Last week was what my favorite English teacher of all time, Mrs. McGorty-Riggs would call, character building.
I aim to put forth my best effort to listen, to talk, to be heard, to love, to grow, to make it through each day optimistic, but some days are tougher than others. There is no tangible reason to explore the details of a somewhat bummer week, they happen, but in essence my communication skills were tested. Thankfully, with a healthy dose of grit and persistence, they passed.
The look in Blue's eyes says it all. She misses her dad, too.
A cruel, yet eventual helpful lesson learned being a child of divorce is that you realize sooner than your friends that the world is not what it seems. Columbus was right, the world isn’t flat, it is round, big, and no matter how hard you try to keep up, you have no idea what is around each smooth, slippery corner; the surprises never stop, both amazing and tragic.
I am thrilled I learned that truth at an early age.
Life is not perfect; it’s simply a long string of seconds dripping with opportunities to make choices. How we adapt to those choices is when the fun really starts.
I hung this poster in every room I lived in during college.
There are no wrong choices. Every choice is the right choice at that time. I really like that phrase, one of my best friends told me that a few days ago, and it helped me make sense of it all at that moment. It also helped me exhale after remembering a few hazy choices I survived in college… We make choices every day. Some turn out to be ingenious, some idiotic, but we have no idea what the eventual outcome will be at the moment we have to choose, that is the inherent risk and joy of humanity.
Thanks again for eating those tasty apples Adam and Eve, you really made it easy for us.
This photo was captured just after I slipped trying to grab a fun mid-long ride photo with my two smashing teammates, Cortney Haile, (middle), and Lynne Fiedler, (screen right). The embarrassing stumble was worth it, I got the shot.:)
That is why when people say, “What word would you use to best describe yourself?” I always reply, genuine. I think that is what I aim to stay true to every day, right or wrong, I am who I am. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I will stop at nothing to gain a laugh, and I do see much more liquid in the glass than air, (see what I did there?) I am selfish, but only because I choose to be my best for myself, so that I can be my best for everyone else.
I think flipping that scenario is when the wheels start to fall off.
It’s okay to love ourselves more than anyone else. That self-love grows infinitely when we appreciate it, because then we believe in it, and want to share it with others; it spreads, and spreads, and spreads… If I believe in me, and I believe in you, which helps you believe in you, then you can believe in someone else, and the pattern grows, and multiplies, and sooner or later we achieve world peace.:)
This photo was captured just after Cortney and I nailed our long run on Sunday. I rarely run with anyone, so it was a real treat to run alongside such a tremendous triathlete.
In the meantime, the world will keep turning, we’ll hit bumps from time to time, and that’s okay, the best stories are the ones that make us catch our breath and want to find out what happens next.
This song and video from MNEK will put a smile on your face. Enjoy.:)