It has been a long, cold, drawn-out spring in Chicago, so when a beautiful, warm day arrived, I decided to runwalk on the prairie path in Naperville. I didn’t get very far with running– there was a heaviness inside that I couldn’t shake. I slowed to a walk and soaked in the beauty around me. I tried to figure out why I was feeling so weighed down. I recognized that heaviness– it was the familiar feeling of stress. So many changes had occurred in such a short time. The countless trips to Michigan and the loss of my dad. The change from full time employment to part time. The additional projects I had taken on.
Out of nowhere, I started to cry. At first, I didn’t even know why I was crying. I was thankful for sunglasses and the mostly deserted path. I struggled to sort out the jumble of thoughts that were racing through my mind. The one that stood out was this: I missed my dad. I hadn’t slowed down enough in the last several weeks to allow myself to feel the loss.
A bird landed right in front of the path I was walking. When I saw the bird, I started to laugh. It was a red-winged blackbird. Because you see, up in Michigan, we had a red-winged blackbird that used to dive toward Dad’s head whenever he was out in the yard near the shore. And in all of my years in Illinois, I had never noticed a red-winged blackbird around me.
At the moment, I’m in a cranky mood. I’ve just gotten off the boat at the World Barefoot Center, hung up my wetsuit and sat down to stew a bit. Just a few hours earlier, I was pumped up, looking forward to some backward barefooting– wanting that feeling of skimming backward on the water on my feet– like I did several weeks ago.
But this is how I spent my afternoon:
Did I mention that I was a bit cranky?
I’m juggling the feelings of frustration that resulted from an afternoon of trying, trying, trying to accomplish the backward deep water start to no avail. Swampy finally pulled me off the water– there would be no more barefooting until we did some dry land practice. I grumbled, but I knew he was right– insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. It was time to go back to the basics and learn again from the beginning.
“I’ve had days like that,” said Ben Groen, a skier from New Zealand. ”One day I can do my turns– and then I’ll go out there and I can’t do them.”
I’m learning some lessons on the water, and they’re not just about barefoot water skiing, they’re about life. No matter where you are with your skills, you’re going to have some days where everything lines up– and days when nothing seems to work. The gals–Kim, Judy and Claudia– remind me to have patience, that the learning curve is a steep one. Two steps forward, and sometimes twenty steps back. “You have to remember where you are in the process,” said Kim. ”You can’t compare yourself to someone who is far ahead and expect the same results. It’s a process to get there.”
Tomorrow is another day– another day to apply new lessons and develop new skills. I’ve already shifted my attitude as I ponder the day and put it in the proper perspective– because a bad day on the water– surrounded by friends on a beautiful, sunny Florida day– is a good day indeed.
Bill Shafer and cameraman, Jason Morrow from Growing Bolder TV did a great job capturing the story of how I met Judy Myers and Keith St. Onge at the World Barefoot Center. You can see my very first, sort-of-official backward barefoot start (with no shoes!)– but don’t blink, or you’ll miss me keeling right over two seconds later.
First of all, today’s the first official day of… unemployment. That’s right, I’m no longer a Sales Manager for ZVRS, a job that I’ve held the last two and half years. I’ll dearly miss the Z Team, but with my Z-20, I can stay in touch with everyone. And speaking of the Z-20, I just gotta say that the VCO really rocks on it! It comes with a phone as well as the headset option. I just got off the phone with a gal from a major corporation and she had to ask me, “Karen, I know you’re deaf– how is it possible for you to be talking to me right now?” Technology and top-notch interpreters– gotta love it!
I just got back from Gallaudet University, where I gave a presentation on “Unwrapping Your Passion” at the Global Deaf Women retreat. I had the honor of giving away a copy of my ultimate favorite book, “Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words,” by Kevin Hall. Kevin kindly sent me a signed copy of his book and I thought long and hard about who I wanted to share it with– I knew that the Global Deaf Women retreat was just the place for it. Cindi Molloy was the proud recipient of the book and I can’t wait to see what she learns from it.
Before I left for D.C., I met Stephen Hopson for lunch and then we took off for the Drake Hotel for the Social Media Chicago event. Stephen is the author of Obstacle Illusions, another book that I highly recommend to everyone. Stay tuned for a post on Stephen and some insight into his book! Stephen and I met online several years back and we connected at an SOBCon Conference in 2008. He has become one of my dearest friends and my fake husband (yes, the real life hubby knows!). Stephen was in town to speak at Debra Poneman’s Yes to Success workshop where he received a standing ovation. Before we took off for our respective speaking gigs, we enjoyed a night of connecting with the SOBCon gang, including Liz Strauss, Chris Brogan, Wendy Piersall, Becky McCray, Sheila Scarborough, Chris Garrett, and Lorelle VanFossen.
Coming up on PBS and Create TV is a show called Growing Bolder, featuring a segment on my return to barefoot water skiing. You can see the teaser paragraph on this month’s issue of the Growing Bolder Insider. Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll see a picture of me barefooting (sort of… I’m on shoes!) backward. I’m proud to say that since it was filmed, I actually did learn to barefoot backwards on my feet.
In the next Insider: What do you do when the one thing you love most is the one thing everyone tells you not to do? As a teen, Karen Putz lost her hearing while barefoot waterskiing. More than 25 years passed, but her desire to get back on her feet kept burning within her, until she finally decided to try to barefoot again.
No Skis, No Sound, No Problem!
When I arrived home, I thumbed through The Waterskier magazine and sat down to read “Legends Collide,” an article that I wrote featuring two-time World Barefoot Champion Keith St. Onge and Glen Plake, who was inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. It never gets old to read stuff in print!
Everyone has been asking, “What’s next?’ I’m focusing on finishing the books I’ve started and booking more speaking engagements. Joe and I have also teamed up with Send Out Cards, a company that I also use as a marketing tool: Appreciation Marketing Goes A Long Way. For every card you send, a percentage goes toward barefoot training and competitions. You are welcomed to try it– send a card for free. If you’re interested in joining my team at Send Out Cards, shoot me an email at karen (at) karenputz ( dot) com.
To wrap up, I wanted to share a quote by William Hutchinson Murray that can be found at the beginning of Chapter Two in Aspire:
The moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred… unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
Save to Browser Favorites
Ask
backflip
blinklist
BlogBookmark
Bloglines
BlogMarks
Blogsvine
BUMPzee!
CiteULike
co.mments
Connotea
del.icio.us
DotNetKicks
Digg
diigo
dropjack.com
dzone
Facebook
Fark
Faves
Feed Me Links
Friendsite
folkd.com
Furl
Google
Hugg
Jeqq
Kaboodle
linkaGoGo
LinksMarker
Ma.gnolia
Mister Wong
Mixx
MySpace
MyWeb
Netvouz
Newsvine
PlugIM
popcurrent
Propeller
Reddit
Rojo
Segnalo
Shoutwire
Simpy
sk*rt
Slashdot
Sphere
Sphinn
Spurl.net
Squidoo
StumbleUpon
Technorati
ThisNext
Webride
Windows Live
Yahoo!
Email This to a Friend
If you like this then please subscribe to the 
