auto known better: Life viewed behind a windshield Life coaching

Life Coaching

Living Skillfully in our world

By Marcia Grimsley

The months of January and February signal the start of the "real winter." Let's face it. Winter is not an easy time of the year to love. We often feel a mood change from the excitement of the holidays. So, how can we make peace with the winter season and make good use of cold days? This winter is particularly challenging because we are being forced to stay indoors even more because of COVID19. Over time, I have collected some winning winter tips that you may find helpful.

Relax and Care for Yourself During These Colder Months… Allow winter to be just what it is, a quieter, less active time. Take the opportunity to view nature's wonderland through a windowpane. You might light those holiday gift candles and listen to your collection of music. Remember that pile of books waiting to be read? Dive in and let them take you into worlds of wisdom and suspense.

Let us now turn our attention to self-care. The winter months provide a wonderful opportunity to begin making "you" a priority. When we turn our focus on ourselves, many of us start looking at our health and wind up distressed about our weight. Why not decide this can be the season for nurturing yourself into your ideal weight. Healthy, nurturing food and indoor exercise are a winning combination.

Stay Indoors and Benefit from the Art of Meditation … Have you ever wanted to learn to meditate? Start this winter! The benefits of meditation are numerous, for both your physical and emotional body. There are so many opportunities to study this quieting and reflective practice in your home. Online classes, meditation books, and phone apps are available.

This Winter Make Use of Indoor Time to

Organize and Utilize Creativity … Working in your home to "organize and clear out" makes sense during the winter. Maybe you have been thinking about doing this for awhile. Videos online are available to support you in this endeavor. Why not start today!

Take up your old hobbies again, or begin something new. Have the courage to expand your talents and your creative side.

Stay Connected to Others… Take time to cultivate relationships, even though this can pose a challenge during COVID. Keep up with friends and family by phone, internet, or Facetime. Good emotional health will be supported by these activities.

Make the effort to move through these winter months with courage. Try to enjoy this season, rather than spending the time wishing for spring. Remember that your joy is found in the present moment!

Marcia Grimsley, BA, MS, is a Professional Life Coach She offers Personal, Career & Business and Health & Welllbeing Coaching Contact her at 540-785-4104 or www.marciaslifecoaching.com

Auto Known Better

Life viewed through a windshield

By Rim Vining

"I wonder if there are junkyards in heaven?"

That's how Autoknown Better started 22 years ago and now that I am that much closer to reaching the Pearly Garage doors I'm hoping that heavenly "Pick-a-Part" locations have expanded and are part of the master plan. I'm not sure on which one of the six days they were created but I have faith that somewhere between the Duckbill Platypus, Yellowstone and the Northern Lights, SHE/HE found time to provide so that SHE/HE would have something to do on HER/HIS day off. Ever wonder what SHE/HE drives?

So it's been six years since my last column and so much has passed through the windshield from actually owning a new car (I drive a 71 MG daily if possible and the new car went away quickly - boring) and now I'm actually thinking of how to wire in a car-charging station by the driveway. Change is in the air.

I wrote about a lot of things like do cars truly have gender? "Wow she's a sweet ride!" and "Boy is he fun to drive!" I also wondered if they had a particular 'orientation' but now that there are more 'orientations' than points on a compass a manufacturer's full line-up has to cover it all. The salesman has to ask how the customer identifies themselves and write the contract with the correct pronouns. There's an app for that.

My regret in ending the column in 2015 was that I would miss writing about the election. I wanted a Trump card in my pocket. I wanted to pull up to the pump, choose English or Russian, swipe the card, and have the pump ask if this is debit, credit or bankruptcy? I wanted to hit that "bankruptcy" button, fill my tank and drive away without having to pay. I wanted a convertible top on my car that looked like a comb-over. Sadly there is nothing humorous about how that played out and how it is challenging our country in ways not seen since the days of Lincoln. Heartbreaking… more on that later.

The Front Porch provided a forum for me to share my view of the world through my own personal windshield and see what there was to see between the passes of worn out wiper blades. My old rants about ONSTAR and computer driven autos is so 90's. It's the abacus and a tinfoil hat against smart technology now and we don't have a seat at the table. Now when you're trying to back into a parking space and another car goes around you the "automatic braking system," sensing the "other car," stops yours dead so theoretically on a busy street you will never get into the parking space… ever.

Still, for an inexpensive afternoon's entertainment, I would suggest a relaxing beverage and a SLIM JIM while sitting downtown watching folks in an SUV or a F350 nosing head first into a parking space. Clueless is as clueless does.

It was a fun ride. Kind of like driving way too fast in an old Studebaker, scary but fun. Pappa G's only question when I showed him my first column was whether I thought I had more than one column in me? I'm sure Virginia is having that same thought. However the SHE/HE doth provide so I'm pretty well convinced that life, when viewed through the windshield, will continue to provide unlimited topics and I plan to explore them like every project: with grease under my fingernails and a few choice words of persuasion.

HOMOPHONE DISCLAIMER: SHE/HE is not the local car dealer. autoknownbetter@gmail.com

Rim Vining, humorist, friend and a devoted community volunteer