I had a great skipping moment at the gym this afternoon.

As usual, after I did the elipical machine, I headed to the group exercise room with my yoga mat and ipod in tow. I set up my mat, cued up a particularly happy song on my ipd, and was about to start skipping when a woman (whose name I would later discover was Ann) walked into the room. She asked if the yoga mat was mine because it was in the spot she normally set up the spinning bike she was about to ride.

I told her I'd be happy to move the mat. That it wasn't a problem. Then I asked her if it would bother her if I skipped around the room a little bit. She said it wouldn't bother her, but I might look a little silly....and I told her I was actually alright with that.

A moment later she said, "You know, there are a group of people out there who are really into skipping." I smiled as I told her that iskip.com was my website and she confirmed that she had heard of it before. She is a physical therapist by trade and mentioned that she wondered how much of the core muscle group skipping works out. I told her about the warm reception my skipping idea received from the fitness community...and she said that as long as something inspires people to keep moving, she was all for it.

She went on to tell me about her personal passion/dream which is the creation of a new website for Buff Babes over 50! She talked about how powerful it can be for older women to truly realize their body's strength and power. I could tell by the way she talked about it, that her project will be a great success!

As she pedaled away and I skipped around the room while listening to that great old song that goes, "I'm on top of the world, looking down on creation, and the only explanation I can find..." ...I felt a surge of gratitude and appreciation for having discovered my very unique calling of skipping through life! I also felt excitement for Ann's blossoming dream....and was filled with a sense of hope that ever increasing numbers of people out there are finding and living the unique contribution they are born to make in this lifetime. Yes! And so it is! Skip on!

This will be a quickie post as I'm super busy at work today.

This morning I got this email from one of my professional colleagues and wanted to share...

Just wanted you to know...Saturday I saw a Mom with a stroller and her
friend, skipping in the Presidio! I yelled, "Keep up the good skip!"
Cheers! Shirl

Woo-hoo! Skippers of the world unite!

There are about 1,000 acres of undeveloped land behind where I live that leads to the edge of the bay. I've walked/skipped the path several times now, but today I was inspired to take my bike out for my first spin. I'm not much of a biker and I have certainly never gone off roading in wilderness, so the adventure was especially fun.

My heart couldn't have been more full of joy as I glided down the dirt path with my ipod blasting, "Ooooh, child, things are gonna get easier. Oooh child, things'll get brighter." When I came up on a happy couple who stepped to the side so I could pass. They said somethnig I couldn't hear, but I took note of their big smiles and positive energy as I went by.

I wasn't more than ten feet ahead of them when it happened. My wheel got stuck in some loose dirt and my bike slid out from under me. It felt like I was moving in slow motion as I flew over the handle bars. As time stood still, something told me I was going to be alright. I landed as softly as could be expected with my hands outstretched out in front of me.

I didn't realize the couple had witnessed the whole thing until I saw their smiling faces rushing toward me. I laughed outloud as I removed my headphones. The man congratulated me on a beautiful and dramatic fall! He said it was very smooth and that he too could tell as it happened that I wouldn't be hurt. The three of us spent several laughter filled minutes and I marveled at what funny moment with a thankfully happy ending we had shared.

Further along my happy jaunt towards the bay, I couldn't help but recognize the energetic similarity in my bicycle tumble and the fall I experienced when I quit my job to follow my skipping dream. Something that was also witnessed - online by all of the positive energy people who made the national skipping movement and my dream what it was. Even though it certainly wasn't pretty, it feels good to be able to recognize and acknowledge the grace that has been with me all the way through. And so it is! Onward and upward!

A while back, I was contacted by the web mistress of a great site called the Quote Garden. She said, "My site has been around for nearly a decade and has many tens of thousands of quotations spanning hundreds of subjects. Skipping happens to be one of those subjects, not to mention an activity that I love very much."

She wrote to ask if she could incorporate some quotes from iskip.com on her site and to also share the quotes about skipping that she had already collected over the years.

I thought it would be fun to share some of the skipping quotes here...

"You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." ~James M. Barrie, Peter Pan

"It's only a matter of inches, but skipping gets me just that much closer to heaven." ~Jessi Lane Adams

"I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind." ~Leo F. Buscaglia

"I don't think it's possible to skip with a frown on your face.... I'd like to see the world's governing and terrorist leaders on a skipping tour through the Middle East and across the subcontinent and China to Korea." ~Sue Irwin

"If I had time for only two exercises, I would choose yoga and skipping." ~Astrid Alauda

If you have one to share, email it to me and I'll be sure to share it with Terri at The Quote Garden!