Balancing Act


Follow through was my strong suit today.  I woke up, determined that my workout was just going to be a component of my day, not the guiding principle.  I sauntered downstairs, Freddie Soakrlesnin my arms, noticing that it was uncharachteristically dim but not realizing that pigs and noodles were raining down with the cats and dogs!  I headed back upstairs with the morning coffee and the bad feeling about running.  It was about to get angsty and I didn’t want my workout to dominate my day.  Today was meant for tree decorating and kid canoodling, not fretting about the right time to run.  Jude popped up early and brilliance struck: the spaceship.  Jude and I would head to the garage right away to run on the treadmill (him) and spin the elliptical(me) for 30 minutes.  We were in, out, sweaty and done by 9:30am with the whole day in front of us for the tree and more.  


While I was spinning and reading Jeb Bush’s opinion piece about the future of the Republican Party*, the thought occurred to me that I didn’t have that panic of training hard under my skin bothering me.  I usually have a drive to go longer, to run further push beyond where I think I can go because every bit of training is appreciated in the long run.  I continued reading Dan Savage’s thoughts on stamping out fascists in the cities and realized that while I believe that more training leads to success, that still holds true, there’s something to be said for allowing myself to run for thirty minutes and then just be done with it.  It’s ok to train for my health and not always have the intense pressure of a long race in front of me.  I’ve turned up my nose at short little 5Ks  over the past year, wanting only to pay for something that offered a challenge in distance to me, but I have been enjoying the prospect of an easy, fun run next weekend with my bestie, her sister, her niece and both my own kids!  I feel relaxed and excited more than nervous, and that’s such a great place to be!  Now, let’s deck those halls!

Loving this quote from Jay Z: “Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk. And Martin Luther walked so that Barack Obama could run. And Barack Obama ran so that all the children could fly.”

*Google them if you’re interested.  I was surprised to agree with Jeb on some major points.  Dan’s post was more about how we all participate in the system and was a bit of a rally cry.  In everything, I’ve been wondering where my activism should take place and I finally realized that I’m already an activist every day when I work in my classroom.  While I’ll never share any political leanings at school, with my families or students, I will always stand up to inequity and bullies, I’ll continue to advocate on behalf of my students and families and I’ll continue to institute a culture of love, democracy, kindness and community amongst my students while I strive for truth and honor every day.  

I try not to be political here, but some stuff really matters.  Like education. Please sign this.

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