Ease into the Pain and Focus on the Aim

This week has been very up and down for me. I feel a need to share with you my wins and woes. Let’s start with the woes shall we?

THE BAD NEWS:

Well I guess it’s just one woe. But a huge major big time woe. My container of oGorgeous bags is here! Well it ‘s been here since the weekend, but it’s just sitting at the Oakland Port, just waiting. I’m DYING because we were supposed to ship out this Saturday Dec 10 as promised to all of our customers and now…a delay. Why? Out of all of the hundreds of containers on the cargo boat, ours was picked at random to be inspected by U.S. Customs. And they said it’d be an EXTRA 10 DAYS. WHHAAATT!!??!!! I almost died. I was devastated. I hate disappointing my customers. I called Customs and they said, “sorry, there’s nothing you can do.” Of course.

I don’t like it when things are out of my control. So I took matters into my own hands. I wrote Congressman Pete Stark to help with my situation. Tried to see if he could help expedite the process. Apparently in the past, it’s worked. If my container doesn’t get out of there in under 10 days, Occupy Oakland is most likely going to take over the port and my container will be stuck…maybe even until Christmas. That’s giving me a heart attack right now. So please POPsters, pray with me and hope that the container will be released soon.

And you know what? The Domino effect continues to screw my life. I was going to tell you guys the good news that Equinox (yes, Equinox!!!!) and oGorgeous were collaborating on a Trunk Show. It’s been my DREAM to sell my bags at an Equinox since my company’s inception. We were all set for next Mon and Tues in Palo Alto – but now. Canceled.

I wrote an email to each and every one of my customers about how deeply sorry I was about the whole situation. It was one of the hardest letters I’ve ever had to write. You never want to be the bearer of bad news, especially not when the people are expecting the opposite.

THE GOOD NEWS:

Called the Congressman’s office today and the secretary said that she sent the paperwork over to U.S. Customs already. Good progress, but no guarantee that anything happen. So I’ll continue to pray.

Equinox was able to reschedule our trunk show.

My customers were so kind and understanding – no one yelled at me or demanded compensation for their extended wait period. I am grateful.

AND IN MORE GOOD NEWS:

Everyone’s favorite department store (which is it!?) contacted me yesterday about the bags. I almost fell out of my chair. I couldn’t believe it. I COULDN’T. I died. Equinox and this mystery store are on the top on my “Dream Retail” list. Again, praying, praying that they like the bags.

POP Pilates was featured in the Shape Magazine’s Top YouTube Fitness Videos! Say whatt!!!???

Super big time Oh Em Gee. Sarah is in there too for her diet.com vids! Hooray for fit friends getting recognized together.

“EASE INTO THE PAIN AND FOCUS ON THE AIM”

Back to the title of the post. Guys, I was a wreck at the beginning of the week when I heard about the container being held for inspection by customs. I was freaking out about what could be done and what couldn’t be done to make my ship date as to not miss the trunk show and to not disappoint my customers. I was crying. I was dying. I hated not having any control whatsoever over the situation. I am the type of person who likes to “make things happen” so when the government tells me “sorry ma’am just wait” I go NUTS.

Everyone was telling me that it’d be okay, but nothing really calmed me until I got the advice to accept the pain around me. Accept it and keep my gaze forward. Look at the long term and allow the short term upsets to simmer down. Even if these things make me angry and sad now, will it really ruin my long term goals? I asked myself this and the answer was no. My intentions are good and I am doing the best I can. When I heard that, about 700 lbs of the 1000 lbs on my shoulders was lifted. It felt amazing.

Isn’t it a magnificent feeling when someone’s words can resonate with you like that? It’s magical.

IN RELATION TO FITNESS & STAYING ON TRACK:

Let’s take a moment to make this relatable. I know for a some of you the Holidays can be a stressful time. Fatty food. Finals. Cold weather. Cravings. Temptation. Lack of motivation.

The best thing I can tell you is this. If you fall off the wagon, get your booty off the floor and hop back on. Don’t just lay there. GET UP. Okay? So #1 rule is to BE RESILIENT.

Then the #2 rule is “ease into the pain and focus on the aim”. Don’t feel like working out? Accept that you feel unmotivated and just do it. Why? Well look a little farther beyond…is that a fit and healthy body you see? Is that a more energetic you waiting to come greet you in just over a month? Yes it is. Forget that you just had a cheesecake and now are feeling like a failure. Gather up those negative thoughts, throw them away, and put your mind – put your vision to the end goal. More than anything else, a clear goal will motivate you to do the things you think you can’t.

You need to want this. And you need to want it BADLY.

Okay well that’s my spiel for tonight. I hope you got something out of it. Tomorrow is a big filming day for “The 12 Days of Fitmas”. I am going to try to do some new things in this video…like maybe singing the lyrics of the rhymes you guys helped me come up with on Facebook. If I sound that horrible, I have the T-Pain 2.0 app. That should vocoder it up good 😛

Also don’t forget to enter the jewelry giveaway here, worth up to $258!

And guess what? Some of your fave YouTube stars will be in the Burpee World Tour video too…so send in your footage to me quickly at blogilates@gmail.com to reserve a spot in the video. I can’t wait to see the pyramids, the red phone booths, the mountains, and the beaches that you all have prepared for me! This is gonna be epic!

Nighty night POPsters. Love you!

Cassey