Winning the skirmish, with a little help from a friend

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Seriously?? After all that talk about accountability, I didn't post yesterday?? And I didn't even realize it...well, I can tell you what happened...

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I spent yesterday organizing a bunch of things Sarah left behind. (Like vultures the boys are circling the girls' rooms... Sarah had already suggested a room change occur upon her departure, and within a month or two Katie will have her things moved out...two boys, two rooms, see a trend?) Seth has already moved into Sarah's room, so...OrganizingMom to the rescue! Cape across my shoulders, and clear plastic storage boxes in tow, I tackled Sarah's 18 years of memories, careful not to crush any. I worked hard all day, and skipped exercising because of it. (And because it was hot and rainy out.)

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I decided a hard (short) jog would actually feel nice...it's been a while since I actually felt that way! Getting to the gym before dinner, I saw every treadmill was occupied. Honestly, there must be fifty in various rooms, and all were full. Even the machines I don't like were full. I guess being such a rainy day, everyone had the same idea. I figured if I came back around 8 or 9 it would be better. (After all, what idiot besides me wants to still be exercising at 10 PM??) And deep down I knew, if I didn't make it back, who could blame me? I had tried...

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It was still raining after dinner, and it had been the boys' first day back at school. I wanted to be sure they finished everything they needed to do to be ready for the morning RUSH. But as I contemplated not going back to the gym, I thought about a friend... who, promising to walk this weekend, actually followed through, AND told me about it. And I thought, if my friends are making the time, I can, too. Especially since I am the one who has made the commitment to continue these habits for ten weeks!! And I wimp out as often as not. So back up I went. After 9. And I ran. A treadmill's advantage- and disadvantage!- the speed display. There's no hoping I am going faster than it feels. So last night I pumped it way up (for me) my only goal being DON'T fly off the back of the machine!! No George Jetson maneuvers, please. I slowed it down, I sped it up, I walked, I jogged, I ran...until I was totally whipped. But I made sure I ran as fast as I could as long as I could before I slowed it down... and I beat my fastest speed there so far. By a lot. I came home feeling really proud of myself. But this...THIS is not the skirmish I won.

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It was a "today" skirmish to which I referred. Yesterday is ancient history the way my brain works. And today...well, today is a totally completely gorgeous pre-Autumn day! Cool and breezy and beautiful...so I jogged (at my slower-than-my-walk pace); the weather and my skin conversed and decided I should go as far as possible...my knee argued considerably but had to admit defeat when all the other pieces and parts felt and smelled and saw how lovely it was outside...after my excellent short but fast run last night, I felt inspired to try further today. So, five miles seemed accomplishable. Up across the overpass (a typical LIMFAC for me), to my kids' school- without being seen by my kids, naturally- and back. But I went even one better... I added a mile at the end; yes, 6 miles. But let's please call it 31,680 feet. Because 6 miles is not that much more than 5 miles, or even 3 miles. But 31,680 feet is a heck of a lot more than 15,840 feet. It did not feel like one unit more than five miles, or three units more than three miles. But it DID feel like 15,840 units more. Oh yes, it certainly did. Actually it felt like fifteen thousand eight hundred and forty more units, which looks like even more in my opinion. And it was all because my friend walked yesterday.

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So here is our quote for the day..."Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." Dr. Leo Buscaglia was an author and professor who, moved by a student's suicide, began a non-credit class titled simple Love1A. From that lecture he started a whole movement of "caring". It's interesting stuff, his life. One person can affect so many. He certainly did. I wanted to adapt the quote a bit, until I read about him. :) So we will stick with it. It's perfect the way it is.

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It is rather broad and life altering as it stands, however, for my purposes in today's blog... so on a smaller level this is what has been my observation... One person, through any one act or attitude, can influence and move people every single day and never see the result. My friend wouldn't have guessed I would be inspired to break a distance barrier for myself (read that: LIMFAC) because of that walk. There are lots of ways we inspire and encourage each other every day, sometimes just in the way we live. This, I thought, was something worth repeating, even though we all know it. Our lives, big or small, our actions, global or local, affect people.

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And now...I REALLY need new shoes.