is Well’s problem, not mine.

 Back to my Bucket list, please! I never had breakfast in bed and I sort of want that. Nobody thought it’s important for me, I guess, but yes, I decided it is. So my number one wish is up in the air. Then, I don’t like heights and I have to overcome this fear of mine. So I want to climb somewhere very high and prove to myself that I am able to look down to the world. I usually look up to people, but it would be different the day I’d be on top of the world.Then, my number three: I want to get in love, at least once in my life. What’s wrong with that? I already have three wishes on my list and I am sort of stuck now. Actually, all I want for the rest of my life is to be…normal, what ever that means. I just want to be able to act like others, be like the rest of the world, be less intense, less full on, have more fun…be normal really. This being said, let’s jump to pure action. …not before I somehow figure out what normal actually is. Normality? Hhhmmm…. everything I’m not? Not really; there are some good old fashioned sides to me, you know.  So here is my plan. I have to change; it’s not working like this anymore. Have to? Want to? I haven't decided on that either. Heart off my sleeve from now on, no analytical thinking, no  weird food combinations, no urge to label things, people and feelings, no intensity, no extreme passion to put dreams into practice and no over thinking. And then I may fit in the standards somebody smarter than me created. I'm not ready to throw away my 100 dresses (actually more like 200), nor my make up or my headbands. You don't even imagine how much work I put in getting them! Also not ready to wear jeans and boots and a normal ponytail only to please the world! But I'm willing to change pink to black for example. Thanks to the guy who suggested that!

So new me starting today. Or not? Let me just think about it over the weekend. I may decide that my Bucket list is good enough with only three wishes on it…or I may change. You know that I always read your emails, guys, and I respond to each of you, even if I have to send out over a hundred emails a day. So this is your challenge for the weekend: email me what do you want from me. Because I may just be ready for a change...or not! Have a great weekend, peeps! :)

My Yay day

Something amazing happened today. It has nothing to do with Hendrix, my six months old puppy. He is very important to me, you know... But this time even he is out of it. It's just the fact that I have a day off. I haven't taken a Brigitte day in three years and I don't even know what to do with so many hours. Actually I know, but this is another story...a private one. I am however starting with you, guys. A huge thanks to you all for taking me more seriously than I am. My blog got up to 50,900 readers. Not too bad at all. So I salute you, guys, who ever and where ever you are. 

A huge thanks  to New Zealand, US (always so good to me!), UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Russia (still many of you there reading my blogs; thanks!), Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hong Kong, China (newbies here!), Denmark,, Romania, Namibia, Thailand (welcome aboard!), Germany, Philippines, Netherlands, Indonesia, Brazil (Rita, you and your buddies rock!), South Africa and Ukraine. Have a great weekend, enjoy your time off (I sure will mine!) and see you around early next week! :)

We need to talk!

I always had many friends. Not that I am more popular than others, but I may attract more attention. My blonde hair has nothing to do with that. It’s probably because of my work… or maybe people are just intrigued by my je ne c’est quoi attitude. Very intense, passionate about what I do or I want to do, about things, places, dreams, feelings… that’s who I am. Nothing wrong with that. I could change, but I decided not to. Because I met so many people, women, men, children, I learnt to understand the messages behind a gesture or a word. You don’t believe me? Let me just prove it to you. I know that when a woman tells  you “we need to talk”, that doesn't mean that you’ve done something wrong. No way! It just means that she needs to talk. That’s all. She would start with the story about the dishes and laundry and would probably finish, if she ever does, with the one about her neighbor’s dress. I also know that when a guy says “we need to talk”, then it’s probably better  to put your heels on and run…if they allow you that! Because he has something bad to say.  I bet you didn’t know that! 

We need to talk…that’s how Kerry used to start almost every session. I am a good listener…when I work; in real life not so much. For a whole hour, while the session lasted, she talked…all sorts, I mean sorts of sorts! But she trained so hard that chick and her talks were even more intense than mine! Kerry started as an average girlie with an ordinary body and got to pure perfection. When I first met her, years back, she told me that she wants to compete in figure sculpting. After “we need to talk”, of course! The work I had to put in her was just immense because she needed to lose lots before the actual sculpting training would have been started. But, she’s done it with me on her side. That girl worked her butt off, lifted more than a man and never complained.  Never…but she always needed to talk! In October that year, she was so ready and I dreamt about her winning her category. Beautiful, sculpt body, great attitude  amazing personality! What’s happened? Ask Kerry; I’m sure she would love to tell you! Kerry, sweetheart, you’re a real champ. Not many people go so far. I am glad you did, dear friend! :)

Act like a woman, think like a man

Last night I read a book that changed my whole perspective on life. I couldn’t stop reading it until I finished it at the time I had to wake up…and I’m not even tired today! I know now so much more….do I? I know that there’s nothing wrong with me. ..also that I cannot change people. So, I’m still the same blondie, who decided over night to make some new rules.  People like standards. I like them too, so I’ll get some! Here’s my first rule: act like a woman, think like a man! What’s stopping me following my rule? Nothing actually!

