Monthly Archives: March 2013

Just Do It

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.”
– Jim Rohn

The following is an excerpt from my personal blog – April 20, 2012:

“So it’s really been on my mind lately to start running. I don’t know why really. It just seems that I’ve been more aware of runners lately. I see them on the street when I’m on my way to work and the thought crosses my mind, “I wish I was them.” I’m out of shape and lazy..which are probably going to be pretty big obstacles in the way of my becoming a runner. But who knows…maybe I can work on that. The thing that appeals to me most is the peace of mind that runners seem to have. I hear so many of them talk about how it clears your mind and helps you forget about the rest of the world while you’re running. Boy do I need that. Anything that can shut this brain up would be a more than welcome addition to my life…”

Wow. And here I am beginning my second week of a ten-week training plan for a half marathon two months from today. Crazy, man. I’m tellin’ ya.

See? It all starts with just a little thought. (A little thought that I was lucky enough to have written down to be able to go back and look at.) Just one little inkling of a dream. And then you take that first step out the door, and suddenly that dream is not only coming true, but it starts snowballing and multiplying into bigger and better dreams. Not just with running – this applies to anything. If you really want something – you make it happen. It’s as easy as that. It’s not a quick fix and it doesn’t happen overnight. But it happens – and that first step is saying that you want it. Like I did.

Is there something you’re thinking of doing? Something maybe that you need to do? Some little inkling of a dream in there somewhere? Write it down. Do it. Right now. Get a pen and a piece of paper and write it down. Then hide it somewhere. Put it in your wallet – in the glovebox of your car – in a drawer on your bedside table. Just do it.

And then tell yourself that you can make it happen. Tell yourself every single day. Start taking baby steps and make your way towards it. Every day take one more step – make one more small change, one more small choice towards making it happen. Even if it’s just opening that drawer and reading it again as a reminder. Just tell yourself it’s going to happen, and it will.

And it will change you. I promise.

Posted by Melissa Edmondson. Categories: Freestyle Writings/Musings, Running. Tags: blog, inspirational, motivational, Quotes, running, writing. Leave a comment

Mar. ’13

What if?

My heart is heavy this morning.

One of my facebook friends (someone who I just had a notable interaction with last week – and who inspired one of my blogs), passed away yesterday. And from what I understand, she passed away from circumstances (possibly accidental) that resulted in her ending her own life.

(Now, let me just stop here. I do sometimes think that I shouldn’t blog about something this serious. But, as I said when I first started this blog and put in my “About My Junk” section that describes this page, this is going to be a “blog about life.” This is part of life. And that’s what this entry is going to be about. Life.)

Whether you know a person well or not, when you hear news like this it tends to stop you in your tracks. It makes you look around your own world and ‘take stock,’ so to speak. It makes you value each and every breath your body is taking in and exhaling out. It makes you want to grab everyone you love and tell them so. It makes you want to grab strangers on the street and tell them that they’re loved. It makes you want to fall down on your knees and thank your God for another day on this earth.

And if it doesn’t make you feel all those things – well, it should.

And you know what else it should make you do? It should make you be kind to people. All people.

How do you know that you wouldn’t be that one smiling face that someone would have needed to see – that you wouldn’t hold that one kind word that someone might have needed to hear?

Yesterday I got into an argument with a stranger in the middle of the street. Nope – not kidding. True story. It was over who had the right of way when we almost hit each other. Now, granted – this person started getting testy with me first (I’m not generally a ‘road rage’ kind of gal), but I could have easily just apologized profusely, smiled, and went on with my day. But nope. In typical Melissa fashion, I argued my point and both of us ‘left the scene’ in anger. And until today, it really hadn’t crossed my mind again.

But now – here it is.

I don’t even know that person! What if? You know? What if that person was just coming home from a funeral? A chemo treatment? Taking care of an aging parent? A dying relative? What if they had a drug problem? An alcohol problem? What if…

What if they were on their way home to end it all? What if I could have given the one smile – the one kind word – that would have changed that?

