Just DO

Hi everyone!

Thinking back to what has typically motivated my Wednesday emails, it has usually revolved around running experiences. Labor Day allowed for a morning run in the forest. I miss my morning runs since schools started back. It was pouring rain! I loved it! It was like a cleansing of the soul. These were my thoughts on Monday.

Running, like no other physical endeavor, has taught me some amazing life lessons. Though, I've never poured my being into the sport to maximize my potential, I can't help but be consumed by it at times. I am truly not the same person if I don't begin my day with a run. Its Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde. I am always struggling with the "want" to sign up for some major races months, and even years down the road. But, I am honest enough to realize that my goals simply won't happen with a full time job, kids, and constant energy suckers or a list of other "excuses". (Only endurance athletes can understand the time/energy drain of a morning 20 miler before heading to work.) I love my job, my family, and my passions. Sometimes the balance gets a bit tricky if you're the type of person that wants to be the best at whatever you do. With too much on your plate, you suck at all of it. At times, I'm okay with "trying" to do the best I can. At times, I am not. The people I respect most in life are the ones that take a stand for those things that matter and simply eliminate the things that don't.  Simplicity narrows the focus quite a bit.  A lot of us could break the chains of things we "think" we're chained to.  I question at times what example I am leading my kids to follow when I make excuses for not pursuing dreams. I certainly encourage them to do so, even if its a different path than the world is taking. Its simply not okay to give up on the things you're passionate about. God planted those passions for a reason and the things that typically get in the way are worldly. Think about it........ Dream robbers are the stress to pay a cell phone bill, cable bill, on and on meaningless crap, as well as a car payment in order to get to work to pay for all the stuff that gets in the way of the things that truly matter. Some things matter. Most do not. I could go on and on with this controversial topic.

As we continue in the "rat race", time keeps on ticking, and the things we once claimed were important are a distant memory and our kids are grown with no other example than to work "hard". Working "hard" is not the problem. Its the busy, non productive, pointless stuff that gives us the illusion we are working "hard." What happened to working smarter and more "productively"? Please understand that I am simply making a point that we, at times, lose sight while trying to keep up with a lifestyle that the majority of America deems "normal". Well, what happened to breaking away from the herd? The black sheep is far more interesting and their stories have far more depth. Their impact and experiences change lives. Its a march of a different beat, a different pace, and an observed scenery.

Its that time to run the Blue Ridge Relay this Friday, and I am again asking myself how/why I am so out of shape. I've asked myself that question FAR too often in the past few years, yet nothing changes. Its been a slow fade. Enough is enough. Its time to make a change. Practicing what I'm preaching, I will attempt to sign up for a race I've wanted to do for a LONG time. Its not that easy though. There is a list of prerequisites, qualifying races, tasks, and approval from a board. Even after all of that, there is a lottery system which means you may not get in anyway after all of the steps. Making the commitment for a goal race in 2014 means making a commitment to the journey to get there! The JOURNEY toward something worthwhile is the meat of life. I will experience more in the journey toward a goal even if the goal is never realized. I may not be perfect, and certainly don't have the pieces of the puzzle of life in order, but I commit to pursue the goal. I commit to "do".