I am a different Personal Trainer than you met before. Some people may get shocked when I turn up for a session wearing pink clothes and a pink headband. If I’m given a chance, I can prove how good I am. If not…I wouldn’t be the one to bite my tongue. But people usually stick with me. I am a great trainer and I know how to bring my clients to success. Andy, the best bodybuilder I have ever met, knew from the beginning that I was just hiding behind my blondeness and pinkness. I met him 5 years ago and trained him for all sorts of competitions. I choreographed routines for him, I designed workouts, and actually I’ve done all sorts of things to help him achieve his dream. We had such a good trainer-client relationship…we still do even now when he lives in the States and I work for him on Skype. Andy is exactly like me; we both work to exhaustion and have no personal lives. We live in a world we created! He is a guy who can win every comp he competes in. He has the physique, the brain and the strength. God was generous with him by the way! However he never won a comp before I met him. Something was missing and he knew that. He tried all sorts of trainers, some better than me, but nothing changed.  When I look back, I realise that he hired me because I was different….and so was he!  I don’t know whether my training tips helped him won title after title. I rather believe that my advice to be who he was gave him the confidence and courage to climb to the top! And maybe the fact that with Andy I was acting like a blonde girl, as I always do, while reading his thoughts. With Andy, I was thinking like a man! Five years later, Andy is a well-known champion….still with no exciting personal life. But he’ll be just fine. I am as well. Thanks, Andy, for letting me work for you. You’ll go long way, buddy! :)

Let's think together!

There are two things in my whole life that I will never be number one at: darts and Angry Birds. As competitive as I am, I never wanted to win in any of them. I love darts, I play a lot, but the thing is that I haven't decided whether it is a sport or just a fun thing. Nobody wins in fun. Fun is just fun and there is never enough of it. Angry Birds? I don't understand the whole concept behind it....birds making weird noises while one tries to knock them down. It's not even funny. I've played better games...like darts. My brain calculates the points faster than my arm can follow. Fast brain, slow hand, weird combination. Actually, that's how I live my life. My brain goes all sorts of places faster than the light. 

So just because I am a fast thinker, I start my day with...thinking. And today, the thought that came first was weight loss challenge.  Six months before the beach season opens? Just enough time to make it happen. So, my first weight loss challenge starts on 1st August and I'm planning fun stuff... funnier than Angry Birds anyway! The challenge would involve classes, training sessions, indoor bootcamps and a nice and easy to follow diet. Eight weeks would be more than enough to get rid of around 10kgs. So, who's in? 

I am so excited about the challenge that I barely can think anything else today. However, for me the pre Summer season starts officially every year on the first day of August. There would be outdoor bootcamps, outdoor yoga classes, challenges, heaps of fun things! I have to wake up every day with a wow thought to make them all happen. And I will. I always do. But feel free to email me through your thoughts. Yours and mine together would conquer the world! :)

Let me entertain you

There were so many things that made my life different lately. Like rosebuds tea; just imagine pink rosebuds in my cup. I love my tea breaks since I discovered them. And then there is that blue toothpaste with sparkles in it. I don’t know who invented it, but the guy had to be a dreamer… like me. Also that lamp that projects stars on my ceiling. I am just loving it especially because I can change the colour of my 52 stars (yes, I counted them, so what?) . But mostly, there was that awesome guy I won’t be telling you about, who taught me some great things...like how unfair life can be if you're rushing and how stupid I was thinking that, just because I smile, I deserve people to smile back to me. I have to earn my smiles! So, with all these additions, my life seemed complete for a second. Seemed? How silly. Let’s me just rephrase that. Nothing changed; I still suck in my personal life.

So let’s talk work, just because I am better with that. There would be some changes on my website. Good ones, for sure. I will be  adding a membership page to my website. Very, very soon…when I figure out what you, guys, want from me. I am planning a forum for you because I would love to give you the opportunity to express yourselves. Also a direct and secret line to me, so you would be able to contact me anytime without going through the whole process of emailing me. I am even planning of launching online classes, but that’s a thing for the future. So, guys, keep your eyes wide open cause the blondie will bring something good for you.

