Get Over It!

This year marked year six of participating in the annual Cooper River Bridge Run. The run carries you from Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina over the beautiful Cooper River Bridge into downtown Charleston, South Carolina. I remember hearing about this run for years as I was growing up in Charleston and watching portions of it on television. It always looked exciting! Of course back then it went over the "newer" of the two older Cooper River Bridges. Nevertheless I thought it would be fun to participate, but the size of the crowd was very intimidating especially when they revealed how many finished, and after awhile it became a faded interest. That is until 2010, when my sister and her team at work signed up to participate and she invited me to take part with them. It was just like I thought it would be, absolutely invigorating and a whole lot of fun! Of course this invitation would open up the possibilities of running that has shifted me into the season I am in now! Amazing the difference one invitation in the right season can make!

A picture taken the Saturday before the run as I "practiced" with my family

 

First 5K Went A-Okay

This morning I kicked off my personal racing season for my fundraiser #miles4change at a local race in Goose Creek, South Carolina. It was the Crowfield Plantation 5K Run\Walk. This race was a trail run and marked my first time participating in a trail run. One of my coworkers told me about it last year, but that's when I was in excuse mode, not run mode. This year I jumped on the opportunity to participate in it and I'm glad I did.

My kick off tshirt for #miles4change

#Miles4Change June Check Up

I am amazed at how quickly summer is flying by! Unfortunately during the first week of June I had to contest with an injury to my left ankle. Which I insanely naively continued to run on, leading to issues with my right ankle. So I spent most of June with the R.I.C.E (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) method in full rotation. I still have no clue what I did to injure my ankle. The only thing I can come up with is I must have rolled it after jogging up on the curb trying to avoid oncoming traffick.

My three essentials as I nursed my ankles back to health.

Why #Miles4Change?

I've explained in my earlier post, "Run For Life", the events that occurred that made human trafficking stand out to me and really catch my attention. Even when I share this with family and friends, I still get a questionable look or asked why human trafficking? I'm going to share why I chose this cause how this cause chose me.

I have always been concerned about two major injustices in this world, the ill treatment of women and the historical issue of slavery. From the Bible to issues in our society, the treatment of women as "second class citizens", of varying degrees in the United States and abroad bothered me. I saw conflicts constantly In the Bible where the men who were heralded as great men of God had multiple wives and/or harems. I just couldn't get past that fact, and the whole "that was common back then" didn't make it better. An issue I had currently was how it's acceptable for males to sleep around without being labeled, but females are described using every loose terminology known to man. I never understood the double standard in many things and could careless about having someone attempt to explain it to me. If it wasn't good for the goose, then the gander needed to back away from it too. Not to mention how our culture uses sex as a form of liberation, crams it down our kids throats in sitcoms, movies, music, etc., then are horrified when they regurgitate what we've allowed them to gluttonously consume. But I digress...

Negative New Year Nellies

From children to adults, we all love new! It's a proven fact! Kids love the promise of new toys and if you walk around any car accessories area in a store looking for an air fresher scent you can easily find one called "new car" scent. We absolutely, positively love new. So when the new year rolls in people are excited for new experiences, new adventures, and the possibilities of new opportunities. Everyone feels like they can take on the world, or the issues of their lives, and press forward to victory.

We also know by the end of the month, if not earlier, most people abandon their pursuits and sink back into whatever were their habits before the ball dropped and the clock striked twelve. But honestly, should our focus remain there? I believe as an online community we need to be in the business of spurning each other on, not regurgitating the defeats that possibly lies in the future.

As I visited various social media platforms today it was interesting to see how many people are taking part in the war against resolutions. Resolutions are not the problem, it's the fact that we normally stop at the resolution, which means we go no farther than making a wish, that's the problem. Not truly looking at the behaviors we need to change relearn in order to inch us closer to achieving our resolution goal.

We have heard it said before that it takes about a month to form a new habit. Others would argue that it takes even longer than that! What we can agree on is that habit forming whether new or relearned is a process and processes take time.

My Twitter page for the new year. I associate the struggles of life with sports, helps me to wrap my brain around it.

Great Leaders Lead By Example

Today we throw the term “leader” around quite haphazardly. Some who have been bestowed this honorabletitle actually haven’t yet paid the dues to deserve it. If you have no clue what I am talking about or names/faces started flashing in your mind then you definitely should read on.

Leaders are people who realize that the best way to lead is by example. Whatever yourexpectations are for your team, comes from your experience in achieving that milestone and your persistence in making it to the next level. Take teaching for example. I encouraged students for years to read and write through their summer break. I preached on why it was important and encouraged them to continue to hone and develop those skills even during their vacation time. If they wanted to continue to advance and be ready for the next school year they couldn't lose ground. Summer was not an excuse to slack off!

