Life Lesson #9: Persevere

“I don’t want to go.” Taylor told me.  It was early Saturday morning and she was pouting at the kitchen table about the Girls on the Run 5K she was scheduled to run that afternoon in Lincoln, a venue roughly an hour from our house.

“You signed up, see it through.” I told her simply.  “You’ve been training all year and all your friends will be there.”

Life Lesson #8: Imagine

Cate, Queen of
the Closetlands

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
- Howard Thurman

While working on my computer yesterday, a loud “THUD” erupted from upstairs. It was the telltale sound of feet launching off a bed and landing on the floor.  I waited a second, preparing to chastise Cate for jumping, but only silence followed.  “Cate?”  I called out cocking my head to the side to listen.  Immediately, there was a softer sound, of her little feet padding quickly down the stairs.  She came flying around the corner, cheeks flushed, out of breath, and skidded on the hard wood floor in her socks standing directly in front of me.

Life Lesson #7: Hope

“Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” - George Iles

When thunderstorms were blowing and the slow grumbling of thunder was building outside the backdoor the other morning, I went room to room closing the open windows.  I could hear the rain begin whipping against the windows that had just been standing open.  In the family room I found my Cate crouched down low in front of a set of windows peering outside intently.  She seemed curiously fixated on something in the distance.  “What are you doing, Cate?” I asked her, wondering if the storm was frightening her.

GRC Class 155: Des Moines, IA

Loud rain drops splashed against my windshield with no sign of letting up and the wind howled against my door defiantly.  I sighed out loud thinking of my warm bed nearly two and a half hours away and the two little girls, my daughters, who were undoubtedly sleeping there peacefully.  For the first and last time, I longed to be with them there.  “Don’t think about that right now!” I scolded myself.  That kind of thinking would be debilitating and I couldn’t afford to start off with negativity.  My girls were with me, in spirit, their picture protected by a zip lock bag taped to the four required bricks weighing 24 pounds that I would carry with me for the next several hours.  I carried them for 18 months, what’s 12 – 14 hours? 

End of the Road: Beyond the Pavement

Spartan Winter
Death Race

When the slushy snow beneath Amelia Boone’s boots gave way as she hurried down the mountain towards the next checkpoint, she had no time to react.  Her footing gave way sharply sending her tumbling 50 feet down the rocky, tree-lined embankment. She landed, hard, striking her head on the ground.  Unsure if she lost consciousness momentarily, Boone sat up in a daze. She was not dazed enough, however, to know almost immediately that she was lost. Peering back up the steep rock face that she just fell from she could see no longer see the trail or any discernible markers indicating where she was.  Even worse, this was her first time on the mountain.  Taking a deep breath and wincing, she gingerly touched the spot on her head already beginning to swell and knew she couldn’t lose any more precious time sitting idle without a plan. She assessed the horizon.  It would be dark in a few hours and she didn’t have any food in her pack beyond half a Power Bar and her water bladder was almost empty. “At least there is snow.” She thought to herself.

Life Lesson #6: Belief

You will get your heart broken.  You will be disappointed and lost sometimes.  People will leave when all you want is for them to stay.  People will look through you when all you ask is for them to open their eyes.  However undeserved, in these moments you’ll forget yourself.  However temporary, you’ll lose your way.  When you do, remember the things you already know in your heart but you can’t seem to hear over the doubts in your mind.  Remember what I know of you.