My blog got up to 50,000 readers all around the world. Thanks, friends, you sure made my day look brighter! :

See the light

I woke up this morning on Metallica’s Turn The Page. Not really on, mostly in my head. You know when a song goes on and on in your head and you cannot make it leave your brain cells! It was kind of like that, I suppose. I thought I was at that stage in my life when I balanced things with the power of my Qi and took Zen moments seriously. Obviously not, because I don’t remember very well all the things I said last night. Doesn’t matter, new day.  But I do remember that the title of my blog doesn’t belong to me. Actually, it does somehow, but I didn’t come up with it. Don’t worry: the photo is mine and the thoughts as well, as twisted as they can be!

So let’s get serious now. I need a new challenge again.  Something I never done before or maybe a thing I forgot to do in a long time. For months I thought that it would have to be related to what I do best, my work. Cause in my personal life I may suck sometimes... Only today, after a long and harsh night, I realized that the challenge I dream about has to be about me only. No other people involved. So I came up with an idea. What if I do one more competition? And then, when it’s over, I can retire as a competitor….forever!  I don’t need to win anymore. This time it would be for me only, for the fun of preparing everything in detail. So here is my plan. I will go one more time on stage in May next year.  Last time, I promise. I will start training again for my figure competition like I’ve done it in the past. Last one! I don’t enjoy the diet, but its’ just a part of the whole preparation.  I know that I always get what I want, so I can do this. Therefore, I announce it officially: next year in May, I’ll be on stage, guys, with a fab routine.  So, girlies, challenge me please and show me what you’ve got, cause I will be there no matter what!  :)

Blonde appreciation

Last night, Miriam posted on Facebook that blondes have more fun. You don’t know her? That’s a shame really because she is blonde and she has lots of fun. Anyway, Miriam made a statement here and that pushed me thinking what people really see beyond our blonde hair. Actually it’s not about what they see…not even about what a blonde is able to tell you. It’s more about what you can tell a blondie. Let me justify. First example that crosses my mind is that guy who emails me lately. Maybe you know him, cause I don’t, but the emails are really sweet…and the photos really explicit, thank you! My statement is Miriam’s as well: blondes have more fun. His statement? Let me just quote him “how can I get in your pants?”.  Now, would you ever ask a brunette that? Not quite sure. But being a blondie, I feel the urge to reply to that dude. So I really have to ask for his postal address before, because the only way he can get where he wants to starts with me posting him out my pants. Not the pink ones; I just bought them and I haven’t got over them just yet. And I’m thinking of adding the chap a prezzy and posting him also out one of my 67 bras. I’m sure he would enjoy that!

I can go further, sure I can. There is another guy. This one I know somehow. His text sounds like “This is my phone number. Give me a call if you ever have itchy fingers”. Again, right question for  a brunette? Not really. Now, sugar, I don’t get often itchy fingers, but I definitely sense a kind of cold feet…in your case. But I cannot not mention the sweetheart who bothers me while I’m on chat with someone else. Facebook chat, of course. He is in the mood of chatting as well, I guess, and instead of hello he says “Babe, I love your boobs”. Nice. Now let me babe you back, babe. When did I ever show them to you….babe? Cause I don't  suffer of Alzheimer yet and I really have a good memory, but I cannot recall on this little aspect.

So that’s the way you, guys, are talking to blondes just because you strongly believe that we may have more fun and can take over even more. That’s fine we are loving that…not so much, but still fine. But just before you open your mouth, think beyond our blondeness. Maybe, just maybe, there is something in our blonde heads, something more than your fun. Maybe we make our fun look funnier than yours! :)

Work with me, guys

I get bored easily. I have enough of everything once there are no challenges left. I painted for more than 10 years and was quite good at it. I got bored and never done it again. Then I started working with wood…bored again. Some years ago, I started making jewelry…just for fun. Once again…. bored.  Have I told about starting my fashion line? Bored…I start.... and when I reach that stage of whatever, I start something else. At least I'm on the starting line every day! But one day I'll stop. No, I won't...I'll train them all on the other side...God included! I need challenges; they keep me alive! I never got bored of people though…who challenged me. I don’t even remember the ones who didn’t want to grow the same pace I did. And I never got bored of my job. People wake up in the morning and look with saddens to the day ahead. They just do stuff for cash! I open my eyes early in the morning and think “Yay. I work today!” I do my work for fun! 

