Work Life Fit

It has been years (honestly) since my last post. Why? Life has gotten in the way, priorities took over, and I let myself get a little lost. AND... I am back baby, with a baby too! 

My son, Rocco, was born December 31st, 2016 and my world is even more in need of strong Work Life Fit with his glorious arrival/addition to life. Children remind us about all the little joys of life as they discover them... for the 1st time! It’s incredibly beautiful to see someone eat a strawberry for the first time - and its a good reminder to relish/enjoy and embrace life entirely, quirks/twists/turns included.  My project for January is to write. To write and inspire myself to recommit to finding Work Life Fit. Hopefully I can inspire you (someone!) too =)

I had a great time today exploring Philadelphia =) Here are a few pictures of the day!

Check out my WORK LIFE FIT Video =)

This is an incredible InfoGraphic from Cali Yost's blog: http://worklifefit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/infographic1.jpg

The article amazed me because it shows that more MEN are teleworking then WOMEN!  

Please check it out and share your thoughts!

I recently endured a WorkLifeFit debacle. I was in Atlanta this past weekend recruiting for work at a large volleyball tournament called Big South. I had great plans to make this a WorkLIfeFit trip. I was going to wake up early in the morning and get in a run in the warm Atlanta weather, I was going to work on my grad school project in the late evenings, and during the day I was going to recruit at Big South enjoying time with fellow coaching friends. This all went out the window when on late Friday night I was sick as a dog.

There has been a stomach bug going around Davidson that my players refer to as the ITIS. Well, the ITIS got me and I was out for the count all day Saturday and weak as can be on Sunday. Many times on Saturday I felt so awful that I wanted to cry (I’m not very good at being sick) but in the end what I learned was that LIFE will conquer all.

I’m OK with my WorkLifeFit debacle, it wasn’t ideal but that’s life right? Many times our great plans will not result in success. The key is continuing to live and fight for success and learn along the way. Trust me I will NEVER travel without Pepto-Bismol again.

All of my plans were trumped but the ITIS but that’s LIFE, it happens and now its time to move on. My boss was incredibly understanding, having experienced the ITIS himself last week, and I will get my grad school work done somehow. Life isn’t always smooth sailing but keeping a good attitude will at least let you enjoy the ride.

Here’s to hoping that the ITIS is out of my system and I’m on the road to recovery. 

  I still remember the disbelief of my friends when I started to fall for Chris Carrara. He was the complete opposite of every guy I had every dated and my friends loved him. I believe that early on they were more worried about me breaking his heart vs their normal protective focus of taking care of me. Let me tell you that I struck GOLD falling in love with him.

Chris, or Goose as his friends and family call him, is the most genuine loving human being. He is kind and thoughtful while being incredibly masculine at the same time. This is a great and unique combination. =)

For the first 4.5 years of our marriage Goose was traveling for half the year playing professional baseball. We managed the distance and made the most of the time that he was home. These first years were only hard when my schedule slowed down, so to combat this I took more and more on.

Coaching collegiate volleyball is the perfect profession if you need to stay busy. But, this past year my husband retired from baseball and was home. We went through a transition period that made me realize that I needed to make time for him. It was rough at first. I would be so tired coming home from work that I wouldn't even want to sit and talk with him, all I wanted to do was prepare for the next long day at work and go to bed!

What I realized was that I needed to change my mental focus. My focus needed to be on HIM and on our MARRIAGE when I walked into our house, not on how I could best prepare for my job and the next day of work. To accomplish this shift in focus I started scheduling recruiting phone calls for my commute home. I would talk to 2 or 3 prospective student athletes on the drive and then shut my phone off when I walked in the door.

Now this is a scary thing as a coach. We have a fear that if we miss that recruits phone call she won’t come to Davidson College. But, after a few days of doing this I realized that I actually earned points with the recruits when I showed them how much my family means to me. 

