My littlest is three tomorrow and,
as is true with most toddlers, has knowledge beyond her years. For example, she
knows when it is okay to ignore red traffic lights and, “MOM! JUST GO!” As
shocking and annoying as it is to hear her suddenly screech me out of my 7:30am
on-the-way-to-school meditation with the soothing voices on Morning Edition if
she happens to be unsuccessful then our Max dog is always willing to play Pinky
to my Brain. He is a hound with hound energy and wants to go EVERYWHERE!
ANYWHERE! NOW! NOW! NOW! HOW ABOUT NOW!
One of my many secrets is my daily commitment to reading a
gossip blog, specifically, Lainey Gossip (I like
to think of it as providing high brow gossip but now I am getting off topic).
There are a few contributors to her website, one of whom is Lainey’s personal
trainer, Haley. A few weeks ago Haley wrote about never regretting a workout
once it is started. As in, on those days when it is really, really difficult to
talk myself into pulling on my socks and shoving my feet into my running shoes,
once I look out of my window in the morning and see the gray sky and rain
pelting the street or even when the air is cool and crisp and the sun is
bright, when all I really want to do is curl up in a blanket with a cup of tea
and slowly let myself adjust to the waking state, it is terribly hard to talk
myself into running. One awesome thing about running is that I am never sorry
about my run once I begin. Sure, rheumatoid arthritis causes some aches and
pains in my joints that seem to worm their way into my brain and sprout little
seeds of “I told you so” but they are gone within half of a mile. And, these
pains are useful and necessary reminders that running is something that I need
to do to keep the tissue supporting my joints in good health. By the time I
complete my loop and am peeling my shoes and then socks off of my feet all I
feel is good.
This is where my littlest is right. There are many times in
my life when I need to JUST GO! This works with running, writing my
dissertation, even making dinner for my family. I have started chanting this in
my head as I run. Left foot strike, JUST! Right foot strike, GO!