My classes challenge me. Firstly because I have to teach them, so I need to workout as hard as my attendants do. Actually harder! Then I have to memorize the routine and choreography and, let's be perfectly honest here, how easy that can be when you're natural blonde? Just because I designed the classes doesn’t mean I have the right to improvise. And lastly because I can always add new elements to the routine. In fact, I have to do that; otherwise my people would get bored as much as I would. My people are just like me; they need challenges! Probably that’s the reason why I hear so many great stuff after each class. Like that girlie, who’s a challenger by the way, who always says “I could call you names now, Brige”, but she never does it. Or the other one (you know who you are!) who laughs through the whole class hopping that I would get distracted and mix all up (keep trying hard, sweets, I'm so focused!) and when everything is over says “I totally hate you”, but she comes back every week. Or the guy who makes all those noises…and faces, but never forgets to remind me when he leaves that I am “crazy-mad” what ever that means. 

So let’s be it short today.  I’m launching at the end of this month the bees knees of fitness classes…a routine that’s more challenging that every challenge I have ever had before. How can it not be? Three bands over the legs, steppers and heavy barbells. I haven’t come up with a name for my new class yet because I’m expecting you to find a perfect one for me. All I know is that, at this stage, I call it Sculpt Step Pump. So that's your starting point, guys; do the hard work and challenge me with a  name for my class. The class is my baby, the name would be yours. Good enough for a long lasting relationship! :)

What a wonderful world!

Last night, an hour before midnight, my early morning clients phoned to move their appointments to another day this week. I thought there is a bug around, but now I understand why they’ve done it. They wanted me to watch the tennis final without me thinking about weight loss and stuff. So, I watched it, but not before I flew to town to get my voice back, only because that guy borrowed it and, sorry, it’s my voice and I wanted it here where it belongs. As I’ve said, I watched the final. Huge mistake. My week started crap! But that’s nothing. My dearest friends, Chele and Kev, leave to Oz and that’s sad, Tricia, my bestest, goes back to Ireland and that's sad as well, I have to record a dance/ ballet routine but I cannot remember the steps and my deadline is so close, my knee popes out more often than before, my blinds still haven’t arrived, my green dress is lost somewhere between UK and New Zealand and I cannot find Mr.King, my blonde cat (yes, I have a blonde and a brunette one). A lot of drama for a blondie! 

I met Chele and Kev eight years ago and I trained them ever since…up to four times a week. Chele is Cleopatra herself and Kev is just Kev, a guy who stood up for me a thousand times. I trained their daughter too and I know their son very well. Actually I know everything about them, every little secret, and they know absolutely everything about me. Three years back, we started becoming friends and they grew so much on me that now, I really, really love them. I couldn’t cope in a week without them, but I would have to because the guys decided to move to Australia for six months…at least. So, now I have to start planning weekends in Gold Coast. Chele already set up a room for me there because she wants me a weekend a month with her family. Not to train them, no. But the thing is that they leave…and I’m sad…and this is all I am telling you today. I need a hug from you, guys, so please keep emailing me. 

Have a great week! :)

My all sorts moment

I know it's weekend and I know that I don't blog on Sundays, but I cannot help myself. It's not that I'm bored... I just remembered, in the middle of the night when others sleep and I don't, what somebody (don't even go there, I won't say a word more!) said a few days back. So, that person (no, I won't be telling you if is a guy or one of my girlie friends!) said that if I'm left to myself for more than a day, I start thinking all sorts. I don't know what that means, but all sorts is true. And that person (no clues, people!) got it right. I start from nothing and I get to everything. I could sync the whole world. It's just called synergy, guys! 

Anyway, I was just thinking all sorts yesterday, just because I was left in my world for more than a day. The stupid thing is that I was driving while mixing all sorts again. 1pm, Saturday sunny day, Whangaparaoa Road (you, overseas guys, don't have a clue what you're missing on!), first in queue at the intersection. Loud music, I mean very loud, my mind away to all sorts, of course. And then I turned right.... and realized that I still have to go back to the shops. So...I turned left. And that's how I stopped (and blocked) the whole traffic. Nobody got hurt, why should they, just another idiot female driver! But then I came back from my all sorts state of mind, and thought to myself that I had to apologize somehow. Not that I really had to; I just wanted to! So I stopped my car in the middle of that intersection ignoring the traffic lights (nothing major, just lights!), stepped off my car, smiled and waived to every angry driver. Like a real queen... At least they knew who the idiot was! But they liked it, because they all applauded! So I took my time, still smiling and acting stupid, while the traffic lights turned green and red again and then green one more time. I just enjoyed my silly blonde moment! :)

Sign off time!

