Embracing the Challenge

August 2012  --  CRIM Festival of Races

Have you ever done something so far out of your comfort zone that when you were done,  it was still a little crazy to believe you did it?  Well, that was me last summer when I signed up to run in the CRIM.  It is a 10 mile race in Flint,Michigan and is by far, the farthest I had/have ever run.

I have only been running for 2 years.  After I started my fitness journey and had gotten a little more healthy, I thought it would be something fun to try.  It was really hard for me at first, and still is at time, but I have kept up with it.  Last spring I ran my 1st 10K, then with the help of a friend, decided to try the 10 mile race.  It was probably one of the most challenging and at the same time, rewarding things I have ever done.

There have been so many times in my life that I have been too scared to push myself to do something that was so hard that there was a real chance that I might fail.  I thought that I was 'playing it safe', but what I was really doing was cheating myself out of the opportunity of facing a fear...embracing a challenge...moving forward to a new and exciting place.

It's never easy to do or try new things.  It's challenging.  It can be scary.  It takes commitment.  It takes believing in yourself...but it's in those moments that the magic happens.  It's in those times that we grow, and experience, and feel, and see things through a whole new light.

So, I have committed to challenging myself once again.  I have signed up to run my 1st 1/2 marathon at the end of May.  Am I nervous?  Absolutely!!!!  But I'm also really looking forward to seeing what amazing adventures come from this new experience.  I promise to keep you all updated as I begin training in the beginning of April.

Is there something that you have always wanted to do?  Something in your life that is currently challenging you?  Are you just 'playing it safe' or are you embracing the challenge?

Slow and Steady

  When I had made it to Christmas and hadn't gotten any respiratory illnesses for the year so far, I thought that I might finally make it through my first winter in years without a set back.  Unfortunately, my body had a different idea.  I have had to spend some time at the doctors, and pretty much go to work and come straight home and get the rest my body needs...but it's been in these 2 weeks of rest that I've really had a lot of time to sit back and reflect a little, when I haven't been napping :)

Even though at times I feel that things in my life might be moving forward at a 'snail's pace', they are still moving forward in a direction of my choosing; a direction that I have chosen with purpose and with intention; a direction that I have worked hard to continue on with the support of some incredible people in my life.  I have done and am doing things that I never imagined that I would or could do.  I am setting goals for myself that I would have never have dreamed of setting.  

A snail may not be fast, but it is strong and it has everything it needs...and I am learning that the more I am willing to look inside myself, lean on others for support when I need it, and faithfully continue to take the steps forward each day, I also have everything I need to be successful in my life.

Sometimes it just takes slowing down a little (or in my case getting sick) to remind me how thankful I am to be able to do all the fun things that I do on a daily basis.  Health and fitness plays such a big part in my daily life now, and I'm so thankful that my body allows me to do all the things that it does.

What is something you can be thankful for today?