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I read it again, and thought about gutting a bit more…the easier path is obviously to just cover up the mess, but gutting it out deep is the only way to really heal it…I explore gutting a lot more in my forthcoming book #ifweonlyknew, but here’s the snippet from book 1 about a lesson from our tree lights: I love the whole process of putting up our Christmas tree—pulling out the ornaments we’ve collected over the years, watching the kids jumping around us, fighting over who gets to hang the decorations and where things should go. There are three parts that snap together, and the white lights are pre-strung. A couple years ago, our basement flooded, and when we put the tree together the following Christmas, we realized none of the lights worked. When my husband would breathe an extra-loud huff, I reminded him how beautiful the tree would look when we finished. As we worked, I pondered the importance of ‘gutting’, and thought about the message that the tree was giving us: a message of authenticity, not ‘covering up’ what’s really underneath, but working on it from the core to create real change.

But then, a thump from my chest that the moment before was beating stress, signaled something else – images of people swimming for their lives, trucks floating in deep waters, rescue boats searching and helping too many to count…and the foot of water in my basement was zilch in comparison to all that’s been lost in Texas. And my heart broke that I am here wondering how we will take a shower, and the people there are wondering how they will recover and even far worse than the loss of any material possession, many are wondering where beloved family and friends are, and if they will ever be reunited. Here is a list of ways we can all help, in case anyone else was wondering: 1) Donate money to an organization directly helping hurricane relief efforts. NPR suggests using Charity Navigator, and cited United Way of Greater Houston, Go Fund Me, Samaritan’s Purse, and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief to name a few. 3) Donate food or money for food to food banks / organizations directly feeding those affected by the storm, such as Feeding Texas, Corpus Christi Food Bank, Houston Food Bank, San Antonio Food Bank, Galveston Food Bank, Brazil’s Valley Food Bank. 4) Donate diapers and baby supplies to Texas Diaper Bank in San Antonio, Texas.

Basically, you put the flea in the jar, turn the jar upside down, and let the flea do its thing – jump. The flea can jump 30 feet, but the jar is less than a foot tall, so inevitably it hits its head on the top of the jar every time it jumps. Once the flea has been taught to jump less, the trainer changes to a smaller jar, and repeats this training process until the jar is as small as a baby food jar, and the flea is only jumping about an inch or two. Jar away, jar no longer around the flea, and still, that flea, who was born to jump, no longer jumps 30 feet.

Read her thoughts on moving beyond being comfortable: As I’ve gotten older (and some would like to think wiser) with each passing year, I’ve come to learn that life can sometimes place us in some extremely precarious situations, usually involving the “biggies” – birth, death, family, friends, children, money, and even our health. But I also believe some serious character building is often in the works during these life lessons…some might say that our strength and even our faith will be tested during these pivotal times. We owe it to ourselves to believe in our ability to figure things out…to believe in the power to cope and triumphantly persevere. She loves chasing her passion of helping others through fitness, and is the owner of Ultimate Cycle and TRX Fitness at Ultimate Fitness Training Center in Ocean, NJ.