A shorty today, guys. It's weekend...not just for you, for me as well. No piece of me today, so go have some fun in the real world! Just a huge thanks today to my 44,800 readers all around the world. You can do better than that, guys! I have no clue who you all are, but I love reading your emails....especially when you don't hide behind nicknames or false identities. Out in the open, guys; no need for lies! Like that guy who says he lives in Ireland when he is actually...still in Sunnyvale US. I told you I am a computer geek! Please drop it; I wouldn't have coffee with you midway...in Europe somewhere, but thanks anyway! You're cool as a cucumber, but it's just not for me!

Anyway, keep emailing me, guys, (not you, Sunnyvale!) if you feel like it, and I will make sure you all get your replies. I said it clearly so many times that advices are free. I will try to help you all with your training, comps, sports conditioning...but I cannot do you more than that. I am not a psychologist or a relationship adviser. I suck in that area myself!

Thanks to New Zealand, UK, US (lots of love Chicago readers!), Ireland, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong, Slovenia, Romania, Russia (still lots of you there reading my blogs!), Denmark, Switzerland , Bulgaria, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia, Brazil (thanks, Rita, for bringing all your buddies live!), Netherlands, South Africa (hi, guys, I have many friends there!), Bangladesh, Namibia (I am planning a holiday there, so hope to see you soon, who ever you are!), Nigeria (where have you been hiding, guys?) and Japan for reading my blogs last week. And thanks again for your emails. A pleasure discovering who you are! And I'd just end with a sentence from my fav blog, one  that I read myself every morning, one written by Miriam, a blondie as well "I don't know if we could all become ascetic and go sit under a tree like Buddha did and make our problems go away, and achieve nirvana, finally conquering ourselves , but I am sure there is a way, one which fits with our lifestyle". Go find your ways, guys! Have a great weekend you all! Make it sound remarkable! See you around right after! :)

The universe working for me

Yesterday I needed a song for a routine. Not for me, no…for a client I am working for at the moment. I knew that it had to be smooth, (the song, not the guy, but nice try!)  and I kind of felt that it had to be a lady’s voice. So, I got stuck... It’s not for the first time though. I haven’t slept a night before thinking about all sorts of songs. I have a deadline, people, so I have to make it happen. By midday, I realized that I needed help. So I asked all my buddies on Facebook, and there are so many there!, to come up with ideas. I even offered a free session for the one who gets it right. Most of my guys posted songs on my wall, but none of them was what I wanted. So in the evening I started freaking out…for the first time I wouldn’t be able to do my job well. And you know what that means? No pay cheque, of course. But then, I had an idea…a brilliant one by the way, one of those ones that can change around a blondie’s day! What if I take the first word of every song my friends on Facebook posted and I mix the words until I may remember a song myself. And I did. I had my song, the guy got his routine, I got paid. Win-win situation! How weird the universe works sometimes; most of the times really! 

Two years ago, I got so booked that I haven’t been able to fit in not even a casual half hour client...nor my lunch break actually. I rushed on adrenaline for months and I had people on my waiting list that I couldn't  book six months in advance. So I started shutting down the world...until and decided that I had to be honest and tell my potential clients that there was no way I would be in the situation to train them. I even came up with a name of another trainer I could recommend. But then, one of my dear clients, a lady I appreciate a lot, asked me to take over Audrey. When she explained in details what I had to do for Audrey, I knew that I would never be able to resist the challenge. I love challenges, so bring them all on! So I found myself an hour off (in the middle of the night for sure, because the days have only that many  hours!) and I redone all my bookings, one by one. Next morning, I phoned every client  (of course I woke them all up!) and asked to agree with my rescheduled diary. They all did. After mixing everything around, very similar to my song search story, I got an hour a week for Audrey. I never told her how hard it was for me to offer her that slot. Anyway, I started training her and, from the first session, I knew she is gonna make it. Strong lady Audrey! I tortured her really for two years, every session harder and harder! No regrets though, because my girlie lost 60kgs…so far. She looks like a gazelle now, lean and beautiful and extremely funny. You don’t even imagine how proud I am of her; she’s my champ: best kiddies' teacher this area has ever had, best client to work with. She never said no to any of my workouts, no matter how hard it was for her, never missed an appointment, and never came late to any of them. She was that kind of client who understood that I was in charge, the whole stuff was on my shoulders and all she had to do is... listen and follow. And she did. Now to be perfectly honest, this lady should be every woman's inspiration and role model.  She surely is mine! I helped her out with her weight loss goal, she taught me the world really, because I learnt a lot from my dear Audrey. Win-win situation again! Audrey, sweets, this is for you! :)

