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Michiana Chronicles writers bring portraits of our life and times to the 88.1 WVPE airwaves every Friday at 7:45 am during Morning Edition and over the noon hour at 12:30 pm during Here and Now. Michiana Chronicles was first broadcast in October 2001. Contact the writers through their individual e-mails and thanks for listening!

Michiana Chronicles: Limitations

I am aware many of us are experiencing a less-than-happy holiday season. There isn’t enough money to make dreams come true. No new car is parked in the driveway as a surprise with a bow. (Who actually does that? What an irresponsible way to spend money!) There are special people who matter deeply to our hearts and are not smiling back at us around the table or sitting in the decked out, be-tinseled living room this year. Our hearts hurt.

We might have folks in our lives for whom we still need to put on a show. Even though our hearts are broken, we might still have to make Christmas Magic, Hanukkah Light, or Pinterest-worthy tablescapes happen. From moment to moment, even those of us who have that ‘Merry, Merry’ can relate to what letdowns real life can bring. Our time is coming.

Twenty-twenty-five. This year can be our time. What if we embrace this next year's limitations? Consider choosing a word for the year or doing that challenge from author Gretchen Rubin. “25 for 2025,” in which one selects goals, experiences, and moments they want to enjoy and live out in the next year. I’ve shared this before, and a quick Google search will find just the right way to embrace what is coming.

We are silly humans, and our gaze is drawn to what is missing, what isn’t ‘just so.’ We can get mired down in the daily grind of our relationships or lack thereof. We can be bored and frustrated by our jobs, even when we are sometimes fulfilled in them. Our domiciles can become drab to us with everything we’d like to update, repair, or refresh. And don’t get us started on Us. If we get our photo taken, it is a moment captured in time that could tell truths we are startled by. We are our own worst critic.

So, let’s embrace our limitations. I’ll go first. I have finally begun a regular exercise habit. I love the folks in my WERQ class, spelled W E R Q; it is an edgy dance class full of music I didn’t know and dance steps I cannot follow, but it is at 5:30 in the wee hours, and that is the best time for me to get moving. If you have been with me over the past fifteen years of Michiana Chronicles, you know that attempts at exercise are loaded with emotion for me.

I now have a torn meniscus. I’ll bet many of you have had that, too, to varying degrees. I accept the limitation, and when I do not, my knee reminds me. My knee is loud and rude, but I am still exercising. I wear a brace, I sit on a balance ball at the back of the class, and I still can’t get the hand gestures right. BUT: I didn’t give up. Old Heather would have grabbed the excuse of an injury and quit with this early-morning bull-– nonsense. Today’s Heather accepts the limitation and finds a workaround.

We all tell ourselves a story. We also have the power to change the story. Embrace what isn’t working and consider your options. Take a blank piece of paper and a box of crayons or markers…maybe buy your own new set? Every adult needs them, trust me. Write everything you are mad about on that paper. Write every limitation; use those crayons! Then, look for what you have power over. Look for what matters most to you. Circle it and start another fresh page, brainstorming options for yourself.

You are an intelligent, capable person. You can make this next year good and rich and solid. You are the only one who can. Focus on what is good in your life. If there isn’t enough good to make a list, then you have your work started. Or maybe you decide, with your challenges, that this is a hibernation year. You want to read everything or watch everything and stay in your comfy clothes. Just invite someone into that with you. Take the limitation and make it better. I know we can do this.

Life isn’t all festive lights and shopping sprees. Honest living happens between holidays, in the daily work of being human. Decide what matters most to you, and invite more of that into your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… What we do daily matters more than what we do once in a while. Celebrate life as it already is. And remember the wise words of Eleanor Roosevelt I’ve built my daily life upon: “Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours!”

Music: "Hot To Go" by Chappell Roan

Heather Novak's professional history includes sales and customer service training and troubleshooting for businesses, but she loves motivational speaking best. Heather leads church events for youth, singles and women, has spoken for Chicago Apartment Association and many organizations throughout Indiana. Nowadays Heather is just another stay at home wild mama trying to loose some weight, keep some sanity and enjoy her life. She is being raised by two little girls named Portia and Libby and is indulged by a guy named John who was gracious enough to marry her. Heather blogs about F Words: Feisty Faith, Fumbling Family, Fairly Healthy Food, Failed Fashion and Fabulous Friendships. You can find her at www.liveyourloveoutloud.com.