I feel like myself, many of you, and hopefully many many more, have grown in so many ways from those first few days in January. It has been a real pleasure reading emails, blog and facebook comments from so many of you and watching how your responses have changed over the year. You guys are doing great work at living life - I am proud of you all and thank you for being such a constant source of inspiration.
Updates:
11/11/2011 is right around the corner! I hope you guys are as excited about the full moon project as I am. We have cloudy skies and a chance of rain in the forecast for that day. To combat that I have been doing my "good weather dance." Regardless, I will be out there taking a picture of whatever the Universe decides to show me - remember it is not about the actual picture, but the process of doing something different, of changing your day to day routine. For more info on the Full Moon project check it out here and please please invite your friends. 11/11/2011 at 11:11pm full moon photo shoot
Sunrise/Sunset continues to impress me with some of the amazing shots you guys are sending in. An extra big thank you to all of you who are getting your friends involved. And an even bigger thank you to everyone who is taking the time to check the list before posting. Thank you all for taking the extra minute to label the pictures so well. I cannot tell you how much time it saves me. Please keep checking the list and labeling your pics before you send them in: Sunrise/Sunset
As I sat down to write today's blog entry, I had no idea what I was going to write about, which is often the case. I sat here reviewing what has happened in my life since the last time I chatted with your all. I thought about the experiences I have had, the people I have met, the conversations I have had, and one thing stood out more prominently than anything else...
I went to New York this past weekend. The purpose of the trip was to support one of my best friends who participated in her first marathon.
Naturally I was excited to have the opportunity to visit New York, especially this trip as I got to see both the Statue of Liberty (something I have wanted to see since Ghostbusters 2 came out in the late 80's) and the newly opened 911 Memorial, which is moving beyond words.
Of course I got a little giddy when I discovered that Sleepy Hollow, aka, the place where the "Headless Horsemen" story is set, is a real town. Not only is it a real town, but it is located just outside of Manhattan. At the prospect of going there I was like a kid in a candy store... this became an absolute must, and boy did it not disappoint.
1000 Challenge stuff aside, what I was more excited about was to be a part of my friend's race experience because, as is the case with so many other things in life, there is always more meaning beneath the surface than what the actual goal is.
My friend is the silent type in the sense that she is not one to boast about her goals and things she has done or wants to accomplish. She instead quietly pursues the things in life which bring her fulfillment. In the years I have known her, I have watched her not just grow, but blossom into the person she is today, and I am sure she would say the same about me.
A marathon is a big deal as I am sure those of you who have run one can attest to. Hell it is a big one to even consider, as I can sure those of you who have thought about it can attest to.
For a very select few of us taking on a challenging goal like running a marathon is just that - a challenge, nothing more, nothing less. For the rest of us, myself included, a major goal like a marathon is symbolic of much much more, crossing the finish line is just the icing on the cake.
The reason more people do not do marathons is because to do one it takes a lot of hard work, and did I mention, the race and the work leading up to it is HARD! Training for a marathon scares off many people because there is no short cut, no quick fix, no way to start at mile one and teleport yourself to mile 25 only to cruise in the last mile. It does not work that way.
So many of us want the quick fix. We talk about our hopes, our dreams, our goals, but that is it... we leave them as the subject of conversation because we all want to go from point "A" to point "Z" as quickly as possible, meaning we would love to achieve more, but only if we can skip the work, points "B" through "Y."
This "B" though "Y" part of the goal achieving process is the most challenging, the most important, and also what impressed me so much about my friend completing her marathon.
You see, the "B" through "Y" of any goal is often much more than just the goal. In training for a marathon the B-Y is the getting up early to do the long runs, the arranging your weekends to get the double digit mile/kilometer runs in so as to stay on track. To accomplish the B-Y portion of a goal we are constantly in this tug of war: What am I gaining and what am I giving up to get what I want?!?! It's a tough balance to find, and sadly many people never get to the point where they can see the long term gains as they get stuck and focus only on the short term sacrifices.
I was privileged enough to be a part of some of my friend's B-Y part of her life. Both in training for the marathon and in life in general. And in both cases she was willing to put in the work, make the necessary adjustments and sacrifices in her life to move forward and accomplish what she was after and reap the long term rewards.
After the race she told her friend that she had been making an extra effort to post and talk about the marathon with friends because most of her friends had never seen her as being someone athletic. Now she is running a marathon!
The cool thing with accomplishing goals is you create a ripple effect. Others watch your efforts and see what you are doing and start to ask themselves that all important question: "If he/she can do it, what am I capable of? Could I possibly do this??" The answer - YES, of COURSE!! As long as you are willing to put in the work to do it.
The thing is if you don't take that first step and decide on what your goal/dream is then how can it ever come true? And beyond that, if you are not wiling to commit to the work that goes into it, and when I say commit, I mean 110%, commit with all your heart commit! Giving 96% here just will not cut it. These are YOUR DREAMS we are talking about here, if you want them to come true, you have to be willing to make them come true. Most of us are not going to win the lottery we have to earn our dreams.
The greatest thing about accomplishing goals, about achieving dreams is that once you achieve one, you realize that all the others are possible, as long as you are willing to work.
It has been such a privilege for me to watch my friend on her life path the last several years. She has encountered the same bumps in the road as you, me, and everyone else does. What has been inspiring is that when she hits those bumps, she does not turn and run from them. She does not give up and turn her back on all the progress she has made. No, not at all; instead she continues to move forward, continues to pursue her dreams, continues to work on not being denied the life of her choosing.
The same is possible for all of us, I would not say so unless I did not believe it with all my heart, with110% confidence.
Enjoy the pics,
Carpe Diem,
Jesse
Great post, so happy for your friend and her achievement!!! Excellent pictures, what a great adventure for you! Looking forward to Friday!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing Jesse. :)
ReplyDelete