I'm the wild card

I am not adventurous…in a normal way. If I were, I wouldn’t match the image. I don’t jump from airplanes, don’t like heights and I wouldn’t go out fishing or hunting. The truth is that I have my own adventures. At the time when girls got dolls, my dad bought me a rifle. I was 10…and that’s a secret I’m telling you, guys. I got so good at shooting that I had no contenders. Now, a gun wouldn’t match my profile, would it? So if we are ever out to one of those silly shows, please don’t try to get the Teddy bear for the blondie. I can win it for myself!

Dean was my first bodybuilder client. If I look back, I think that he hired me, without meeting me before, as a favour for one of his friends. It has to be right, because I remember the face he made when he saw me for the first time. It's also true that, on that particular day, I turned up wearing pink boots and a pink headband….and yes,  I almost forgot, a pink mini dress. He looked at me and he probably thought that I was a lost cause. Three months later, he got the title. All his buddies he recommended me to won as well…just because I would hate loosing. Andy is one of them. He stills hires me…from the States. So we train on Skype, midnight here, midday there. He’ll win as well because he knows that I am the wild card!

To be perfectly honest, only one of those big guys  lost somehow and I believe that it wasn’t professional to bring him to the second place...because I done it on purpose. Here is the story. Mark and John were both into bodybuilding…both my clients…both in love with Dana, another client of mine. They knew each other for years and they were best friends. So I trained the guys individually and I made sure they got the best advice. I didn’t know which one would come first because they both competed for Dana rather than the title, but I knew which I wanted to win...Dana. That day, Dana was watching them; Mark went smoother, John lost it completely in the middle of his routine. But that was exactly  what I was counted on, because I knew that his innocent look would win the judges. And it did! John was exactly like me...he didn't match his image and, in most cases, that's a winning point!  John won the title, Mark won Dana….and they are not so good friends anymore, but that’s fine. They both got what they wanted. I'm still their friend  and I now see that I made the right choice. John is still competing, still winning. Mark and Dana have 3 kids together and they seem happy. :)

Stop before is too late

I don’t lie. I made a promise once to always say the truth…no matter what. I kept my promise so far, but I know that my decision may have hurt some people. I sometimes wonder if a little lie wouldn’t have been beneficial. A promise is a promise though. But I don’t live someone else’s life. That’s another promise I made, this time to myself. Thanks, Steve Jobs! 

Eight years ago I was asked by one of my girlie friends to check up on her daughter. Actually she wanted me to watch her daughter playing tennis and tell her my honest opinion. My friend was willing, at that time, to sell everything she owned and move to another country where her daughter would have had better opportunities to make it to the top in tennis. I tried and tried and tried again to avoid assessing the girlie’s game, but my friend was very pushy. I knew her for so many years and she was always pushy…in a good way, of course. She was a tennis player herself, one of those who couldn't make it further. So she dreamed that her daughter would reach what she, the mother, couldn’t. 

So, here I was, one of the many spectators watching kids playing the sport. The girlie was 11, very pretty, very lean. She caught everybody’s eyes. Mine as well….but that was all. So, after the game I was trying again to make my statement sound not too harsh. I even wore my stupid smile that day! In the end, I went for the truth. So I said “She may be in the top 200 one day, but I personally doubt that she will make it to number one. She knows all the tricks, but there is no natural talent, no fast reaction and definitely no mojo for the game. I don’t believe that this is her dream, I mostly believe that is yours”.

I haven’t heard back from my friend for more than two years, but I knew that she moved to that country where her daughter was accepted to a high-level tennis academy. Then she emailed me and asked for my advice…again. She said that her daughter’s game didn’t go so well and the couches (now she had more than one!) were not happy with the girl’s evolution. I was just about to catch a plain and have a holiday in my friend’s new country so I thought to myself why not? So here I was again watching the girl playing tennis. Now she was 13, even more beautiful than I remembered her, stunning really. Same laziness for the game though. On top of that, being older now, she knew that she was watched by all sorts of boys. So once again, I put on a stupid smile (that may have appeared sarcastic, but I swear it was not!) and delivered the bad news to my friend. This time I was even harsher and I said that her daughter’s career would stop in the second she gets in love….because then she would discover her real passion. And once again I haven’t heard back from her for three more years. By then, my friend spent a bucket of dollars on training and coaching. Then she emailed again; this time to let me know that her daughter got in love with a swimmer and stopped playing. She told her mom that she never liked the game, never been in the zone, never wanted to do it for a career. She’s just done it for her mom. 

