Daily Gratitude: Maybe we can all keep this in mind as we head into the new year. How many of those resolutions and goals are really yours? How many of them are based in someone else’s desires.m? Before you answer, think about it for awhile. This may go way way back even to your childhood or maybe a previous relationship.
Often we don’t even know where some of these ideas came from. It’s just that they don’t truly feel like ours. If you’ve already made a list of things, examine it closely and ask yourself “is this something I feel strongly about? Is this something I really want? If it is, why is it important to me?
If you can answer these questions, then they probably are your true goals. Never spend time from your life pursuing what other people want you to pursue.
Daily Gratitude: Good ole Charlie Brown for bringing all my experiences of the second half of 2025 into a refocused perspective.
Another great way of saying control the controllables. If you look all around you, you’ll find so many different ways to express the same thing.
So what did I have to let go of?
For starters I had hoped I would do great (for me) at vol state. Well as you all know, that didn’t happen. But I learned to accept help that was offered. I wasn’t at the point yet, where i could ask for it but I was able to accept it from several sources.
As a result of letting go of those expectations I discovered more about myself than ever via my parts and IFS and writing my book
I thought “ok that’s a fine little bump. Now let’s get back to normal.”
Ha ha. Letting go of the expectation that I could finally finish this nemesis- the 112 mile race over Labor Day. Bang. There went my clavicle.
But instead of trying to prove how strong I was I finally did ask for help and was honored by my friend sacrificing 3 days to rescue me.
At that point I had to put all other expectations on hold – doing more podcasts and most of all finishing up my book
I learned a lot about patience and learning something new. I also learned more about the value of gratitude because I knew there are many people out there that would give anything to “just” have a fractured clavicle.
This was followed by a medical procedure that kept me from eating for 2 1/2 weeks. That really went against all expectations. But it also reset some of my food and appetite centers in a way I don’t understand yet.
That should have been it for the not living up to expectations but no. I was planning to use the upcoming race as good kick off training for 2026 vol state. Then I was out of commission for 7-8 days. There went that expectation. So living in the present on that is the fact I will go to have fun and evaluate what my body can do. And use that as kick off training. It’s just a different form but it will be excellent.
It’s an amazing expanse of land we have. It was a really long trip, 2 days 1000 miles. What a stark contrast that’s going to be for the next 6 days. It’s so interesting to me how much of the US i get to see going to these events – most of my races are east of San Antonio where everything is green. This race, though, is to the west where everything is brown….and desolate.
It reminds me so much of my attempted trek across the United States in 2019. That was much more of a success for me than you can imagine even though I didn’t complete it.
It was the beginning of my change. It laid the groundwork for IFS to do its magic in the following years.
Talk about stepping out of your comfort zone. Although I had wanted to do that for 30 years I had never had the courage until 2019. But wanting to and actually doing are two different things.
It required me to make work decisions and therefore decisions affecting my income. Would I retire or not?
I had to have consistency and determination to walk every day but one every week.
I was supposed to have been able to survive on my own and I was prepared to but ended up having support every day. Once again. The universe was looking out for me.
I had to learn to accept help from total strangers. That was the hardest of all. Even harder than covering all the miles.
I made friends for life. People who had never met or even heard of me came out to support me in any way i needed.
I would love to finish it but know that I now need support and just don’t have enough people to do that. I am asking the universe for guidance.
Why is if still so deep within me. I don’t know why. I only know that I really want to continue to see the country I served.
