Very early in life I realized that moving around and being active made me happy.
It was nothing anyone told me to do. My immigrant parents were busy going to the factory, working long shifts to be able to provide for their kids in a new country. Unfortunately, a lot of us immigrant kids were left to our own devices, without parental control and attention. So there was the street, or activities with other kids…
My first venture at age 5 or 6 was theatre jazz dancing. Along with my best friend Gunilla – who is a treasure of a person and still in my life to this day – I danced a piece called “The Peace Flower” … I was NOT very graceful, but I loved every second of what was going on.
A few years later I joined an organization called Mosa Pijade that offered Yugoslavian folklore, and thus began a 10-year journey into my own heritage. I connected with other kids throughout Sweden, and eventually competed in cultural dances all over Scandinavia. This experience dug itself so deep into my heart that thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes and an unexplainable warmth in my body.
Then there were the track and field competitions, and my “extra parents” (coaches) who really cared about my aptitude and enthusiasm for running and jumping. While I left an empty house in the Swedish projects, they always welcomed me with open arms. No wonder I excelled in hurdles, even though I was hands-down the clumsiest runner!
This was my THING!!! If I moved, I FELT love and I received LOVE and attention!
I believe it was this deep connection to the Thing that helped me stay away from trouble and silliness, and it has saved me my entire life. When anything turns dark, one of my most important lifelines is the act of Physical Movement.
When my beloved father was sick with cancer and died, my heart was feeling dead, but Movement got me through it, altering my brain chemistry to improve my mood.
When I moved away from my safe home in Sweden, with absolutely nothing, to the Big Unknown in America, the first thing I did here was to go to the gym and go running. I quickly got a job in the fitness industry because that is where I felt at home, even in this new unknown.
My success has, in retrospect, proven to me that I’m on the right path; there is something logical about this Moving and Feeling Good thing. I consider myself fortunate to have had these life experiences so that my passion for it spreads like rings on the water. Not because I say it, but because I live it!!
