Learn to Look for the Positives

I have been debating on what I wanted to talk about next. But a few things happened over this Thanksgiving Holiday that have made me seriously take pause and reflect a bit. Of course Thanksgiving is meant to be a day of thanks. It is meant to be a day to enjoy family and friends. I probably did not take enough time to truly enjoy the day as I should have. Especially in light of some sad news I received two days in a row.

Friday morning I sat down to check email, and the first one I read struck me hard. A very dear friend's husband has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They have only been married a year. He is only 34 years young.

Then on Saturday we went to have dinner with my former dance teacher and his wife, dear friends. We were told that he has prostate cancer and will be having surgery in December.

Needless to say, I most certainly stopped to think about everything that I am so blessed to have. My husband and I recently celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. I am thankful for those 9 years, even if they have not always been perfect. Nothing ever is. If it was, life would probably be pretty boring. I am also thankful that his recent annual tests all came back clear this week.

I am very lucky to have a close knit family. My sister truly is my best friend. I am lucky to be able to talk with them every day, sometimes many times a day. I am also lucky to have my health and am strong and capable. I may have aches and pains and migraine headaches, but that is nothing compared to what others are going through. So when I started to skip out on my workout this morning (legs), I thought about those who don't have the luxury of even being able to workout or knowing that they don't have many more workouts that they can even skip out on. So I pushed on.

I hope that others who might read this will take the time to reflect on all the positives in their lives. Yes, we all have problems and experience snags and snafus in life. The key is to not dwell on those pitfalls, but to remember and be thankful for all the other positives. When you think you can't do something, remember all of those who truly can't, then get up and just do it. You just may surprise yourself!

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

I Run to Feel Alive

Today is National Running Day . Guess what I did this morning? Cycling? Nope. Lifting? Nope. I bet you thought kickboxing right? Nope. Running? But of course! I actually sort of planned my running days this week just so I could participate this year. I didn't get to run last year and didn't even know about it the year before. But running has become such an integral part of my life and who I am, that I couldn't miss this year. Basically, I run to feel alive . It calms me, it helps me work through life, it's often a reason to get out of bed. No matter how tough a run is, it makes you feel ... period. My plan was to get in 5 miles (got in 5.5 actually). It was about 10 degrees warmer this morning and definitely more humid. That always makes for a tougher run. We decided to take a different route today. Well, it was really only a few streets over different, but still. The point is we took a different street. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not. I did realize th

Vacation Day 2 - Running, Reading, Relaxing

Running This morning I woke up a bit before 7 am. Of course, we had gone to sleep by 9....on vacation no less. I had thought I might try for an outdoor run, but the temps were already a humid 83 degrees by 8 am. So, I took my run to the treadmill. I had the Food Network to keep me occupied for a pretty decent 5 mile run. Running and watching tv isn't so bad ;-) I did 3 miles, then 4 1:00 athletic intervals then finished up another mile to round it out to and even 5. After stretching and rolling (yep, brought my TriggerPoint kit ), we packed up the cooler with lunch and headed down to the beach. Not a bad way to start the day if you ask me. Beach Time & Stair Cardio We set up our little umbrella camp and proceeded to just relax. I was excited to start one of the books I brought along with me: Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon . I've read her memoir, Lucky , and her first work of fiction, The Lovely Bones . . We were out for a few hours before taking a break.

Where's the Beach?

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