HELP! I'm busy, and it's not letting up.....................................

Subtitle: off to a poor start.............................

I don't think I have shared with all of you, but my oldest and I have decided on our next race and I am very excited about it. We are going to be running another half-marathon, during Mardi Gras, in New Orleans! In case anyone wants to join us, the race is being held Sunday, February 25, 2007.

Yesterday was the first day of my official training program for the race. My goals had been established, were reasonable and measurable, and I was pumped. Some of my goals included eating breakfast by 9:00 in the morning, eating at least three meals a day, streaching, and core body work, lifting weights and of course a running schedule. To keep me on track, I also wrote down that if I had not done any stretching or core work by 10:00 in the morning, I was to stop and do some. Well............................

I will spare you the details of my morning yesterday, but I finally grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at 1:30 in the afternoon. First day and I had already failed right? Wrong! I can only fail if I think I failed. I did get out and run my scheduled four miles, and I did have only one sugar treat, and didn't eat after nine at night. (Two of my other goals.)

The biggest reason I didn't fail is because I didn't entertain that thought. I have entertained that thought, thousands of times over my life span. I have gone crazy over a new program/project/diet, only to loose motivation, put the program/project/diet on the shelf, and beat myself up because I couldn't hang in there. Guess who that helped? That's right! No one!

Now that I love myself more, I am able to forgive myself for being less than perfect. I was able to look at my entire plan, my entire day, and realistically assess that I had done pretty well for the first day, considering the morning I had. What this has done is motivate me to hang in there and do better because I know I can. Do better because it will get easier with time. Do better, because I have everything within me that I need to reach my goals. Do better to motivate and help others do what ever they are working on better. None of this would be possible if I simply quit, which is ALWAYS an option.

Have I weathered the storm? Will it be smooth sailing from here on? Of course not. That is where the "riding of the wave of life" comes in. (And I promise that I will still post that blog, I just needed to post this one right now.) All I know is that each day we are given can be a day or promise, a day of hope, a day of change. All we have to do is never give up, and always look for possibilities. The more we look for possibility, the easier it will get to identify them. Today is a new day. Please join me in making the most of it, and living it to the fullest.