BKJN Pat : You just never know; staying open to the possibilities

August 27, 2015

Last night I went to bed with every part of me aching to some degree or another. I slept pretty well considering that but the 6 am alarm came way too soon. I briefly considered staying in bed and doing my push ups and sit ups later in the day as just the thought of doing them almost brought me to tears. Instead, I considered that maybe it wouldn't be as bad as I thought. So I got dressed and went downstairs to get started. There was some comfort in remembering that today I meet Sandy to run at Rancho San Rafael rather than riding my bike. What that really represented was less time this morning, not necessarily an easier task.

I started the dryer( one of the boys had laundry that needed finishing up) and started my push ups.  In between sets I read Facebook posts and checked on the dryer and before I knew it, my 200 push ups were done. I was somewhat pleased to realize that the last set of 50 felt pretty easy.  Then on to sit ups and I was done about 6:45 which left me some quiet time before the troops ( 4 boys) arrived downstairs to start the morning. As soon as they were off to school, I was on my way to the park.

While I was somewhat encouraged by the ease of the first part of my morning routine, the run remained a bit daunting. During our last run on Monday, my calves ached and one foot went numb and this was the day of the long uphill run. As quickly as I lamented all those things, I reminded myself that there was always the possibility that it wouldn't be too bad. Yes it took about the same amount of time for my lungs to accept that I was running up hill, but the run itself felt pretty good. I had commented to Sandy at the beginning that I wondered if the run would ever get easier.  As we rounded the pond on the last leg of the run, I realized it actually was easier today. I forgot to set my Fitbit to record distance and time, but I didn't really need that to know it was better today than it had been.

Negative thoughts are as much a part of us as the positive ones. Silly to deny them; but they don't have to own me or control me. I can let them go and open the door to other possibilities. A good lesson for today .