Blackbird Diaries: Flip It Today. Everyone Around You Knows You Can.

Those close to me are aware of my fondness for the term "flip", as it is often at the heart of whatever my strangely wired brain is thinking when approaching any situation. How do you flip your thinking on something around you to take a whole new perspective different from however you are thinking about it right now, how to use a moment in time to flip the emotion, momentum, direction, attitude, and outcome of an activity, or how do you help flip others to help them achieve whatever it is they are chasing. Those really close to me also have shared a moment or two when I am "flipping" out when something or someone is not as "flipping" ______ as I would like them to be. :)

I have bad days, hours, moments, just like everyone else, trudging through the up and down rhythms that affect each of us on our own. During those times, I am constantly looking for the moment, message, meeting, mentor, or music that will help me flip my course. Whatever I am battling, someone is battling something harder, and anything holding me back is likely more self induced than put upon me once I take a breath and think about it. So I pull up this morning to Blackbird Cafe for my healthy stuff filled smoothie, and a strong boost of coffee from the place that helps me flip every time I walk in the door.

Before I am in the door, I see Chris Sandberg and get a quick chance to chat about our kids, cross country, team dynamics, and we're both looking forward to the VHS swim season and the family that comes with it. He encourages me, as he has many times, to try Boot Camp, this crazy supportive group of people that are one of the healthy impact groups in this city, like Extra Mile, that want like heck to help you flip your health. People that seem to care about you, more than you do (or in this case I do), and what is not flipping good about that.

On her way out, Darlene Cohn, another Boot Camp member and crazy positive lover of Blackbird, comes out the door and calls us her two favorite Chris'. Just adds fuel to the fire.

I walk in the door and get to say hello to some of the regulars, banter about the Bears and Packers,while Andy Urschel makes me an smoothie so I can at least for a minute think I am eating healthy.

As soon as I see Jenny walking into the office, she is telling me how sore and good she feels after Boot Camp started this week, and I am reminded of some of the visual changes we made last weekend in the office to help flip a couple of things around. I tell her about Chris encouraging me to come to the Boot Camp open house on Saturday, and she helps to convince me to go and give it a try. She knows I tried the running thing a couple times but going from pounding on a keyboard to pounding the pavement was more painful than I was ready to flip for, so she is pushing me to try something else. Mostly she is pushing me to flip, however the "flipping" way that works for me.

They woke me up so to speak. So I made the plan to go on Saturday at 8am. The free open house is Saturday 8-noon for anyone else that wants to give it a try.

Location: Boot Camp just launched their new place in the Flanagin Bulk Mail building on Evans. Home to one of the most positive "flippers" I know.

The signs are out there for all of us. Look for them, find them, and make them up when they are not there. Eventually they will be.