And.... I'm back!

Ahhhhhhh, I needed that!

Seriously, we massage therapists are the least secure people in the entire world. At least I can admit it, that's half the battle, right?

I had an awful client the other day. The worst part is that it SEEMED to go fine. Sometimes it is hard to read people. But it turned out that the poor girl hated her massage. I was crushed. My job is to make people happy and to make people feel better.

So I was super duper bummed. And stressed. And hating life.

A bit melodramatic? Perhaps. But that's the thing about massage therapists... we want people to LOVE us.

I've mentioned needing a new job and after working on this girl and the reaction I got from her, I was thinking, "I'm done! I never want to give a massage again! I'm awful. I'm a horrible therapist!"

Um, yeah... so it's been a rough few months and I perhaps take everything a little bit too personally.

But today (my first day back after that client) I had five treatments (four massages and one herbal wrap) and I ROCKED them! Even my client who just did an herbal wrap (which I think is a stupid thing to begin with) loved their treatment! And because of my bad experience with that girl I was extra good about communicating with my clients and I think that led to them being even happier than they would have been.

Because seriously, every single client was glowing and raving about me afterwards.

So that was a good learning experience and has made me a better therapist.

Ahhhhhhh!

Sigh!

Seriously, I needed that. I needed a reminder that I AM, in fact, very good at what I do. And I can make people happy and make them feel better.

I had one bad massage. It's not the end of the world. Or the end of my career.

I didn't let it affect my work or drag me down. I stepped up and did my job and did it well.

What can I say? I'm proud of myself and am feeling much better about life.

This probably doesn't need a blog entry but it will be good for me to go back to and look at the next time something happens and gets me down. A good reminder that no matter what happens, with the right attitude I am capable of pulling myself back up again and possibly becoming even better!

That's right! Rock on, crouton!

Goal List for 2011

My mom is in town and we were talking yesterday and she said, "So, what are you going to do with your life?"

I said, "I really don't know. Do you have any suggestions?"

She didn't.

I've been talking for years about needing change and I HAVE been making lots of changes... it just hasn't been in the major things like my job and living situation and marital status.

But she's right. It's time that I do something. Step it up. And get out of my comfort zone.

Since I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with my life, it is hard to write a list of goals. Usually I do goals that I want to achieve in my lifetime. In an effort to focus myself a bit more, I am going to make a list of goals for 2011. Some of these might be contradictory, and some of them I am not even sure I want to do (I need to feel them out.) But here we go...

Goals for 2011:

Take a writing course

Go to Paris

Move back into the city

Get engaged

Go back to Northfield for my ten-year college reunion

Eat gyro pizza in Northfield

Get out of debt

Quit my job or reduce my hours and get some other sort of new (non massage related) job

Take Tai Chi/ Qi-Gong classes

Learn sign language

Throw a Star Wars themed party

Celebrate my mom being healthy and beating cancer

Play on a soccer team

Play on a volleyball team

Fit into size 8 jeans

Take a strip-tease class

Make a video of me and my puppets

Smile every single day

Learn hypnosis

Have my family get a dog when my folks move back (this really might happen!!!)

Remain injury free and healthy in general

Learn acupuncture and Chinese medicine

Learn how to sew

Reduce my sugar and meat and alcohol intake (I've already cut out soda pop!!)

Read 50 books

writing

I'm so proud of myself. I finally did it! I signed up for a creative writing class. I've wanted to do this for... well, forever. I took one in high school and loved it. I was the queen of English in high school. I lived and breathed English.

Then I went to college. And I took one English course where I got completely overwhelmed and intimidated and dropped that as my potential major. A big mistake on my part. Though I can't say that I completely regretted becoming a French major. Still, I wish I had taken more English and writing classes.

However, it is never too late to correct things. I can still be a writer. I can still take writing classes.

I signed up for an eight-week beginning creative writing class. If nothing else, I hope it gets me writing more. A little kick in the pants. Hopefully it will get me writing better as well.

I will admit that I am nervous. I'm getting butterflies in my tummy just thinking about it. But that's a good thing. It has been far too long since I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

And I want to get away from doing massage as my sole source of income. And writing is something I love. And even though I don't really have the money to be doing this, sometimes you have to take that leap of faith and do it anyways. Sort of like how I didn't really have the money to take the myo-fascial massage certification course that I took years ago but taking it was the best massage decision I ever made and has made me a much better therapist and got me the jobs I wanted.

This could be the stepping stone to getting me on the path I want to be on. Or it could just be fun. Or it could just be a learning experience.

Either which way, I'm proud of myself for finally doing it.

Yeah me!

gift giving

Ya know what? I'm going to go ahead and admit it... I love gifts. I love giving them. I love receiving them. I love watching other people give and receive them. So when I see a tree with tons of presents underneath it, it doesn't make me angry that Christmas has gotten so commercialized... it just makes me happy.

Gifts don't have to be big or expensive to be great. A truly great gift will show the person how well you know the person. How much you have been listening when they speak. How much you understand their secret wants and desires. A good gift isn't about getting stuff, it is about connecting with a person.

I received a great gift yesterday. My client Kristin handed me a gift bag after our massage yesterday and warned me a few times, "It's nothing big! Don't get too excited." She had gotten me a new hat and scarf. And they were perfect. The style and the color were so completely "me". She said, "They just screamed 'Nikki' to me." And they do. I couldn't have picked out a better combo for myself. And I am always cold and miserable in the winter so they are totally useful. And little did she know, but I just lost my favorite scarf last week so it was impeccable timing to get a new one. All and all, it was a mind-blowingly perfect present. Not everyone would have been super happy to get it, but it was perfect for me. That's one of the signs of a good present... if it is specifically tailored to a particular person.

And, I'll admit, it made me super excited about Christmas. I can't wait to see everyone give and receive gifts.

Gifts. Gifts. Gifts. I think those people who hate gifts, don't understand the fine skill that goes along with good gift giving.

holiday newsletter

It's that time of year again... Christmas! And do you know why I love Christmas? Because people send out Christmas cards! I've noticed that more and more people are sending out photo cards.

I can see the allure... minimal effort with the pre-printed greetings, plus you get to show off your adorable family. I'm a fan. But what I like even more are the holiday newsletters that people write. Some people feel strongly against them which I just don't get.

I tend to send out cards instead of a newsletter and this year, with the economy, my card writing isn't what it once was. I started writing down names of people I wanted to send cards to and had to stop myself and say, "Nikki, you are not sending out 78 Christmas cards!"

Sorry.

But, in the spirit of the holidays I have decided to write my own holiday newsletter and post it right here...


Greetings!

What a year it's been! I have to admit that it has been a bit of a rough year in some ways. My mom's health has not been stellar- first she had a heart attack and now her cancer has come back. But she is a trooper and is pulling through. There have actually been a lot of health problems in my family this year, but I think that it is also simply because I have such a huge family. What can I say, it ups the odds that something bad is going to happen to someone in my family. In reality, however, about 95% of my family is healthy and happy. There is much to be thankful for.

Baby Amelia is finally home

Love was definitely in the air this year. Four of my cousins and one of my uncles got married. That's a lot of doing "the chicken dance"! I can't even say whose wedding I enjoyed the most. Each cousin put her own unique twist on her wedding.

My sister Sam and me at Heather's wedding reception

Katie got married in Sonoma, California and my trip out there for her wedding this September was probably one of my favorite vacations of all time. I love traveling with my father and sister, they love to kill time at work by researching the places we are going and always find amazing things for us to do.

Me and the jelly fish at the Monterey Aquarium

Our amazing house in Sonoma, California- can you say "hot tub"?

Washing Butch the Elephant is still one of the highlights of my life!

I spent lots of quality time with my friends and family. We even revived the Becker Family Kegs 'n Carnies party.

Work continues to be slow and unpredictable, yet I love it so much that I'm not sure I can follow through with my plans to quit my job this coming summer to find steady employment. Steady employment is over-rated anyway.

I traveled a lot this year. Way more than normal. Not only did I manage to make it to Atlanta, Pittsburgh, California and St. Louis, but I also made it up to Minnesota (twice!!) The temps may be cold up there but the warm hearts inside some of my favorite Minnesotans more than make up for that!

Despite some of the negative things that have happened, I have to say, it's been a great year. With my amazing friends, clients, family and, of course, blog readers, I feel truly blessed and happy. Thank you all and merry Christmas! Love, Nikki

Ways to tell you are really sick

Everyone loves a good "sick day" where you lounge around on the couch watching movies all day.

But when you have to call in sick to work because you are violently ill, it's the worst.

Signs that you are legitimately sick:

1. Instead of lying in bed, you sit upright. And instead of sleeping or reading your book that you are really into, you just sit and will yourself not to die.

2. You mentally start apologizing to people for not being nicer to them when they were sick.

3. You think about making a will.

4. You use your phone to call your sister who lives in the same house as you.

5. You ask your sister to go to the store for you, not once but twice, even though she has to go out in the freezing rain.

6. You hear your phone buzz saying that you have text messages but you have to take a nap to work up the energy to reach over the two feet to check it.

7. You've kept down a total of two crackers today. You know you should eat more but the thought of eating two more sounds overly ambitious.

8. The ONLY time you left your bed all day was to go to the bathroom.

9. You lose track of how many times you've puked.

10. You try to stay as perfectly still as possible so as not to get things stirred up again.


Okay, for reals! I've never in my whole life been as sick as I was this morning. I think it was food poisoning. Hope it was, because I don't want anyone else to catch this and go through what I went through! I still don't feel great but am no longer worried that I'm going to die!

yes you can!

One person CAN make a difference. A huge difference. A night and day difference. A life and death difference. So don't feel that you can't do anything because you are just one person. Don't feel like you have to do something "huge" to make a difference.

I had someone who ruined my day today by making a stupid, unthoughtful remark. I was FUMING. I actually felt my blood pressure rise. And I understood fully the phrase "makes my blood boil." And since that person was my boss, there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it.

One person. One comment can do that.

BUT... I got off the train and stopped by my local stationary store to buy my day planner for 2011 and I had a conversation with the owner/clerk that shifted my whole mood around.

Did he do something miraculous? Did he save the world? Did he pull a woman out of a burning building? No, he sold me some paper products, but he did it with a smile and with warmth and with some chit-chat about old type-writers and it completely changed my day. Which in turn is going to completely change how I react and relate to everybody else that I encounter today.

It's a domino effect.

Just keep that in mind. We can all do our parts to make this world a better place. Even if it is just by smiling.

Side note:
I searched google images for a picture of people helping each other to put with this post and that search also brought up this...



Which I think fits in perfectly with this post because it proves my point... somewhere out there ONE person put together a group of Legos to look like the Village People which totally cracked me up and made my day better. It's the simple things that we can do.