It has only been a few weeks and I still struggle sometimes to focus on being a good wife vs a great coach while at home. With that said, I am getting there =) I’ll keep you posted on the progress. But really,  who couldn't absolutely love this MAN?

I would love some advice from any couples on how they mentally switch off work and commit to home. Please share!

The task will still be there =)

Today in Charlotte it was 60s and sunny =) and I was able to do something that I love – play sand volleyball with friends!

It was a great time. Even though I didn’t play my best volleyball, I couldn’t stop smiling because I was outside in the beautiful sunshine with some awesome women. I left the court (knees and back aching =)) feeling like my battery had been recharged with LOVE!

If you have an opportunity to get out and do something you love, even if its just for a short amount of time – DO IT! Those emails you need to write, those chores you need to do, they can wait. I promise you that your laundry isn’t going anywhere and it CAN WAIT!

If the tasks of the day seem to great to take time away from. I encourage you to find a way to make that task FUN! If you have to write emails, maybe do it outside or at a trendy coffee shop vs the home office. Take advantage of the opportunities that life gives you and find ways to enjoy the task at hand.

http://hbr.org/2014/03/manage-your-work-manage-your-life/ar/1

Check this article out!!! 

Blog post with my thoughts soon to follow =)

Hello Everyone,

I am looking for stories on how YOU find ways to make WORK and LIFE FIT! Please share =) Let's learn and grow together.

Please post on my blog at coachcarrara.tumblr.com.

When I was in undergrad at Winthrop University I read an article and it said, "you are as ______ as you choose to be, be careful what you choose to fill in the blank". I wish that I could remember where I read that to give the author credit for a statement that has helped shape how I life my life. 

Think about it, you are as happy as you choose to be, or you are as sad as you choose to be. My favorite use in college was when I would walk into a room where I didn't know anyone and my inner shy self would want to turn around and leave. I would take a moment and say to myself, you are as awkward as you choose to be, and then proceed to walk into the room confident, happy and eager to meet people. 

I love the Jon Lennon quote above because it speaks to how we get to choose our paths in life not just through our physical choices, but through choosing our attitude and our perspective. Now, I will say that there are cases when emotions are determined by chemical balances or imbalances in the brain and please know that I am compassionate to these cases. I understand that there are situations where a persons choice is severely limited. 

I am speaking to our general day to day choices, do we wake up choosing to view each day as a task or each day as a gift? And bottom line are we recognizing that we HAVE a choice.

My sweet husband recently bought me the movie "About Time", http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/, it speaks to how we chose to live each day. Its a great rainy day movie it made me cry and laugh and reflect on how I live each day of my life and what I value most. =)

I love the warmth of sunshine. It always makes me feel like the sky is smiling down on me. Sunshine has some serious negatives, sun can blind you, burn you, drain your energy, kill your crops, and lead to cancer.  And yet, I choose to love sunshine for all of its warmth (underneath a protective shield of sunscreen). Bottom line its a choice of perspective. 

When navigating the waters of life, I encourage you to choose sunshine. Choose to see the world in a way that makes happiness more possible. Sometimes these choices will be painful, you will have to walk away from people and places you love, but as long as you are walking towards happiness you are understanding life. 

I have been at Davidson for almost 2 years. It took me 2 years to start taking advantage of some of the great perks offered to employees at Davidson. This is a sign that my Work/Life/Fit focus is paying off, but shame on me for not doing this earlier.

Davidson College offers discounted workout classes to its employees. I have recently started taking the Yoga class offered on Wednesday’s during lunch and LOVE IT! It gives me some quiet time in the middle of the day to breathe.

Now as a ex athlete and efficiency focused person, the idea of taking time out of my potentially productive lunch and spending it breathing, originally seemed silly. I was wrong! Yoga relaxes me but more importantly it refreshes me. I leave with a new energy and gusto for the day. If you have a type of program available to you TAKE advantage of it!

For more info on the benefits of YOGA: http://www.yogajournal.com/health/1634