The Dishes Are Still Dirty.

Seriously, I still have dirty dishes.  I still have laundry to do, floors to mop, flowerbeds to weed, a garage to clean, an attic to organize - the list goes on and on.  Do you know what I don't have?  I don't have two of my little girls at home anymore.  They are gone.

When I was a young mother of 1 year old twin girls, I ventured out to a Bible study at my church.  The group was made up of other moms of young children.  It met once a week for a couple of hours.  I had wanted to go for some time, and just couldn't seem to get it together to get out the front door and to the church.  I was overwhelmed.  By the time they were a year old, I thought I could probably manage it, so off I went.  This group turned out to be a lifeline for me.  I was a stay-at-home mom of two with a husband who was starting a business and, therefore, working from very early to very late.  We were doing the best that we could to provide for our girls and take care of each other.

I vividly remember how I felt at that point in my life.  I was doing exactly what I wanted to do - I was at home with my two precious girls, taking care of my family and I was completely overwhelmed and worn out.  I was happy and thankful, yet I felt out of control.  Life was happening so fast and most of the time, I felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants, doing just enough to put out a fire before the next one started.  Life was becoming a blur.

As I sat listening to one of our speakers, I heard something that would change my life and my approach to parenting from that day forward.  Our speaker was a more experienced mom and she was sharing some highlights from a book she had read.  (I can't even remember the name of the book - but I can remember her point.)  She looked at us and said,  "Ladies, you will always have dirty dishes to wash, but you won't always have that little one asking you to stop and read a book to them.  Stop and read the book.  The dishes will wait.".  I knew at that moment that she was right and I didn't want to miss a thing.  Besides, I don't like doing dishes anyway, so why not put that off a little longer?

When you are a task oriented person, it can be difficult to walk away from some of the tasks that need to get done.  I had to decide, many times over the years,  which tasks needed to get done immediately and which ones could wait.  That is not always an easy task itself.

I can remember times when I left things undone to spend time with my kids.  I can remember times when the stuff of life just had to get done and we had to delay that quality time a little bit. I can tell you this for certain,  I don't regret a single time that I let something slip.  I do regret any time that I let a small thing like a household chore get in the way of spending time with my children.  I regret the times when I thought it was more important to scrub something than to read a book to them.  And I am particularly pleased with the times I managed to do both!

When I hear my girls talk about their childhood and the good memories, I never hear them remark about how clean or dirty the house was.  I hear them talk about dancing in the kitchen, reading The Goblet of Fire out loud one summer, singing karaoke or playing dominoes.  We have some great memories together and I am so thankful for each and every one of them.

Time does, indeed, move quickly.  The older we are, the faster it seems to go.  If you have young kids at home, enjoy.  I know how tough it can be, trust me.  I also know that their time with you is brief.  It is a sweet time that is much like a whisper, looking back. 

The next time you are standing at the sink, doing the dishes or scrubbing the tub and a little one asks you to read a book to them, go!  Drop what you are doing, take that child's hand, grab the book and read it!  Before you know it, they won't be asking anymore and you'll wish they were.

Changing "I can't" into "I can".

In my last blog, I stated that I planned to be more organized and intentional about my blogging.  To be organized and intentional,  I need a purpose.  So I ask myself, "What's the purpose of my blog?".  My answer? 

The purpose of my blog is to inspire and motivate the reader to live with intention, purpose and joy.  It is possible to have joy - whatever your circumstances.  I'm going to do this by sharing how I have learned to do just that - live with intention and purpose.  Life doesn't have to be perfect to find these things.  In fact, I have found more intention, purpose and joy when life isn't so perfect.

Today is Friday and today's topic is the word can't.  How often do you utter the words "I can't"?  When we begin our training season, turning couch potatoes into marathoners, we give a list of reasons to train for and run a marathon.  One of those reasons is to remove "I can't" from your vocabulary.  Ever since I finished my first marathon, I have seen the world through a completely different lens.  When I accomplished something huge, I felt my self limiting beliefs fall away.  What I once thought was truly impossible, became possible through a lot of hard work, sweat and tears.  During the course of my training, I had to overcome many obstacles.  I did it.  I began with one single step.

How often do we approach life with the "I can't" attitude?  How do you know you can't?  I have seen many, many people go from huffing and puffing through their first mile to crossing that finish line at the end of 26.2 miles!  It doesn't come easily, but it does come if they put their mind to it and do the work.  The looks on their faces is priceless.  The day I see them cross that finish is the 2nd best day of the year.  The best day of the year is the day they show up for that 1st mile.

Tomorrow, my team will do 20 miles.  They are nervous.  It will be hard.  Some will have a great run and will be encouraged that they can, indeed, do this.  Others will have a tougher run and they will have to battle that monkey on their back who is trying to tell them that they can't.  I know a secret.  I know that whichever category they fall into, they can do it because they have done the hard work.  The key is to just keep moving!

Are you up against something difficult?  Are you being intentional in your efforts?  Are you consistent?  Is your purpose clear?  Don't quit!  Keep moving!  This is the only way to get to the finish line!  The rewards are great and will change your life forever. 

Living with purpose,
Robin

Summer is over. Time to get serious.

No more playing.  It's time to get serious.  I've been at this blogging thing for a while now and I'm ready to take it to the next level. 

I accepted the challenge of posting a picture every day at the beginning of the year.  I did this to motivate me to blog more.  I did well for a while.  Then I started slipping.  Oops. 

I am not willing to give up, so I will continue.  It may not be every day and that's ok.  I settled that matter a while ago.  I resolved to continue to blog regularly and not feel defeated, even if I didn't post daily.

Now I need a plan.  Enough of this stream of consciousness stuff.  I need more organization than that.  Those who know me well, know that this is true.

What's my plan?  My plan is to blog about why it is that I run.  Novel thought, considering the name of my blog is Reluctant Marathoner!  Here we go...

I am a marathoner and I continue to train for various reasons, many, if not all of which I will share with you as time goes on and provides an opportunity.  Today, I'll share my picture from my run this morning. 

Let me begin by saying that it was a tough morning to run here in the South.  The temperature was 82 degrees with 90% humidity.  Yes, you could say it is hot.  But, today is Wednesday and every Wednesday I run with one of my running buddies.  So, off we go, enjoying the morning and we get to one of my favorite spots along the way - this bridge pictured above.  There sit three dogs.  One is sprawled out in the middle and they're just staring at us.  I have a habit of taking pictures of the wildlife we come across on our runs, but this is the only "wildlife" that was out today. 

On our way back, they were gone, so I do hope they found their way back home to some nice cool water and some shade.  I know I did!

Why did I run today?  Because I was meeting a friend to run and sometimes that's what gets me up and going.  That's one of the many advantages of having a running buddy.  If you don't have one, get one!