Now, it’s not that I am always right as much as I would like to believe that. It is about the game really and I’ve done it for too long so I have an eye for it. So I was fair and told the truth…because I made a promise long time ago. But on top of everything I knew that no kid has to live the parents’ dreams. It is just not fair! Bottomline? What I’ve actually seen in that little girl wasn’t just her game, nor her hesitation in playing creative. It was so much more than that. She hasn’t had any desire to be there and I am sure that her mind was way away from the court. Otherwise, she would have heard when I told her, just between the sets, “Remember that you can stop anytime”. :)

I'm everywhere

I love social networks….mostly Facebook. I absolutely and completely adore the fact that I know everything my friends are up to…and the friends of their friends…and their other friends of friends. I actually know everybody, or at least that’s how it seems. Post after post the whole day! Like that guy I never met, but he should be a friend of somebody’s as long as he is on my news fed wall. He makes smart and pertinent statements…like “I wanna drink coffee, but there is no coffee left in my house”. Cool stuff. The guy is tired, wants a coffee, what's wrong with that? But then the whole neighborhood jumps in to help. 23 comments on nothing, probably all posted by guys who know the chap as much as I do. Helpful, by the way, giving the lad ideas where is the closest coffee shop (even if nobody knows were the guy lives), which coffee is the best and what’s the cheapest brand. It’s good to know in case I run out of coffee as well. I love Facebook mostly because of the speed things happen in the network! Mary appears single today, tomorrow she is in a relationship with Mark (nice pic by the way!), a day later her status “is complicated“ and four days later she is single again. But don’t worry just yet, because the day after she is in another relationship with John who just got single after being complicated as well. I preferred Mark, even of I don’t know him. At least he has a symbolic profile photo...but it's Mary's choice I'm talking about!

I am sure I told you already that I have two Facebook pages: a business one, that I keep clean and simple, and a funky personal one. I love it when my girlies mix things and post on my business page comments like “Cosmos tonight?”. Thanks, chicks. Great statement, role model one! But they don’t stop here! The next post is “We can even watch a movie with a hottie”. Even better really. Thanks again, girls, the whole world would now know what our plans are! I even get posts on the same business page like “Who’s the hottie in the photo, sweets?” Now, he is nobody on this page, but he may be somebody on my personal one. But he’s not. The guy is on my friends of some friends page and I have no clue who he is. A shame really!

Then there is Twtter. I’m on that as well. I call it Haiku network...short and clear! Fair enough, don’t you think? You have to be sylabic as on Twitter. The coffee guy on Facebook would have to post on Twitter something like “I wanna drink coffee…link” and go back with another post “There is no coffee left…link”. I am sure that he would have many followers. You actually know none of them; they don’t know you either. I love followers. As many as better…at least that’s what my friends of friends on Facebook say! By the way, I just got a notification that Kiwi Tax follows me on Twitter. Why would they do that? I paid my tax, thank you very much. Probably that’s the reason they find me interesting...and unique!

And then there is Linkedin. Of course I have an account. Apparently it’s good for the business. I don’t know about that, but I am there as well.  Last week I got a message from a guy from overseas who had a business proposition for me. So I emailed the guy back just because I am a curious blondie. His reply came a second after I sent the email. Apparently the guy is in love with me and wants me to hop on Skype (of course I am there as well) to know each other better. Seriously? I don’t know who you are, mister, so let’s keep the distance, not just because you say you are somebody you are not. It’s mostly because I don’t want to meet you…never ever ever as graciously Taylor Swift says!

How can I forget about Pinterest? I'm on it as well….with a huge wall of pictures that now are called pins. My style? Versace…pin…pin…pin; Marilyn Monroe…pin…pin…pin, Burberry…other pins. 

I am on Google+ as well. Why should I miss it? Everybody is there. I still haven’t figured out how that works, but I am there and I will be on it as long as others are. So do you want me to cancel my account? You first!