Stirring Up Your Gifts

It is so easy to stay motivated when you have people cheering you on, but what about those times in life when the crowd is silenced or not particularly concerned with what you feel is an important plight? This is the most pivotal point when it comes to accessing your goals. You have to know how to motivate yourself, or stir up your gifts. It’s not the job of the crowd to propel you towards your dreams, honestly most of your audience will not jump on the bandwagon until you’re almost about to cross the finish line. Which means it is very important that you believe in yourself and are able to motivate yourself from the beginning to the end.

Here are five things I’ve learned about staying motivated to achieve goals.

Are You Willing to Pay the Cost?

One of the shows I love watching on HGTV is "The Property Brothers". On this show twin brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott, try to help future homeowners find the home of their dreams. They first find a home that has everything the buyer wants on their list. They take the buyers to the property, walk them around it , and "wows" them. Everything they want is wrappped up in one pretty little or big package. Then the brothers hit them with the bottom line, the cost. This is where the buyers get the gut check, and all of them, after hearing the price, look as though they were sucker punched, blindsided, hoodwinked... you get my drift. Then the brothers go on to explain that they can help the buyers get exactly what they want if they look at taking another approach to getting it. Next, the two brothers do their thing in finding properties that can be restored and turned into their buyer's dream home. At the end of the show you have happy buyers thanking the brothers for a job well done and a home that exceeded their expectations. Isn't that just like life?

Go For The Gold

I am very proud of all of our Olympic athletes who are representing the United States of America in London. Their years of discipline, commitment, and dedication to their sporting events are inspiring! It's also amazing to see the excitement that builds for the Olympics and championship games in various sports. We position ourselves in front of the television for hours, if we aren't lucky enough to be front and center at the event, and coach our teams or chosen individuals to greatness. We feel the intensity of that moment right there on the sofa or in our favorite chair! We share the beaming sense of pride in their victory and are quick to rationalize what their shortcomings were if they were defeated. It is so easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, to look from the outside and criticize critique others.

 

Run For Life

I'm going to take a minute and list a few things we run from in life:

1. dogs
2. responsibilities
3. danger
4. people who are chasing you
5. people you don't want to see
6. LIFE

Wait a minute, how do you run from life? Honestly, I ran from life by preoccupying myself with meaningless things that took my mind off my issues and made me too tired to worry about anyone else. Don't get me wrong, if I could do anything to help, I did. I organized various school projects from food drives to supplies for soldiers overseas. I wanted to instill in my students the importance of reaching beyond their comfort zones to help someone else's needs. Yet, I was so bogged down with financial issues, family issues, job issues, etc. I really didn't get time to truly look at the world around me since I was drowning in my own issues!

At the beginning of 2012, I declared that this year would be different. I rung in the new year creating a vision board to really focus on what I wanted to accomplish in my life, not just this year. One thing I really wanted to do was to become more physically active. Thanks to my sister I registered a few years ago for my first 10K and had done a few other events since then. This year I wanted to focus on a healthier lifestyle and better physical fitness. I also wanted to "savor other people's happiness". I want to reach beyond my comfort zone and bring awareness to issues that stir me to tears. Not the silent kind of tears, but the tears that come from a place so deep that your body quakes with each drop. The kind of issue that clings to you and when a new occurence surfaces, past heard of transgressions come vividly to mind. I didn't realize for me, seeds had been planted in 2009.

The Ultimate Road Trip

As I stated in my last post, one of my aunt's has earned here doctorate. This makes it two family members that I know of with doctorate degrees. My late aunt Dr. Patricia Cooper ( dad's sister) and the soon to be (officially) Dr. Charlene Holmes ( mom's sister).

Charlene at Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota

She graduated from Capella University and was adamant about traveling to Minnesota and walking across the stage to receive her degree. After all that hard work I don't blame her! So this radical road warrior actually got an opportunity to go on a road trip with my aunt & uncle.

Celebrate the Milestones

Yesterday my mother and I went out to dinner with one of my aunts to celebrate the completion of her process to obtain her doctorate degree. After years of hard work and  overcoming distractions, her ultimate goal is a reality. The only thing left to do is step across that stage and receive her degree. We promised that we would treat her to dinner when this time arrived. Well the time is now and the place was here...

If you are a true BBQ connoisseur or just love good southern home cooking, this is definitely the place to be. This is where our celebration was scheduled to happen and my reflection kicked into high gear. Must have been something in the bbq sauce!