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Never EVER Give Up

Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide.
No escape from reality.
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies, and see...
...
Nothing really matters,
Anyone can see...
Nothing really matters to me...

If you are not living in a hole, you probably have heard those lyrics. There are so many interpretations of the song Bohemian Rhapsody but the best interpretations is always your own, right? So, I've had a tough week, with glimpses of amazing, and I'm sure my perspective will flip eventually to amazing week with glimpses of tough. 

So many things that can't be summed up on this blog, but one of the lessons I was constantly reminded of is that regardless of the situation, you have to charge on. There is never a circumstance that warrants throwing in the towel. What does this mean? Well, I had a miserable run on Tuesday, one of those runs that made me wonder how in the heck I was able to do a marathon in this lifetime, one of those runs that was so miserable, I didn't want to remember it happened, and so I simply forgot about it when my friend and I were talking about running yesterday. On Tuesday I could have thrown in the towel and given up all together, but I didn't... Instead I got up on Saturday morning, went to the trail and had a strong run.

With that being said, I am was constantly reminded that stretching myself is the greatest gift I can give myself. If I think I can't take one more step on a run, then I should push myself to take two more, because you just never know what might come after those two steps. A wise woman is always saying something along the lines of: take the first step, it is only new ground once. Being a shy extrovert, I can tell you the first step IS the hardest. Take the day I decided to run a marathon. I'm pretty sure I signed up for the marathon and then went outside and smoked a few cigarettes. I'm also fairly certain, the next day, I went for a run to show myself that I could run.

So, I used to think of Bohemian Rhapsody as an anthem of which the lyrics were never heard. What I realized when I listened to the song yesterday, I heard a sad boy telling his story of giving up. It actually pissed me off. Seriously, based the lyrics, he did something unmentionable, however he could have chosen to change the trajectory of his life, not just throw in the towel. As I was OVERthinking the lyrics it made me reflect back on the dance routine my friend and I made to the song when we were kids. It was a dramatic routine in which we acted out the lyrics, probably never understanding the depth or implications of our actions.

Very recently, my sister posted on Facebook about the sleepover her daughter had in which the girls were dancing around the house to Fight Song all night. The juxtaposition of Bohemian Rhapsody's lyrics and Fight Song's lyrics are the perfect example of how different people can react to a tough week. I am happy that my niece and her friends chose to walk around singing fight song, because it is a song of strength and personal power. As silly as it sounds, I have officially decided to adopt Fight Song as my anthem because there is never a reason to stop fighting to be better at everything we do... better friend, better pet owner, better employee, better gardener, better runner.

With all that being said, I challenge you all to stretch yourself every day... I'm going to continue taking the first step regardless of how difficult that step may be because "I've still got a lot of fight left in me."

The following lyrics can be found in Rachel Platten's Fight Song:

And all those things I didn't say.
Wrecking balls inside my brain.
I will scream them loud tonight.
Can you hear my voice this time.
This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I'm alright song
My power's turned on
Starting right now I'll be strong
I'll play my fight song
And I don't really care if nobody else believes
Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

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