I don’t understand why I try, quite hard by the way, to express myself when my accounts on all sorts of social networks say more about me than I could personally tell in the years I have left.  What I know is that if you want to take me out, you have to dress accordingly. You never know when our photo will end up on one of the social networks and I couldn’t cope with an ugly pic (remember I've said I am a Versace girl?). And if you want to know where I am today, who is with me and what we will be doing together, hop on one of my accounts. I am sure that one of my friends or their friends, or friends of their friends will be posting the goss at some stage. And while you read the story, please scroll the wall and help that poor guy who has no coffee left in his home! :)

The choices we make

I choose to live by choice. I choose what I like doing, who to be close to and who to ignore. I’ve chosen my future long time ago and I stick to my plans because I have the choice to choose. My strength didn’t come from lifting weights. It came from the choices I made…and I know that I would be remembered for most of them. Good memories, I hope. ..But, at the end of the day, what are memories other than choices? We choose to remember good or bad things and we have the power of changing an awfull experience into an amazing memory. 

Craig was a client I used to train three years ago. We spent a whole year training together, Craig and I. Craig was a bad, bad boy! Full of tattoos, head to toes, super tall and powerful. ..atrocious really! Was, because when I met him the accident already changed him. Craig was a motor biker and had a horrible accident a year before we met. He lost completely his short-term memory. His partner was a lady in a wheelchair: he had the body, she had the brain! It’s quite interesting how our brains work. Craig remembered the years when he served in a gang, his first love when he was just a teenager, but couldn’t remember what he eat five minutes before the training. He  couldn’t memorize names either, so the social worker advised me to repeat my name every few minutes. I told mine only once and he never forgot it. He also remembered my kids’ names, and what color roses I like. For Craig, his training sessions were the peak of his weeks and the chats we had in between the sets were proofs that he was still alive and somebody acknowledged his existence. He was so grateful that I used to drive him home after training  because we were able to talk more. I’ve done it really because I knew that he lost his driver license forever, he had to walk everywhere and he used to get lost. I signed a year contract with ACC to train Craig. That’s all. I’ve done my job and I thought that this was it. But no, two years later, I still receive birthdays cards from Craig. Not just that he remembered my name…he hasn’t forgotten my address either. Huge philosophy about the human brain! The subconscious should keep hidden all the bad memories, helping us live in the seventh heaven. This… in a perfect world with perfect people and perfect brains. From a medical point of view, Craig is a guy with no hypothalamus function, with short time complete memory loss, with all sorts of other consequences of an unfortunate accident. A mess? Not really, because Craig’s mind, as twisted as it is, has the ability to block the conscious, allowing his subconscious to take over. He remembers only what he wants to and what has meaning to him! In a perfect world, he would have been a worshiped leader…in this one.... he is just a case! :)

My dad

I am a pure breed…mongrel....100% Babylon and I have no clue what’s my first language. I speak five and never been able to figure out which one is my number one. I don’t even bother anymore! I am German and French and Austrian and Polish on my mother's side….and Hungarian and Romanian and probably a little bit of Jew…thanks, dad!  Because I am a mixture, I love mixed things. I don’t add sugar or milk to my coffee…I top it up with cinnamon; I like cardamom in my tea. I have mixed feelings; also my mixed style and I don’t care what others wear. Never did.  I have cross breed dogs, I surround myself with an amalgam of skin colours and I love the sound of all sorts of languages. You would never be able to put a finger on what I’d do next…because I don’t know either. I told you I am a hybrid and I take a little bit from every nation I represent! Mostly the weird things….

My dad always knew that I’d get very far in my sweet weirdness. At the end of the day, I got this from him.  Dad and I used to eat breakfast at midnight and dinner instead of lunch. We started our meals with desert. Actually, we used to make the weirdest things together. We both hated rollercoasters, so one day we decided to buy 10 tickets each maybe, maybe we would start liking the ride. We didn’t and we were so sick that day! My dad and I invented a brand new language using words from all sorts of dead and alive languages. We understood very well each other. We used to wear white when black was in fashion. We had the strangest dog ever and we used to walk him at weird hours. We celebrated Christmas way before others just because we felt like it. We put up Christmas trees in spring and had Easters in the middle of winter. My dad and I made Wednesdays second Sundays, so we had fun weeks with two weekends. We mixed things so badly and we couldn’t care less what others thought about us. We had no rule, dad and I. That’s not quite true: we had our own weird rules and we added all sorts of upside down things to our lives. We had a silent day once a month and that was a torture for both of us. We decided that we needed a day with no talk only to clear our thoughts, so that day we didn’t even answered the phone. There’s a shame really that we couldn’t spend more time together, my dad and I. Today it would have been my dad’s birthday. I remember how we decided years back that a day was not enough so I still have a birthday week. Happy birthday, dad! I hope you teach the angels and demons how to exist as weird entities! And don’t worry about me. I keep the legacy going. I am still different and I’m not gonna change. :)