We can't always get what we want.............. But we get what we need!

It is still early, the coffee cup remains three-quarters full, and I am not fully awake. It is my habit now to wake up with the computer; paying a bill, reading a blog or two. I had just shifted my mind to "what do I need to do today?" and promtly decided to not decide until the coffee cup was at least half empty. To pass the time, I grabbed a magazine (out of the middle of the ever growing pile waiting to be read) and my eyes were immediately drawn to the title of an article, "The Ultimate Hamstring Stretch." Maybe I didn't want to think about my to do list, but my to do list sure wanted to be sure I put stretching on the top of the list!

My legs are feeling pretty good, but last weeks eighteen miles took more out of them than I would have guessed. (I am not used to that many hills and valleys.) Stretching and some yoga posses are just what I need to do today to be in tip top racing form for the morning.

I just love knowing that if I take time to plug in and listen, I always "Hear" just what I need, no matter the topic. The problems start when I am not paying attention. (Remember, the "I don't need to get gas right now" story?) I am not sure how you hear things, I have two prominate ways of doing this. Yes I hear voices sometimes, but relax they are always in my tone/voice. I also get messages in my solar plexus, sometimes subtel, sometimes it is more like a punch. (Who doesn't pay attention when they get punched in the stomach?)

The cool thing is we always have a choice to listen or not listen when we are given messages. Each choice brings a lesson, so I guess one could say there is no wrong thing to do and you would be right. For those of you that are slackers like me, I have found that when I do listen the lessons are usually much easier to swallow. (How much panic and stress I would have saved my body had I stopped at that gas station!) I will also say that there are some times, when looking back, I can almost say I was glad I didn't listen because the adventure that came out of not listening turned out to be a fabulous learning experience, and I became a better person for having gone through it. ( Like the voices that were plaguing me in the days before the half-marathon telling me I was crazy to think I could do something like that. Now when I face something hard I tell myself, "If you could finish that race, this will be a piece of cake.") I guess the key to growing is getting better at learning when to listen and when to ignore our internal messages.

Today, I challenge you to tune in and listen. Even if you don't act, practice hearing so when you really need to act you will be ready. As I leave you to go stretch my hamstrings, I am going to share a quote that one of my trail running teammates sent to us for inspiration. (Sorry I don't have an author for you.)

"How do will you ever know what you are capable of unless you do something you find very, very hard?"