HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I have a new pal for you!
Having spent the early part of her career in the
sometimes-friendly skies, author Marylu Zuk says she perfected the art of smiling
through anything - at least until she was out of the passengers’ sight. (Like what? Like: "Really
sir? You actually need me to buckle your
seat belt for you?") Her career path has
taken her from babysitter, to playground supervisor, flight attendant, road
warrior, workshop presenter, sales manager and enrollment VP. The titles have
changed, but the job responsibilities did not – maintain order and keep people
happy.
An avid people watcher and eternal optimist, Marylu says she always
finds the silver lining. So listen to this--we always wonder where book ideas came from, right?
While getting
ready for a promotions event a few years ago, Marylu says she used the two-mirror trick
to see how she looked in her jeans.
‘Oh
my God! Whose ass is that?!’ she exclaimed… and the idea for her first book was
born.
A storybook for women with illustrations by Traycee Bosle, WhoseA(XX) Is That? – invites
every woman to relax her abs, exhale, and laugh at what we rarely see – our own
backsides!
Today, Marylu reminds us that it's all about how you look at it--and not just our rears.
You say it like that's a bad thing..
Picture
this. Somewhere in your mid-twenties your best-friend and sometimes-roommate blurts
out ‘you act like a fifty-year-old woman!’ My reaction of course is a simple,
ego-injured, ‘Huh?!’
She
then proceeds to pack her bags, ending her post-graduate, three-month visit,
and heads back to the east coast for a fabulous new job – leaving me wondering,
in the blistering desert sun, what on earth she meant. And it gnawed at me… for
a minute.
Perhaps
it was the fact that my roman nose was always buried in a book. Sue me, I like to read.
Or maybe, it was my total aversion to the
whole bar scene. Or that I preferred the 4:00am shift at work, which had my
alarm going off when most folks my age were rolling into bed. Or, that my
fashion sense was inspired by the dominant female presence of my early years -
the Sisters of Some Super Holy Saint. Pick one.
Whatever
triggered her comment, I responded in my typical non-confrontational style. Rather
than ask for clarification, I absorbed the sting and buried those words
somewhere deep in the back of my brain with other barbs instead – another story
for another day perhaps.
Fast-forward
a few decades through my crazy, hectic, working mother, balancing act lifestyle
and I, like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, tripped over and arrived at the
50-year mark. Seeing that number over
and over again on all those birthday cards reminded me of those long ago words. My friend? She pleads the fifth, claiming no recollection
whatsoever.
As
for me? In the interim, I’ve managed to add
a bit more color to my wardrobe, overcome those self-diagnosed, nightlife anxiety
attacks – ‘yes bartender, top mine off please’ – and have come to realize my
dear friend had actually given me a glowing compliment all those years ago. If I knew then what I know now, my ‘Huh?!’
would have been a sassy ‘you say that like it’s a bad thing’.
I’ve
discovered a certain feeling of freedom that comes with each extra candle on my
birthday cake. My vocabulary, while
still politically correct, is now peppered with salty language (my father and the
nuns would be mortified). But, the most significant personal change has been in
my once omnipresent need to control things. It diminishes a bit each day as I
continue to morph into a more mindful lifestyle – embracing the whole don’t-sweat-the-small-stuff
movement and intentionally focus on enjoying the moment I’m in rather than
stressing over what’s passed, and agonizing over what may never come to be.
This
mindset change is no doubt attributed to all that nose-in-the-book-reading
(that hasn’t changed, by the way) of mountains of self-awareness articles,
books and blogs… and just living life. Like those grade school connect-the-dot
pictures – life experience itself brings the big picture into focus.
Now
if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go act like a fifty-year old woman!
How
about you? I’d love to hear what you’ve come to embrace on your life’s journey.
HANK: And hey, reds, how do YOU feel about your rear?
https://twitter.com/maryluzuk or @maryluzuk
