Journey

Happy 2021!!! I don’t know about you but I am ready to move on from 2020. I guess hindsight really is 2020.

This past year has been crazy yet there were wonderful things that happened. The best was I got married to my best friend. We have been together for a long time but 2020 was the time to make it happen. Make it official. So as one of my best girlfriends says, I am not allowed to complain about 2020! No complaints here. Just more of a let’s move on to hopefully a more productive year.

We had a great adventure early on in 2020 where we got to take a cruise. We went scuba diving in St. Martin and then one of the best adventures was being around the whales as they were mating and having their babies in the Dominican. Something that if you can ever do, go! It was incredible.

As we begin to move on from quarantine with a brighter future ahead I started something new this year. I decided that small monthly goals were something to try. I purchased a Commit 30 journal and decided that instead of Resolutions that cover the whole year, I would try small monthly goals. This seems more doable. My first month I am participating in Winter Warrior. Basically, you have to run/walk at least one mile a day outside for the whole month of January. Since this is usually a cold dark month up here in New England this can be difficult. I have completed this task the last two years so I thought 2021 should be the same. I also added in hydration to my goals this month. Bought a motivational bottle from etsy to keep me going throughout the day. I don’t know about you but I was not drinking enough water. I started this on 12/30/20 and have now been doing it a few days. Man, that is a lot of water and lots of trips to the bathroom. My hope for this is to feel better. I have those moments where I just don’t feel great and then I remember I have not had anything to drink most of the day. So here goes nothing but a few extra trips to the bathroom.

Finally my big challenge for the year is my word of the year: Journey – An experience or process that leaves you changed; trail of experience. From here to there

“All of life is a journey, which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us. We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there.”

I figured we are all on a journey. My goal this year is to be intentional on this journey. To be aware of the paths I choose and to make my goals enrich this journey.

Let the journey begin…

How was your 2020? Have you ever chosen a word of the year? Do you have one for 2021?

Learning How to Behave

As we grow up, we learn how to behave in public.  What is normal, what is allowed and how to successfully interact with others to get our needs met.

I have to say, now is a new time.  Learning how to behave during this event is strange, difficult and very unsettling.

Let’s just start with the grocery store… Usually I smile at people, interact a little bit, and when at the checkout I usually joke around with the cashier and those bagging my groceries.  But now, I find myself unable to smile at others (due to the mask over my face), and making eye contact just feels invasive to others.  If I walk past someone, I find myself turning my back towards the person to keep them safe as well as me.  It feels so odd.  And at the checkout, it feels like we shouldn’t be joking around, making small talk.  Just get in and get out.  I’m learning how to behave while shopping.

Last week, I met my daughter to give her some toliet paper (she was out and couldn’t find any).  When we met up in a parking lot, we weren’t sure how to greet each other.  Sit in the car, she get the prize possession out the back of my car and then drive away or could I get out and greet her like I wanted to do.  Hug my baby girl?!  It felt weird.

Mack and her Charmin and a little chocolate.  🙂

 

Me being me, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to hug by daughter’s neck but it definitely felt odd and it felt like others in the parking lot were staring, judging.  I hate that feeling.  The feeling I am doing something wrong especially when it involves my family.  I’m learning how to behave when seeing my family.

None of us know when this is going to end.  We are all altering our behavior, learning how to behave.  My hope is that when this is over, our behavior during this time has not become our new normal.  We are able to greet each other face to face, joke around with a cashier, make small talk with a smile and most importantly hug the necks of the ones we love.

Motivational Monday 4/20/2020

Happy Monday!

A Day of Remembrance

Twenty five years ago today (April 19), Oklahoma City changed forever.  This is the day of terror that struck the city with the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building.

Although I was not in downtown OKC when the bomb went off, I was at home with a very young baby.  It shook my house and I knew right away something was wrong.

Today as I went for my morning run, I was brought back to that day.  I was telling my running friend all about where I was and what was going on.  I was also reminded that I would normally be preparing for the Run to Remember which is held at the end of April to commemorate this day.  Instead I was out for a normal Sunday run because during this time of social distancing, all races/runs have been postponed.  I was thinking instead about how lucky I was to be only minimally impacted by that event as well as this one.  How grateful I am that we made it through that challenging time and how we will make it through this one.

The memorial is beautiful at night and during the day.

I am no longer in Oklahoma but I have family and friends who still live there.  Today I was able to watch a live stream broadcast of the memorial tribute which in years past has not been available, which again is something to be grateful for.

In 168 days (10/4/20) the Run to Remember will happen.  We will run to remember the 168 lives lost on that day as well as the many, many lives effected that changed this nation.  I am grateful and hopeful that we will be able to celebrate how far we have come as well.

What are you grateful for today?

Motivational Monday 4/13/2020

At one time I made this a habit each Monday.

A little motivational quote, a little pick me up, just a little something to meet the day and the week with some positivity and motivation.

So here goes:

Click, Click, Click….

Dave and I have been together for quite a while and when things are getting crazy we can just look at each other and say, “click, click, click”.  It’s not weird couples speak or maybe it is.  We actually have a visual with it as well.  Imagine your hands up in the air and quite possibly screaming at the top of your lungs.

What is it you ask?

It’s an old wooden roller coaster.

Click, Click, Click… we are climbing up to the top of the first big hill before we are plunged down the other side for quite a ride.  Sometimes those rides are quick but most of the time those rides are crazy fast and can last for quite a while.  (Getting our monies worth maybe!)

As we take each day during this time, I kind of feel like that is how I am coping each day.  The I’m not okay day was definitely a plunge down the steepest part of the roller coaster.  And right now, I’m feeling like every day is a continuation of that roller coaster journey.

