Stick Figures

My daughter's Christmas tree is purple with peace signs.  LOVE IT!!

It is funny how a day can just flow in a smooth wave form at times.  For the past while I have been thinking about a certain topic when I am out running.  In fact it was something I thought about today when I went out for a short run.  Then I came home to read this amazing post by a fellow blogger  whose entries I am constantly inspired by.  I highly recommend reading her post from today.  It actually made me cry because it is something I have been thinking about.  I am forever grateful for Erin and the way she expresses her feelings in a truly honest fashion.  Today she talked about living life boldly!!

My mind has been thinking about that exact topic a lot lately.  In fact I have been thinking about my blog.  It is my journal.  The place where I come to write about all of those thoughts that run through my head.  Sometimes I have comments on my posts and sometimes I do not, but it does not bother me.  Writing has always been a emotional release for me and my blog brings me that.  So on here I write my honest thoughts and goals.  I live life to the fullest and that means sharing my goals/dreams/successes.  

When we are children we are told to be proud of our accomplishments, in fact this is something I tell my own children.  If they do well on a test they have every right to come home and share that success with me.  When my daughter finishes a book that was a very tough read, then she has every right to be proud.  As children we ran around talking about our successes and achievements.  We lived in the moment and our friends/family cheered with us.  Somewhere along the way things change though.  As adults we start to fear sharing our goals, dreams, and successes.  We worry that people will judge us or tell us we are bragging.  It is like the stick figures or race distance magnets I have on my van.  Some may think I am being pompous by showing my pride in these things, but I am not.  I am proud of my family and I am proud of my success at achieving race goals I had set out to do.  We have a right to be proud of those things we worked hard to achieve and we have every right to share our stories.  

I love to sit with a person and listen to them talk about their goals and their successes in life.  When I go to some of my favorite blogs, like Erin's blog, I love to read about how speedy my friends are and how they are out there living their dreams.  I am honored that they share these dreams with us because they are inspirational.  As I have gotten older I have realized jealousy is a petty thing.  I would much rather cheer on those who are notably better than me and learn from them.  We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but how do we learn by hiding them.  Living boldly indeed!!!  Erin had the right thought in her post today.

I will be honest I almost lost my "bold" recently.  Then I was reminded by my hubby about how I have lived my life.  I have never been afraid to jump into a circle full of unknown and I have never been afraid to share my stories.  Sure, I have had people try to knock me down by telling me I am being too enthusiastic about a situation.  What can I say?  I am always going to be a big kid.  If I am happy the world will know and if I am sad they will sense it.  It is who I am.  Just as I want to share in others amazing moments, I want to be able to share my ups and downs with others.  When I am comfortable with people they will hear it all.

Love this!!

So I will continue to share my dreams and goals with those who will listen.  I may fail sometimes, but I will not be afraid to share those failures either.  Those moments when you fall are the ones you learn the most from, such as not getting into a grad school for me this year or not getting my goal marathon time.  There was a moment where I almost hung it up.  My mind had to work through it all and find the way back.  This blog will take you on my journeys to the good and bad.  It will not hide anything.  You will know my goals and you will know my failures.  As Erin may say that is living boldly.  I ask one simple thing in return.  That is that you live your life to the fullest too.  Do not be afraid to share your dreams and successes.  Go out there and shine.

My main goals for 2013 are to get that BQ next fall and to get a top notch score on the GRE.  I may fail or I may shine brightly, but either way I am taking you all along on the journey.  There will be no hiding and you may see my hair go extremely white from all of the stress.  It will be worth it!!

I will also be wearing the amazing t-shirt I got today from another of my inspirations in the running mom world, Dorothy.  I think it speaks a lot for how I feel.  I am in charge of my body and my life.  I can choose to live it with a smile or a frown.  My choice is to be happy and work hard to reach my dreams.  There will be road blocks and people who try to bring me down along the way, but it is all part of the journey.  It is time to shine, stick figures and all.

The amazing shirt!!

What are your big goals for 2013? 

How have your 2012 goals worked out?

How do you deal with moments where you do not succeed?