One day in May 2012 I woke up and went for a 3.1 mile
run. The next day I woke up and did it
again. After a few days in a row, I
decided I was going to run a 5K every day and see how long I could do it. 6 years and 2 months later I only stopped
running after a surgeon cut me open and made me promise I’d take a 6 week break
from running. The day I was released
back into the wild, I drove home from the surgeon’s office, put on my running
shorts, and ran the 3.1 miles.
When I decide I’m going to do something, it’s not easy to
change my mind. You could say I’m goal
oriented or maybe it’s willpower. I
could easily argue that neither of those is true. What you see from over there is often very
different from what is actually true in here (in my ridiculous head). Go ahead and put a doughnut in front of me
and ask me about willpower.
Today I’m close to 1 ½ years into my new 5K everyday running
streak. It’s become such an expected
thing in my daily routine that from over there where you are, it may seem like
running is easy for me. That maybe I
just hop out of bed every morning super excited about going outside in the 5:00
am pitch darkness to run 3.1 miles in the pouring rain while praying I don’t
get sprayed by a skunk. Over here on the
inside, the truth is that many days I wake up and don’t want to run. It’s
going to be cold or muddy. There are
dangerous wild animals out there. It’s going to hurt. My bed is warm and cozy. The point is, you’re not alone in having
those discouraging voices making you feel like it’s too hard to do something. Every day I have to make myself get up and go
out to run.
my running trail view
I mention this during the first week of the new year because
I have some things I want to do this year.
They’re not resolutions or even good goals, but they are things I want
to strive to accomplish this year. I’ve
decided to share them with you in an attempt to be open and honest about the
struggles involved in trying to be a better human. If you see the struggle and realize that my
brain’s arguments about why I should not run are similar to your brain’s
arguments about why you shouldn’t run, then maybe there’s room for you to be
motivated or inspired. I mean, I don’t
take the time to share running posts on here or on Instagram just so you can
know I ran. Nobody cares. The point is to show you that you can run
too. To hopefully inspire someone to
take a step toward a healthier life. So
let’s have a look at that list.
-exercise every day
-practice gratitude
-sketch/write in my sketchbook every day
-eat better
-get in exhibits
-read every day
-choose positivity
Exercise every
day.
Of course I plan to continue running every day. Running is so good for every part of your
body, especially your brain. Mental
health, emotional health, and physical health all benefit from regular
running. I’ve discovered that for me,
it’s also a good idea to include other exercise into my weekly routine. I did T25 workouts with Sean T for a couple
of years before stumbling across something called PIYO, a combination of
pilates and yoga. It really helped me
with stretching and strengthening my ankles, knees, back and abs. I drive a lot, and I spend a lot of time
hunched over a drawing table or a welding table, so PIYO has significantly
reduced the number of back aches and spasms. While this is already a part of my
week, I got pretty slack about doing PIYO during the fall semester. I need to get back on the wagon because I know
I will feel much better physically.
Practice
gratitude.
This is another thing I was able to incorporate into my
daily routine last year. It helped me so
much. I’ve read countless books,
articles, and quotes about how to have a happy and fulfilled life, and every
single one advises that you practice daily gratitude. I’ve got this down to a quick and painless
activity. I jot down more than 10 things I’m grateful for while I enjoy my
morning coffee. Coffee almost always
makes the list of course. I want to continue that practice and give it even
more careful consideration this year.
Sketch/write in my
sketchbook every day.
I love to sketch and doodle, so you might think this would
be a breeze. But on the busiest of days it seems the last thing I have time to
do is to stop, sit, and be quiet with my sketchbook for a few minutes. I’ve made an effort lately to do this every
day, but it’s definitely not a daily habit yet.
Sketching is such a powerful way to record ideas. Writing about the day
helps me to process and remember important information. I want to do a much better job with that this
year.
Eat better.
