Mind The Gap
This is my all-time favorite public safety message. I love hearing that announced when 
riding the tube in London.
Early in my husband’s career he worked for a British company, so we got to the UK occasionally and we always chuckled with amusement when we heard that distinctive command (and wondered why, apparently, it isn’t relevant on U.S. subways).
It means “There is a space between the edge of the platform and the floor of the subway car. So watch where you step when you get on or off the train.” To me it seems like a good cautionary warning for many areas of life. Often we rush so headlong into projects, conversations, and relationships that we don’t “Mind the Gap” and then find ourselves bewildered when we make a misstep along the way.
With my daughter Lucy beginning her life as a young adult by choosing to take a gap year before college, that phrase has taken on a more personal meaning. As I “Mind the Gap Year”, my mind keeps going to the past and I wonder… Did I read enough to her? Did I spend entire afternoons quietly playing with her and her baby doll, or was I distracted? Did I lay a strong foundation for her to grow? Will she carry a sense of faith into adulthood? Does she know how much I love her?
And while I can’t seem to avoid pondering these things, I also know that whatever I did or didn’t do, my time with Lucy is now and I can’t rewrite the past. So today I want to fill her up for the future so she steps safely and confidently from the platform we’ve provided her into her future.
For all of my friends who are sending their children off to school or work, I wanted to share a letter written by my friend and Whole-Life wellness coach, Pam Gross.
Recipe for a Lifetime by Pam Gross
My girlfriend’s daughter just graduated from high school. An amazing feat these days given the pressures our kids endure even before junior kindergarten. So when my friend asked us to create a page of advice for her daughter’s scrapbook that she could turn to when needing to connect to home, I shared the recipe for health and happiness that took me 46 years to define. Told in tips and quotes, enjoy…
Drink Water
“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came.” – John F. Kennedy
Eat Your Veggies
“Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.” – Doug Larson
Eat Healthy Fats
“There’s a great metaphor that one of my doctors uses: If a fish is swimming in a dirty tank and it gets sick, do you take it to the vet and amputate the fin? No, you clean the water. So, I cleaned up my system. By eating organic raw greens, nuts and healthy fats, I am flooding my body with enzymes, vitamins and oxygen.” – Kris Carr
Move Your Body
“Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.” Samuel Beckett
See Hard Knocks as Blessings
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” – Rumi
Stay Connected to Self
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Meet Fear Head On
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” (You can’t skirt around fear. Rather, you have to go right through it.) – George Addair
Welcome Change
“Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” – Robin Sharma
Focus on the Action. Not the Outcome
“To achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
Follow Your Heart
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs
Have Fun
“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go.'” – Maya Angelou
With gratitude and heart-felt intention…
Pam
This month, as we intentionally “Mind the Gap” and as I help Lucy transition to her first Gap Year adventure on an Icelandic Sheep Farm in Vermont, I also wanted to let you know that you are in for a real treat. We are partnering with Pam and adapting recipes from her blog “The Bread and Buddha.”
We hope you enjoy them, and remember to “Mind the Gap!”
Author’s note:
On a completely separate, but exciting, note, we have been chosen as a finalist for the Entrepreneurial Leadership Awards for District 10 in Illinois. If you are excited about our work we are asking you to show your support by voting for us on the webpage and liking us on their Facebook page and sharing. You do not have to be a resident of Illinois to vote (this seems like a true Chicago election 🙂 Voting ends a day or two before the ceremony on August 9th. We will keep you posted about the results!
Zen Moment
“Mind the gap – it’s the distance between life as you dream and life as it is.”
-Cate Blanchett
