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The Journey

These moments, make every journey worth it!
Have you ever had a moment in which you overreacted, and when you reflect on it, you realize it is triggered by something that happened years ago, but in the moment of your overreaction you take it out on the WRONG person? Yeah, I had one of those moments today, and man did it drive me all sorts of crazy.

When I start reflecting on my new goal events, right now it is Glass City Half Marathon, I wonder how in god's name am I going to be able to run 13.1 miles again? It is interesting that, right now, my mind reverts to those runs that have challenged my core recently, but not to the finish line of the marathon I ran, or the half iron man I participated in. This is something I need to work on.

The reality is, every time you create a goal for yourself, there are different factors that will likely influence the
outcome, whether you want to admit it or not. Reflecting on the fact that I completed a full marathon may not even be appropriate because my circumstances have significantly changed. With the Glass City Half Marathon, I have already started planning my time goal. That is not normal for me, because quite frankly, finishing any event I register for is the most important. I have had my share of DNSs and DNFs, and I know this won't be one of them, but it is still an interesting to consider the start line of that race.

Here's the thing... I preach that every day we have a choice, and that choice is ours. Do we choose to look at the tough moments and have them define our attitude? In this instance, should I really look at the tough 2 mile runs as of late, and make a determination that that start line is impossible? Or do we let our attitude define the tough moments, and with this race, recognize that I can do anything I put my mind to, except when I can't because of REAL limitations? I strive to be the person who lets my attitude run my life, and I choose a positive attitude, but I'm human. Sometimes life simply doesn't follow a straight line, and we lose sight of what is important. Again, do we let that define us? Or do we make an effort to do better next time we are faced with an unexpected turn. Today was a day that I almost let that turn impact my every move for the rest of the day. Luckily, I have a good friend who knows how to straighten me out, but not until I declared why I WAS RIGHT!!!!!! Was that conversation even necessary? Probably not from the periphery, but had I not had the conversation, I would likely not have recognized why I had the initial reaction I had.

At the end of our bike ride today, my ever loving, caring, important and fearless cycling partner and friend told me that she enjoyed the ride, at which point I responded, so did I. Although I struggled with an interaction with a stranger on the trail, I didn't let it ruin the memory of the bike ride.

I am going to learn from all of this. Two weeks ago I rode 175 miles in two days, and that was huge. Today I rode almost 30 miles, and that was huge. Last year I did a half iron man, and that was huge. Today I finished helping my friend hang a door, that neither of us thought we could do, and that was huge. Next spring I am going to run a half marathon, and that will be huge. Why are all of these things huge, when it appears one thing might be bigger than the other? Because my attitude will allow me to love an appreciate EVERY big and small part of the journey, and because the circumstances that influence this journey will be different than the circumstances that defined all the other journeys.

And so I leave you with a song from, who else? Journey. One of my favorites, that I belted out in the car today, for all passengers to appreciate!!! (You likely can not watch this video on a mobile device)


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