The Life You Have Imagined

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.
Live the life you have imagined.

~Henry David Thoreau

What does the life you imagine look like? Where do you want to be in a year? 5 years? 10 years?

I've never really made lists other than the typical to do lists or the must loose X lbs as my New Years Resolution, but about a year ago I made a list of things that I wanted to accomplish in my life. I knew most of them would not be ones I could cross off easily, but I wanted them on paper anyways. [here are a couple]

~ Go under 3:15 in the marathon
~ Become a race director
~ Really truly inspire someone

I'm constantly reminded that this is my one-go-round at this thing called life. I'm reminded every time I see someone who is overweight and wants to loose it, I used to be that girl. I'm reminded every time someone picks up and starts running for the very first time, I used to be that girl too. I'm reminded when someone says to me "oh I'm not a fast runner like you," I was that girl also.

The first step in moving past the person you are now and growing is setting goals, imagining the life you want to have, and just go after it inch by inch, mile by mile. Maybe your life is just perfect the way it is, kudos to you, but I'd like to argue that you still have room for growth. Maybe your goals could be to be a nicer person, to not skip the last mile of your cool down on your track work out, and so on. Maybe the person you are today is someone who you like but you think you could feel better inside, have more happy days and less sad ones. Imagine your life. Go after it. Or maybe just maybe you are reading this and you feel beyond hope, you don't even know where to begin or what changes to go after. I say - just go - start. Start with anything. A walk around the block. A smile when someone holds the door for you. Little things will turn into big things and soon enough you might just find that the life you couldn't imagine is easier to imagine.

Over a year ago I had the dream of starting a blog. I loved running and loved talking about it. I wondered though if there was anyone else who would be interested in what I had to say, who would care about whether I had a good run or a bad run, whether anyone could or would be inspired by a girl who couldn't run a mile, let alone 10 feet with out wanting to stop when she started running, but now craved the feeling after 26.2 of those miles.

And so began my journey of bearing my soul to those closest to me, and those who I've never met before. It all began with a dream. As I look back to my first entry - there are ZERO comments. It's okay. I started this not only to share with you my journey and hopefully create a site that you can return to time and time again for inspiration, motivation, and information - but also to see myself grow as a runner, a student of life, a child of God, and a mother of two amazing children.

As you go about your day today, think of this quote and set forth on your plan of living the life you imagined.

Never let the odds keep you from doing
what you know in your heart you were meant to do.

~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.