Maybe we are in the part of the old wooden coaster that is shaking back and forth, jarring you side to side, with a small rise and then your stomach drops as you plummet a little farther along the tracks.  I’ve probably still got my hands raised up in the air and I’m screaming but I am also confident that someday, hopefully soon, we will get to the end where the roller coaster slows.  Then ever so slowly you creep back into the station to safely disembark and go on about your normal activities.

I don’t know about you but I will be ever so thankful for the disembarkation of this roller coaster journey!

 

 

I’m not okay

Today, I’m not okay. Yesterday I was okay, last week I was doing pretty well, heck 6 weeks ago I was planning my wedding, working hard at my job, enjoying my runs and relaxing at home after a day at work.

But you know what, today I’m not okay. I thought I was when I went to work. I thought I was doing just fine. Another day of this new normal or new Norma (that is what we call it at office because when I introduced the new plan via email, I forgot the “l”. Hence the new Norma!). Anyway, it was just going to be another day at the office. I’m only there 2 days a week right now and then I’m working from home the rest of the time. But in the middle of the day something happened, something that made the day not my new Norma but a new, new Norma! I hope that makes sense.

Well what happened you ask?

It was something simple, something that others are already doing but to me it was something new.

I was asked to wear a mask while at the office. All of a sudden I felt off. I was confused. How did this safe space I have worked in through all of this, suddenly become unsafe now?! How did what I did 5 minutes ago become, not okay right now?!

I feel like that is what is happening each day. Each day we are asked to change something about our behaviors that will help to keep us safe. But it doesn’t feel that way.

It feels…. I don’t know uncomfortable….. bizarre…. weird.

I understand the logic behind it all. Believe me, as a Director of a program, I understand the desire to keep both my employees and my clients safe. I spend most of my days right now planning, brainstorming, and figuring out how we can be safe, yet still meet the needs of the population we work with.

But today…

Today I struggled and continue to struggle over making one more step on this safety protocol.

I don’t think any of us like to live in fear and today I think that is where I am. I’m questioning about whether I’m doing enough to keep my family safe. I’m questioning about whether I’m doing enough to keep my employees and clients safe. I’m questioning how long this will continue and when we will be able to resume living life. Also what will that life look like when we resume it?

I remember reading something recently, probably on Facebook because really that is where the best information comes from (just kidding) but it went something like this.

If you were diagnosed with Covid 19 and had to tell someone all the places you have been and who you might have exposed this to, would you be ashamed or okay with it?

Or as another friend put it, did you “do your part in this”?

Part me wants to go screaming into the world and just pick up life where it left off but then there is the smarter part that says; this is only a small sacrifice for an amount of time, the length of time we don’t know yet, but for a small amount of time compared to the larger picture and the larger amount of time I have lived (almost 48yrs to be exact). Don’t be a drama queen!  Go use some skills and move past this moment of fear. Go out and enjoy the fresh spring air. Look outside later tonight and see the full moon, look at the stars. Enjoy your dinner this evening, don’t rush through it to be on to the next thing. Play with your cats, spend time listening to music, maybe even figure out what this Tiger King show is that everyone is watching. (Really, I have no idea and I am from Oklahoma.)

We are in a time of slowing down, a time we can grow if we do it right. A time of reflection and maybe even deciding who we want to be when this is over.

For me, I think I want to be less fearful of situations like these but instead find how I can grow when being tested. In the end, that is what this is. A test, pass or fail, we will get through it and let’s help others get through it as well. “Do your part”, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable because through that uncomfortableness we grow!

Oh, by the way, I think I’m okay again.  Thanks for listening.  🙂

Staying Motivated (with running)

This year I started a progress jar.  The goal was to add a quarter for every mile I ran and if I did some strength training as well as stretching and rolling I would add a quarter for that too.  The idea is to keep me motivated to keep going as well as save some money to do something special at the end of the 2017.

Well we are officially 3 months in and the pic shows the progress.  I do have to say that there are some flashy bills in there too buried at the bottom (okay the biggest one is a $20 but the quarters don’t tell the whole story).

For a little perspective, here is a nice roll of quarters just waiting patiently to be added!

I have also committed to run with a running club that meets on Saturday mornings at 8:30am.  To me this is a very doable time.  I don’t mind getting up early during the week but really I want to sleep in a little on Saturday so this is a perfect time for me.  Plus the benefit of this club is that it is part of a running store which is good for several things:

1. The quick bathroom break before you head out, which is always needed.
2. Warm place to stretch when we finish and a place to change into warmer clothes instead of in my car.
3. Oh and occasionally they bring in some guests on Saturdays like today where we got to do some strength training at the end of the run with two wonderful physical therapists.

I also joined the Run the year at the beginning of January.  So basically I have set myself up to run 2017 miles in 2017.  But really if you do the math it is about 39 miles a week, which when I put it that way seemed way more doable.  The progress on that is that I am close to staying on track.  Had a smaller than usual week when we went on vacation but know that when I am training for my next marathon (Marine Corps – Oct) I will be doing way more than 39 miles a week so I can make up for some smaller weeks.

Another motivation tool I use is telling others about this craziness and my running goals whether they want to hear them or not.  I talked about my next goal here so feel free to read it.  This is truly motivating because once you put it out there, unless something major happens, I have to get it done!

Today’s freezing cold getting it done.  12 degrees with negative windchills btu 6.5 miles done!

Finally I have also been able to be a part of a women’s running group on facebook which is a great support system.  They are all local ladies who cheer each other on and hopefully this summer I will be able to do more with them.

So really it takes a lot to stay motivated. But it is worth it in the end to see those goals achieved.

Is there anything you do to stay motivated? 

Trying something different….

Okay, let’s be honest, it is probably not something different because it involves running (surprise, surprise) but I guess you could say I’m changing things up a little to spice up my running. Let me explain…. This year one of …