Kathleen Parker
Email kathleen@igniteyourlifenow.com
I am currently 48 years old, a UT Graduate, and have been married to Brad, the love of my life, for 25 years this June. I have four daughters currently in four different colleges, and am so proud of each one of them.
I was the youngest of six children, and was raised in a home that based all family fun on playing outdoors. All six of us were blessed with good health and enjoyed any outdoor activity that was available to us. Keeping up with four big brothers was a challenge in itself. I was also blessed with parents that encouraged daily exercise, but it had to be fun. My Dad’s philosophy is that “a healthy and active body leads to a healthy and active mind.” By the way he is 86 yrs. old and recently played football and soccer with us six and his 16 grown grandchildren . He is still the smartest man I know.
Daily running was always my way of staying fit. It is such a convenient and efficient cardio workout. I did crunches, pushups, and yoga regularly, but felt I needed a more total body workout. I started participating in iGnite in October of 2006, Journey I, not sure what to expect…I had become comfortable in my daily routine.
After the first few weeks I realized iGnite was more than just a fitness program. I discovered it was a wellness program that embraced both physical and mental health. This brought me back to my Dad’s philosophy, “a healthy and active body leads to a healthy and active mind.” Over the past 10 Journeys our bodies and minds have been challenged. In Journey 1, one thought stayed with me, “The only thing that stands between you and what you want in life is the will to try it and the faith to BELIEVE it.” At this stage in my life I hadn’t thought a lot about my dreams…my life was nice and comfortable.
As we continued through the next nine Journeys, we were challenged to love and be grateful to ourselves, show gratefulness to others, never stop “playing”, write down all of our dreams, explore “super foods”, know that our attitude defines us, give of ourselves to others, and challenge our minds daily with new knowledge. One journey challenged us to toss all negative thoughts, words, and actions…a big challenge to most of us! It is amazing how our lives are so impacted by our daily thoughts. I need to emphasize that while we were attempting all of the above, we were significantly increasing our cardio endurance, had to get heavier weights, and were becoming really limber “Yogis”. Lastly, I wanted to mention one quote that has stayed with me: “20 years from now I will be more disappointed by the things I didn’t do than by the ones I did”.
To sum all of this up, I have not succeeded at all of life’s challenges, but do see positive changes in my life. I am finding myself in the granola and nut aisle at Central Market and am often searching for gogi berries and figs at Whole Foods. This is a big change for a girl who never says no to a good bowl of queso and any form of chocolate. I feel stronger now than I ever have, and am enjoying the same activities that I did when I was younger. I thank God for blessing me with good health from the beginning. Regarding the quote above about regretting things you didn’t do, I decided to do something which I hope will lead to making a difference in someone else’s life like it has my own. This past summer and fall I went “back to school” and received my certification to be a fitness trainer. It was challenging studying bones and muscle origins, writing essays and doing case studies but I successfully completed the course and received my certificate in November. My family was encouraging and supportive through it all, and I can already tell it has made a difference in the way they perceive me. If I can make a difference in one woman’s life, it will be so gratifying. I never thought I would start a career at this time in my life, and I am blessed to get the chance to share my experience .
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot