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Lessons
From
The
Creek Adventure
Retreat
Leader
And just
in case you want to hire me for a coaching/fishing adventure, you can
find me hanging around...  Cameron Lake Fishing Lodges, Inc.  Ituksum Wilderness Camp |
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Portage
 January 2011 Newsletter In This Issue...
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| Welcome Welcome to my Portage Newsletter. If you find value, please pass this along to others you feel might appreciate my writing. You can subscribe to this newsletter at my website, Portage. Or, stop by my Lessons From The Creek Blog where you can subscribe to these posts and more. I am motivated by excellence, not perfection. So I tend to contradict myself. Sometimes while writing, I look to my notes and see I've backtracked and about to cross my own path going in a totally different direction. Other times, I just flat out trip over my own bootstraps. Excellence demands that I enjoy the moment I am in right now and share that truth today, even though the same may not be true for me tomorrow. Striving for perfection freezes me up and keeps me from writing anything at all. So please enjoy my words if they work for you and discard what does not. I won't mind a bit.  Once again, January has
locked the northland in a deep freeze. With the cold temperatures, little moves. The creek has numerous ice bridges over it and the little bit of running water moves toward the river like liquid gelatin. In an otherwise silent world, the river itself is full of ice flows, creating an unearthly groaning sound as they bounce off the frozen bank. The chickadees, jays and nuthatches stay busy at my bird feeder, a little more frantic for the food that will sustain them in these cold temperatures. They have become friendlier, grateful I imagine for the unending source of seed I am able to provide. They speak little, too busy eating for warmth than having conversation over a meal. The deer move in each evening for a snack on what’s left of the corn I’ve thrown down for the jays. The squirrels have moved inside their tree-top nests, the partridge and rabbits are buried deep in their snow caves. There is little evidence of night activity beyond a few mice prints on each night’s new snowfall. Life moves minimally. Everything has fallen silent. Give It A Rest And even though we have so little light during these days of January, I too feel the urge to close my eyes and enjoy the peaceful darkness of a nap. While I excel at napping any time of the year, my body seems to be designed for this midwinter type of siesta. In January I take napping to new levels, finding accessories like a down duvet, body pillows, hot water baths or bottles, and intoxicating scents sprayed on these adornments. I am a pro. What Mother Nature doles out at other times of the year, warm sunlight, breezes carrying heady smells, a hot sandy beach or the lapping of waves on the shoreline, I have learned to manufacture in my frozen north. I’ve been good at napping all my life. Falling asleep during required nap time was embarrassing when I was in kindergarten and Brownies. I had no problem closing my eyes and drifting off. But then I’d wake with all my mates staring and giggling at the spittle running down my chin, my damp mat-crushed hair, and one wrinkled and red cheek that had previously been plastered to my sleeping surface, usually a rug. They, of course, had not slept at all and had entertained themselves by watching me. I probably got unmentionable and gross things stuck in my nose, ears and mouth as I blissfully slept on. I’m thankful I’ll never know. However lately, napping has new respect. Maybe I’m noticing more nap appreciation in others because I’m hanging out with an older, nap-loving crowd. Or perhaps folks of all ages are turning on to the power of a nap. Either way, I no longer get laughed at. I get envied. Those who do not have the time or a place in their day to nap, marvel at my ability to sack out for an hour or so each day. So, with another level of approval, I’ve improved my napping proficiency. For those of you who want to learn napping, the single most important thing to understand is that napping embraces the often-forgotten talent of doing only one thing at a time and doing that one thing well. When you turn the prestige of being able to multitask on his head and elevate the old way of doing things, single-tasking, the lowly nap not only seems more respectable and even doable, it becomes art. Oh, granted, there are multiple benefits from napping; a sharper mind, better motor coordination, happiness, lower blood pressure, to name a few. But you are not the “doer” of these. You are, by simply taking a break and becoming a master of The Nap, “being,” the recipient of these, nothing more. And as a reminder, all good things arrive when you’re sleeping; Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and even Spring. Try it. "Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." ~Barbara Jordan Back to Contents The Adventure and Retreat Leader Training Live Teleclass Series Twice each year, Patt Osborne and I offer this Adventure and Retreat Leader teleclass series live. We're doing it again beginning February 8, 2011, just in time for the upcoming Adventure and Retreat season. We will not present this live series again until October. If you've been waiting for this class to open up, now is your chance! Originally designed for coaches, this class is appropriate for Speakers, Authors, Holistic Practitioners, and all Heart- and Nature-Based Entrepreneurs who want to offer Outings, Adventures and Retreats. You will learn:
Back to Contents The Fine Print A Note About My Recommendations Occasionally I provide links in this newsletter to products and services I am offering or have personally found valuable. If you are ever disappointed with one of these recommendations, please let them and me know. If they don't make it right, I will. You can subscribe to this newsletter by visiting the subscription box on my home page at Portage. If you find value in Portage, please pass it along and ask friends to subscribe. Thank You. Help me stay with you. If your email address is about to change, please visit Portage and subscribe your new address. And if your email service automatically deletes large broadcasts like this one, let them know that you want Portage from Deb Martin to come through. Portage is published about 12 times a year and distributed monthly by email. Comments, submissions and suggestions are welcome. Although this material is subject to copyright, you may reprint this publication in whole or in part in your company publication, presentations, training, or wherever you feel it may be valued. This also holds true for members of the media. All I ask is that you include the following: Reprinted with permission from Deborah Martin of Portage at http://www.portagecoach.com If you would like a short bio, I am happy to provide one. Copyright© 2011 by Deborah Martin. All rights reserved. |