Dramatic? Maybe.

Maybe not.

What if you, unknowingly, have been the last person someone interacted with before they were gone? Let that sink in for a minute.

Now, I’m not saying that there should be guilt or that you could have changed anything. But what if your face – your attitude – was the last display of humanity that someone ever witnessed?

Ouch.

I’m not preaching here. By no means. These blog entries are just as much for me as they are for anyone else. I just know that I need to do better. Do you?

My heart goes out to the family and friends during this loss. I know their next few days will be filled with confusion and grief beyond anything they’ve ever known. I happen to know a little bit about the subject myself.

In closing, I want to post a poem I wrote on another sad March day a few years ago when our family went through this kind of loss.

Poem for Mike
I sat down with pen and paper
To pour out this grief I feel
To try to find the rhyme and reason
And to make this all seem real.
But I just cannot find the words
To move this useless pen
No poem or song could ever explain
Why your life had to end.
What phrase could mend these broken hearts-
What rhyme could make sense of it all?
The pain is too large to comprehend
And my words – they are too small.
I hope you have found that peace, my friend-
That illusion you were seeking to find
While the remaining trudge through the confusion
In this world you’ve left behind.

Hold on to each other tight, folks. Reach out. Know what you have. Look around you – and know it. Feel it. Appreciate it.

We truly are the lucky ones.

Posted by Melissa Edmondson. Categories: Freestyle Writings/Musings. Tags: blog, death, friendship, inspiration, inspirational, loss, motivation, motivational, poetry, Quotes, relationships, writing. 2 Comments

Mar. ’13

Secret Weapon

“Our running shoes are really erasers. Every step erases a memory of a past failure. Every mile brings us closer to a clean slate. Each foot strike rubs away a word, a look, or an event that led us to believe that success was beyond our grasp.”
– John Bingham

Today is March 1. The beginning of the dreaded month of March. *Sigh*

March and I have issues that go way back. For some reason, it seems that notable negative things always seem to happen in my life in this particular month. And every year I brace myself once again for what seems to inevitably be in store for me. And even if nothing in particular ends up happening, the awful month still looms there, filled with unwanted anniversaries from the past.

But not this year. This year is different. This year I have a secret weapon. Or, as John Bingham likes to call them – erasers.

This March, I’m a runner.

I started running in April of last year, so March will be the end of a full year of running. I hate to sound like I’m patting myself on the back here, but I am so freakin’ proud of me. As someone who has very little patience, running has taught me that the best things sometimes really do take time. I, like most people, want what I want and I want it NOW. That is not an option in running. Running requires patience. In fact, it demands it. It’s an endless process of slow, arduous transformation. And the more I run, the more I realize that process doesn’t just apply to my leg muscles. It’s a transformation of your mind. It’s a realization that you really are capable of great things, if you’ll only put forth the time and effort required. Little by little, day by day.

“Running is about the slow and painful process of being the best you can be. That’s why the first step out the door is always so hard. That’s when we choose between settling for average and being a superhero version of ourselves.”
– Martin Dugard

I didn’t realize it at the time, but in April of 2012, I made the choice to be a superhero version of myself. And I continue to make that choice over and over again every time I lace up.

So, you know what? Bring it on, silly ol’ March. There’s nothing you can do to me anymore. I’m a superhero now.

“My runs always remind me of what life is; always putting one foot in front of the other, even when I’m exhausted. It’s about running up the hill, however daunting, and congratulating myself for not stopping. Life, like running, is about getting up and pushing on ahead, even if I’ve tripped on a pothole. It’s about keeping the rhythm and setting a pace. It’s about minding my injuries and allowing myself time to heal, but not letting injuries get the best of me. Running is like life; it is a glorious, albeit sometimes painful, act of always moving forward.”
– Luci L. Creery