The memes are going around again. This time it is the A-B-C meme where there is a required response for each letter of the alphabet. I have just been tagged by a. maria and have taken on this new challenge of awakening my brain on a Monday morning. Pay special attention to the letter “T”. If your name is listed there, you have now been offically taged by me. Enjoy.
Archives for January 2007
Resolution Runners stick with it
Today, while running on the trail, I silently cheered for the New Years Resolution runners who are trying their hardest to start out the New Year on the right foot. I said “hello” as I passed them, and got funny looks in return. As someone who has chosen running as my favorite past time ever since I can remember, I am guessing that it is difficult for you right now. I urge you to stick with it. It will get easier, and you will get faster.
Prior to going out for my run this morning I read Susie’s entry about an article she read on change. The article notes odds of nine to one that you will stick with your New Years resolution. I urge you to defy the odds. Be the “one” – ALL of you.
There is a load of advice out there for you to read. Here is just a little more…
ADVICE FROM JULS:
– Say “hello” to the people that pass you, or when you pass other people. Doing so will make them feel good, and it will do the same for you.
– When someone passes you (going the same direction as you) do not be discouraged. Instead, you can be encouraged that you will be the passer, rather than the passee, some day. Just keep it up.
– Join a training group, or create your own, and commit to a race. The camaraderie will be a huge support. The friends that you make will keep you going, and the event will give you a goal. Finishing the race my affect you so intensely that you will be forever hooked to running.
– If someone says, “on your left,” this means to that they will soon be passing you on YOUR left side. Stay put. When you get used to this occurring, it is ideal that you actually move slightly to your right.
– This is especially important if the “on your left” message comes from a cyclist, and even more important if this cyclist is a child.
– Don’t under estimate the importance of good shoes. Go to a good “running” store and find out what shoes are right for your feet.
– Celebrate your you every success. If you made it to the trail, then celebrate. If you ran a 1/2 mile, then celebrate. When you run your first 5K, celebrate. Every step is just that. It is ALL worth celebrating…and so are YOU.
Moving to Plan C
The sun was out at 7 am, but I remained in bed. I couldn’t generate the enthusiasm to hit the pavement alone. A sat up in bed, pulled off the Band-Aid from my blister. It looked like it might be a little early for a run, but I knew that I was in need of one.
After coffee, oatmeal, and a little motivating reading, meaning the “blogs”, I was starting the feel like it was time. The problem of the blister remained however. I have had blister issues in the past. I remembered using a product called Blister Block when I was first breaking in my orthotics while trying to train for my 2nd marathon. The orthotics are now retired, but I had several packages of the Blister Block left in my first aid supplies. It was worth a try.
I applied one to the top of my blister and, remembering that they tend to roll off from the friction, secured it with paper tape. YaYa and I loaded his bicycle in the van and drove to the trail.
We traveled down the path together with YaYa leading the way on his bike. I ran on the dirt shoulder of the trail when I could. My foot felt relatively okay, with the blister making itself known very little in the first mile or so. I was encouraged, and began seeing me covering 8 or possibly 10 miles. In the back of my head, I knew that I was dreaming. Then YaYa and I came to the sign noting that the trail was closed ahead.
There were detour signs leading into the neighboring streets. It wasn’t as ideal as my previous plan. YaYa would have to be reigned in close during this part. The detour quickly took us from dirt to road and my foot began to become more and more aware of the blister. The nervousness of having YaYa on his bike with the cars was also overwhelming me. We turned around shortly after beginning the detour.
Success not failure
Why is it that everyone else can see when someone is flushing their life down the drain? Why is it, that is, that everyone can see this except the person who is throwing it all away?
Many years ago, I watched my brother ruin his career, his relationships with those that he loved, and essentially everything that was good. He had to fall hard to finally see that he had nothing left. Well, nothing left except for the people who benefited from his addiction to self destruction.
I see someone who is heading down a different, but similar path of ruin. He is successful but can’t see anything but failure. He is loved and valued by many, but tells himself that nobody cares if he lives or dies. He feels insignificant in the contributions that he has made to the world, and yet he has helped many overcome unemployment and escape homelessness.
How can it be that two people can view the world completely different? One sees doom when the look at the rain clouds while the other sees the opportunity for curling up by the fireplace to good company.
It’s too easy to get down on yourself for the goals that you didn’t succeed in. Don’t do that. It is easy to come down on yourself for failure. It is more difficult to find the good, but it is worth the effort. I have run 10 marathons and still have not qualified to run in the Boston Marathon. I have trained hard for these marathons, suffered in the races, and emerged a stronger person. I will try again. That is a success, not a failure, in my book.
Look in the mirror and see past the things that you have not accomplished, see the successes that you have created. We all can benefit from doing this once in a while.
What Does YOUR Work Space Say?
Kim asks the question:
What does your YOUR work space (at home or work) say about you?
I don’t know what it says about me, except that I don’t work well with clutter, and I that I am proud of my family. Beyond that, YOU be the judge.
On my desk sits my computer monitor & printer, my phone, a 3-tiered set of flat baskets for the papers that I need immediately. I have a red glass heart-shaped paperweight (sitting on the papers that are in the top basket), a cup filled with pens, pencils, and highlighters, with a Cat-in-the-Hat finger puppet over the top of the yellow highlighter. In the center of the desk is a small framed picture of the family.
On the wall above my desk is a large framed poster from the 1990 release of The Jungle Book Movie. 
I reminds me to enjoy the simple life – just the “Bare Necessities.”
In the corner of my office sits a round table which has a medium-sized vase filled with bamboo stalks on top. There is also several pictures that include my Mom in her wedding day with her parents, a picture of my sister “Linda”, my brother “Bobby”, and me (as a toddler) reaching for our Christmas stockings, and a picture of my best friend from high school “Rosie” and me at our 20 year high school reunion. There is a little miniature container full of tiny clay pot, woven basket, wool scarf, and other mini items. DD gave it to me and the items are supposed to be lucky charms.