NQR: Doing Hard Things

I'm decompressing today. This post isn't really quilt related. Last weekend I took a trip to Las Vegas. This was not your typical weekend in Vegas. We did walk down the strip which frankly just gave me a headache - all the new smells. I was there for an obstacle race with two of my younger brothers. Their wives came to take pictures. My other half stayed home to control the craziness that six children bring. He thinks I'm crazy. He's usually right.

 

 

The race was full of challenges. One of my brothers dashed through the 11 mile course in an hour and a half! My other brother, who has a bum knee, stayed with me. I just kept my eyes on his feet in front of me. He said stay left, and I stay left. He said run up the hill. I ran up the hill. Except once when I looked up at an airplane and fell.

 

It was an interesting race. It was long. It felt like we would were running all day, but I almost wasn't ready for it to be over yet. Except that all the muscles in my legs kept taking turns having spasms which I have never experienced before. While the race was hard, it wasn't hard to keep going because I had decided I was going to do it. There was no question. So I just kept following my brother's feet.

 

Today was a different story. Today was hard.

 

Today I ran 4 miles and felt terrible. I think I was just working out all the kinks from last weekend. I was full of complaining. My legs were heavy, my back hurt, on and on. I wanted to stop. Bad. Then I thought about my daughter who had her last cross country race yesterday. She didn't have a good race. I thought about what I was trying to tell her to do. And I did it. I picked up my pace a bit and then held on. (That put me at my normal pace. I wasn't going fast.) I had to grit my teeth to keep going. It was hard. I never fell into a rhythm like I usually do. It would have been so easy to stop. Who cares if I stop? It wouldn't hurt anyone? So what if I go for a nice easy walk?

 

Every time those thoughts came, I had to fight them back. I care! I can do this! I am not going to be lazy today! I made myself run a block farther than my usual stopping point to prove to myself that I wasn't quitting today.

 

Okay, I'll embarrass myself. Here's the picture you really want to see. My sister-in-law got this after I finished. I had face planted into the mud moments before.

 

 

 

Sometimes just living every day is hard. But we can do hard things! Sometimes. . .