Some of you are laughing right now. I know, I deserve that. I eat a LOT of sweets. At this moment I have
7 different types of sweets sitting on my kitchen counter in the “DO NOT TOUCH
MY STUFF OR YOU WILL SUFFER” area. I
also have a large bin in the pantry filled to the brim with chocolates and
candy bars. (I may also have no less
than 3 assorted chocolate boxes and a couple of 2 pound canisters of chocolate
covered almonds in the pantry.) For breakfast I’ve been enjoying Cinnamon
Frosted Flakes with my truly decadent morning mocha. That or waffles. If you
know me at all you know about all the waffles; my blood type is maple
syrup. But over the last couple of years
I’ve started eating vegetables. I use
the word “started” because before that, I ate zero vegetables. None.
A couple of years ago I gave up soft drinks and then sweet tea. Now,
besides my coffee, I only drink water. I
try to avoid fried foods if possible, and in the last year I’ve made a
conscious effort to try things I never would have tried before. Like brussels sprouts. Who would have thought I’d like those? Yet somehow I do. I’ve noticed that what I
eat is directly tied to how I feel. I
can feel all that ice cream I eat the next morning when I run. If I eat poorly, I feel sluggish and
yucky. When I eat well, I feel
good. I guess you don’t have to be very
smart to figure out that eating better is better for you. So this year I’m going to refuse more
doughnuts and try to lower my intake of sweets while opting for healthier
choices.
Get in exhibits.
I know this is a terribly stated goal, but you’ll just have
to get over it. As a practicing studio
artist, I need to be participating in exhibits each year. It’s important for many reasons and actually
a requirement of my job. Galleries don’t
exactly come to your studio door asking for you to send them your work, so
there’s a lot of personal responsibility tied to this one. I first have to get off my butt and make new
drawings and sculptures throughout the year.
Then I have to send my images and information out to people either
asking for exhibits through proposals or by entering juried exhibits around the
country. I don’t have a lot of control
over people saying yes, but I can play the numbers and just enter shows
frequently.
Read every day.
I keep a book by my bed. While I don’t open it every night,
I do make progress through the book each month.
Some nights I barely make it through a page before nodding off. I’ve been reading books with school and
others for fun, which has led to some interesting thoughts and
conversations. Many of the benefits of
running are similar to those of reading.
Reading is something I need more of.
Right now, our family is reading through the Bible. We are reading the
whole Bible in a year, which requires that we read a chunk of words every day. Hopefully between that, school readings, and
fun books, I’ll be able to read at least a little every day.
Choose positivity.
Negative information streams to us in many ways from global
and personal sources. Just keeping up with
current events to stay informed can leave us all feeling a bit overwhelmed at
times. I think it’s a good idea to
decide for ourselves what we allow to enter our brains. If TV news or the feed on the screen you’re
holding leaves you feeling hopeless and in despair, maybe it would be a good
idea to set some limits on your level of interaction with that media. If interactions with friends or family
members consistently leave you feeling bad about yourself, maybe set some
limits on those interactions as well.
When you have a choice, maybe choose to engage with information that
will leave you more positive. Garbage in, garbage out, right? I mean, if the food I eat affects how I feel,
surely the influences and input I allow into my life will have a similar impact
on my emotional and mental health. So
guarding what goes in is one part. The
other part may even be more difficult and even more important. Guarding what
goes out. In any given situation, I may
have no control over what is happening to me, but I can still maintain control
over my response to it. When a negative
situation arises, I can choose to call people names and yell and curse, or I
can choose positivity. I’ll admit that
sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s a choice, but more of a reflex. However, it is a choice. I can choose to show love and compassion to
those who offend me. I can choose to
look at the bright side of a situation.
I can choose to be positive and hopeful and in doing so, I can make my
life better. This is a daily struggle
because what I want to do is fall into self-pity and anger and stomp around
like a child.
wisdom stolen from the internet
None of these will be easy to keep this year. All of them provide significant challenges
and struggles of their own. I know I
will stumble, fall, and fall again. I
will also succeed. I’ll succeed by
getting up, brushing myself off and moving forward again. And hopefully I’ll actually reach many of
these goals and better my life too. As I
fall and as I succeed, I will also share the experiences with you. I hope to check in a few times this year and
give you an update on where I am with each goal. Maybe you have some goals, resolutions, or
changes you want to make this year. Feel
free to share those with me, and let me know how you do. I can promise you we’ll both be struggling
together.
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