Tuesday morning started with my usual Starbucks Carrot Method walk, and apparently I decided the neighborhood needed a one-woman concert. 😂🎤
My walking playlist was doing its thing, and I was singing, dancing, and adding hand choreography like I was auditioning for an ’80s music video. 🎶🙌
Nena’s 99 Red Balloons? YES. 🇩🇪🎈
Bonnie Tyler’s It’s a Heartache? ABSOLUTELY. 🎤
A little rock, a little country, a little nostalgia, and whatever else Spotify decided I needed? BRING IT ON!
I may look a little wonky walking down the street, singing at the top of my lungs, and adding choreography that nobody asked for, but I’m having fun. And honestly? That’s what matters. 💜
Movement in real life still counts! 🚶♀️✨
📍 Walk 2 of 5
✅ 2.59 miles
⏱️ 1 hour, 13 minutes, 50 seconds
❤️ Average heart rate: 100 bpm
🔥 19 heart-rate zone minutes
Walk Receipts
And the best part? I was about four minutes faster than yesterday! Not that every walk needs to be faster, but it’s a nice little bonus when it happens. 😁
My Fitbit readiness score was LOW this morning, but I felt good, so I listened to my body and got moving. I wasn’t trying to set any records. I just wanted to get outside, enjoy my music, and start my day.
Because I’ve learned that my Fitbit is a tool, not my boss. 😉💪
Then it was time for Jazzercise #69! 💃🎉
I headed to Cardio Sculpt with Robyn and was thrilled to discover my friend Angie parked right next to me! HUGS! 🥰 There’s something extra wonderful about starting a workout day with a friendly face.
Today’s class had plenty of dance footwork, shuffle-ball-changes, and choreography to keep my brain and body busy. I mostly knew the routines, kept my weights lighter at 4 pounds, and focused on staying low-impact while still participating in the cardio and strength sections.
Jazzercise Receipts
And my shoulders and ankles cooperated! 🙌
But here’s where things get interesting.
Somewhere between the music and the shuffle-ball-changes, my brain decided it was time to revisit a little childhood trauma. 😂
Back in first grade, I took tap dancing at the Girls Club and participated in a talent show. I knew the steps. I did the steps. Unfortunately, I went in the WRONG DIRECTION compared to everyone else.
If nobody had said anything, perhaps it might have looked like a solo.
But my mother called out LOUDLY from the audience, “CHRISTY, YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!” 😳
I froze. People laughed a little. And my friend Becky Devaney laughed so hard she peed her pants. YES, REALLY. 🤣😭
And because the universe apparently wasn’t done humiliating me, Becky later found a NEWSPAPER ARTICLE about the talent show. She was absolutely delighted. I, naturally, was less enthusiastic about having documented evidence of my childhood dance disaster.
Becky has been terrorizing my life ever since we met on my first day of kindergarten in Scottsdale in January 1981. Forty-five years of friendship, shenanigans, and receipts. 😂❤️
And that wasn’t even our only adventure. In second grade, I decided I needed bangs, took scissors to my own hair in the girls’ bathroom, discovered my cowlick, and tried to fix the situation by buzzing off the bangs.
Spoiler alert: It did not go well.
My teacher was unhappy. My mother was furious. A trip to Dillard’s somehow made the haircut worse, and I spent the next couple of years traumatized by the results.
Becky? Naturally, she survived the incident with her reputation intact. My mom still blames her, even though I was the one holding the scissors. Fair? Probably not. Understandable? Absolutely. 🤣✂️
That first-grade tap-dancing incident contributed to stage fright that stuck around for years. And even now, certain dance steps can make my brain briefly go, “OH NO. NOT THIS AGAIN!”
But here’s the thing.
I STILL LOVE MUSIC. I STILL LOVE TO DANCE. AND I’M STILL SHOWING UP. 💜
Music has always been a way for me to process feelings, regulate my emotions, and find my way back to myself. One embarrassing childhood memory doesn’t get to take that away from me.
Sometimes my brain freezes for a second. Sometimes I have to work through an old feeling. And then I figure out the step and keep going.
That’s progress, too.
Today’s lesson? You don’t have to be perfect at something to enjoy it. You don’t have to forget every embarrassing thing that ever happened to you. And you certainly don’t have to stop dancing because somebody once told you that you were going the wrong way.
You just keep moving. 🎶💃
So here’s to Walk 2 of 5, Jazzercise #69, good friends, ridiculous childhood stories, and music that makes you want to move even when you’re not entirely sure which direction you’re supposed to be going!
Wellness without perfection. Movement in real life still counts. And sometimes the best thing you can do is turn up the music and dance anyway. 💜🎶
Read more.
Starbucks Carrot Method – North Phoenix Walking Series and Jazzercise