#tbt Marathon Reflection

Since today is throw-back Thursday (#tbt), I thought I'd repost a reflection that I wrote back in 2012. A little background before you read the post. At that time, I was a couple days away from running the LA MARATHON, my first (and only to date) marathon-EVER. I had also just gotten into a head-on collision with another biker that sent me to the hospital, the FIRST EVENING that my son was spending the weekend with his dad proceeding our very recent separation. That was a loaded sentence...Did you get all that?
Enjoy...

Here's the Re-Post:

So this morning, a friend (Brittany) sent me an email that really made my day! She sent me a PDF of a presentation she saw...where the subject was RESILIENCE. She told me: "Each of us has our own story, our own setbacks and our own triumphs...and its all apart of our journey through the "human condition. Its amazing to see how resilient humans are and can be."

So I looked up the definition of RESILIENCE and this is what I found: Getting stuff done when s *** (aka poop) happens!
(keep in mind I have a 2 year old YAK BACK that records and repeats everything I say, so I must
now START SPELLING things...lol)

What a great word! Seriously!

Resilience truly is the ability to recover or adjust to misfortune or change (I don't know about the easily part)....and I hope that it means the capability of a strained body to recover--to bounce back--after being subjected to all kinds of stress-- like ASPHFAULT, ANOTHER BODY, and NO SLEEP!! 

This slide was so beautiful I just had to share it all! Resilience is what enables us not only to survive but to thrive despite our changing environment. That's the thing about CHANGE...it's the only CONSTANT IN OUR LIVES. Nothing ever remains the same....I guess that's why my blog's description says:
IN ONE MINUTE, MY WORLD CHANGED! NOW I BEGIN TELLING MY STORY OF HOW I CHANGED WITH IT. 

There are a lot of things that I thought I would never be able to do, but just as this marathon keeps proving to me, THE HUMAN CONDITION is INCREDIBLE....I'm amazed at what I have been able to achieve and continue to do besides the emotional and physical setbacks. I don't want to be a person that is constantly blaming those circumstances that surround me...for my inability to live a fulfilling life! It's always our choice! It's our choice to thank those around us who give us the opportunity to stop everything and start over from scratch. It's our choice to look at the things that are making us suffer or causing internal conflict when we look in the mirror and CHANGE that about OURSELVES. We are the only ones that should be amazed at who see see staring back at us in the mirror every morning (wink wink).

As the reality of this marathon creeps closer and the pain from my bike accident 14 days ago still hasn't
allowed me to run more than 8 miles...I realize that success and failure are subjective. Sunday morning's race will be run to push my limits--obviously the physical ones, but my limits of courage as well. I'll be
needing a MONUMENTAL amount of courage for this next chapter as one story ends and another one beautifully begins. I will need courage to not back out, and NOT GIVE UP on myself, on my goals, on my dreams, and on the future that I see! I need courage to continue to love my life and be thankful for all the amzing people in it who challenge me everyday to BE BETTER. 

"Each of us has our own story, our own setbacks and our own triumphs...
and its all apart of our journey..."   
                                                                    -Brittany Love Brome

I hope that you all get to experience a "MARATHON" challenge that will force you to PUSH YOUR LIMITS....a challenge that will humble you and at the same time help give you a LIVING reminder of what RESILIENCE truly means!

With that said....HERE's
to an amazing MARATHON--rain or shine!

- Happy Marathoning!

Originally posted: Expecting the Unexpected March 16, 2012