An AHA moment...

As I"ve gotten older, I realize more and more that I am my father's daughter. I may take on more of my mother's physical features such as the Connelly thighs and chipmunk cheeks, but other than that, I am my father's daughter. I don't know how to describe my father; he can be a pretty complex guy, but he always told me I was born to do something great. I think I'm starting to see what that could be....

I consider myself a rather average person (Matt would obviously tell you otherwise...and you can see my true self esteem...not much there!) and always seem to have ideas but I never really put them into action. This has been especially true with my career. As most of you know, I'm a practicing physical therapist in an outpatient/sports medicine setting. I love my career; I meet alot of very interesting people and have the best patients in the world. But dealing with insurance companies, being denied visits based on what an insurance company thinks is unnecessary treatment and getting a pep talk about stats each month and how we need to bring numbers up...it gets really old. More than anything, I'm about patient care and the quality of care; not the quantity that walks in the door. When you are a business owner, the quantity seems to matter more. But don't you get people to come back based on getting them better and providing them with one on one care?

Basically this tangent brings me a little closer to my point. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to be introduced to the Met's PT/CSCS (certfied strength and conditioning specialists) who will be doing a lecture for our clinic on shoulder instabilites in overhead athletes. He is a very accomplished 33 year old guy doing what he wants to be doing because he knocked down doors, worked in ass off and was in the right place at the right time. I was almost mesmerized when he was speaking because it opened up my eyes again to being outside the clinic and working outside the box. So the question becomes, what do I want to do?

I am not the best multitasker in the world and after Matt and I got engaged, alot of focus was spent on the wedding and hating being away from home. And then we bought a house; getting things settled around here, which has taken a long time, became priority. Then discussions of starting a family with a dog and kids has come up. Kids will be the ultimate priority. So can I really do what I want to do because I really want a family with a fenced yard, friends over, relaxing at night....can I really be EVERYTHING I would like to be? Why don't I be the average person who does average things...maybe I'm not mean to do something special but be a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend. These thoughts are a little overwhelming to me. And believe me, this isn't about money. Yes, in the United States of America, everything is about money

So get to the point Colleen (see, difficulty staying focused) What do you want to be doing? There are many factors that play into this but here we go...the basis here is PREVENTION AND EDUCATION: prevention of injury, especially in young athletes; teaching them the basics of training and working hard, understanding nutrition and the importance of how you eat and how it keeps the body healthy. I want to be involved with getting kids healthier and educating people on how important gym programs are to schools and the well being of children. Even of the smaller level, I would love to get involved in the pediatric obesity epidemic sweeping that is nation.

Now, I have a plan...its now about getting myself back to books to get my CSCS, use some of the connections I have and see if my plan can actually become a reality. Sorry for the inconsistencies in thought but I had to get this down....