2009 is in the archives, and a bright, beautiful new year awaits us all in a shiny new package and it’s up to each of us to make the best of it.
Here’s the news!
Got to Burbank, CA on my virtual RunOverToEllen’s on my birthday Dec. 2nd, running all of the 1,222 ¼ virtual miles in my home town of Missoula, MT. I never did hear from The Ellen Show or any of Ellen’s staff, even after a multiple months mailing campaign. But no worries: Her loss, my gain as I had a blast racking up the miles and raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind along the way.
This year I’ve been so thankful for my chiropractor, Dr. Krieg. He really got my back aligned and my sciatica cured so I could put in all the running miles. I ran more miles in a week than I had ever thought I would want to, and enjoyed every step of it.
This summer, I ran in hotter temperatures than I had ever voluntarily chosen to run, by giving myself permission to turn around if I wanted to. I also learned how to make my running more enjoyable by taking water with me on my runs. Not only did it keep me hydrated, but it also allowed me to take nutrition with me to eat at my half-way mark. This one technique alone – hydrating a couple of ounces every mile – helped me to run as many as 50 miles in a week.
Also, this winter I gave myself permission to run in colder weather than I usually enjoy. Typically this time of the year it is very hard for me to get out and run due to snow on the trail, but the cold temps usually keep me inside as well. This year I gave myself a cut-off temp of 20 degrees F. It’s still cold, but at 20 my lungs don’t freeze! But I’ll write more about my winter running in another blog.
In 2010 I plan on finishing my marathon book. I am also going to be doing some motivational speaking.
T is now “A Better You Coach” and she can coach you on just about anything to help you achieve your “better you” - health and wellness, or even help you grow your small business. Check out her website at: www.ABetterYouCoach.com
I have more to tell you about upcoming events in 2010, so stay tuned to this blog for more great stories and inspiration! Make it a great week!
Do you remember when you were in school and you had to get a hall pass? Or when you had to have a permission slip to attend the class field trip? Or you had a “Get Out of Jail Free” card? How did that make you feel? I know when I had a permission slip I felt in control, empowered. That tiny scrap of paper carried a lot of weight.
Now we’ve pretty much grown up past the point of permission slips, but imagine writing out your own permission slip, and it reads something like this:
I give myself permission to start “You fill in the blank” today.
Don’t start with the excuses already. I can’t hear you. (This is a blog…remember? It only seems like a conversation )
Now where were we…oh, yeah.
I give myself permission to start “You fill in the blank” today.
It doesn’t matter if it’s something fun like your favorite activity that you haven’t been able to find time for, or an arduous task like cleaning out the garage or clearing ground to start a garden, or a life-altering personal growth experience like getting fit or learning to play the harmonica or reading that inspirational book that your friend recommended. And it really doesn’t matter the reason that you’ve been putting it off.
By giving yourself permission, it allows you to start. You are able to face down all the excuses you have created in the past, like “I’m never going to be able to do that” or “I don’t have time” or “I might as well not even try because I know I will fail” or “It’s too hard” or “Insert your favorite excuse here.”
The question is not whether you can or can not do whatever; the bottom line is whether you start or don’t. If you continue to choose “don’t”, then the spot you’re in now will be the same exact spot you’ll be in next week and next year and the years after. You still can’t find anything in the garage; you still haven’t leapt into your healthier life; you still don’t know how to play the harmonica; and you’re still eating produce that’s been shipped in from several states away.
The thing is, once you start, all it takes is baby steps. Baby steps make it easy to get some momentum so that you can keep going. It’s not like you are required to overcome this huge barrier all at once; it’s all about baby steps. And this baby step builds on that one and continues on, so that they are no longer really baby steps because they’ve all built up on the one that came before it. So you end up having made actual steps towards forward momentum and progress. What if you only went and spent an hour in the garage? Is it going to make a dent in the chaos? Perhaps not, but even if you only end up throwing out one box and two bags of broken junk and filling one box of stuff you don’t use anymore to donate to the local battered women’s shelter or to give away on Freecycle, giving yourself permission to start the task is like lifting your foot off the floor to take that first tiny step. And until you start, you never really know how far you’ll get.
Giving yourself permission is not only about starting. You can also give yourself permission to stop. This summer as it got hotter and I had all these miles to run for my fundraising Run Over To Ellen’s project (if you haven’t donated your dollar yet, what are you doing reading this? Perhaps you’re not sure how to do it. Let me help. Take your mouse hand, slide the mouse until the cursor is over in the sidebar where that green FirstGiving widget is, and then click on the orange Donate button in the bottom corner. Go ahead. I’ll wait for you to come back. Go on, now. I promise we’ll pick up right where we left off. We won’t go on without you. It’ll be okay…;) )
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Okay, now . . . Thanks for coming back. As I was saying, this summer the temperatures were getting hotter, and in the past I’ve chosen not to run in the heat. But since I have all these miles to run (1,222 miles for my fundraising run), I figured I should try to run when it’s a little hotter out. Now at first this was kind of a big deal in my mind…’What if it’s too hot?” “What if I hate it?” Well, it occurred to me that I could stop and go home if it was too hot. I could start out, give it a try, and if it was unbearable I could at any point in time turn around or call T to come get me; that thought made it possible for me to start. Once I got out there running, I was running. I had my water, and yes it was hot, but it was fine that I was running when it was hot. I had always presumed that it would be dreadful to run in the heat, and I would hate it, so I hadn’t really done it. But since I had my water and the confidence that I could stop if it wasn’t fun, I could start.
Giving yourself permission to stop can eliminate the fear of failure that can hold you back and keep you from starting in the first place. Knowing that you have permission to stop can actually be a precursor to giving yourself permission to start. If you start out with the knowledge that you can stop at any time, you have taken back the power and control in your life. And most likely, once you’ve started, you’ll end up going all the way and finishing the task because it becomes not as daunting as you first imagined.
Permission slips and baby steps…they go hand in hand. After all it’s all about moving forward and growing one step at a time.
How ‘bout it?
-Vision Runner
P.S. If you’re getting value out of this blog, you can do me a favor by linking to us and mentioning my Run Over To Ellen’s fundraising project to friends and co-workers. Here’s the link information for this particular article:
Title: Permission Slips
URL: http://runnerinsight.com/2009/08/10/permission-slips/
P.S.S. You’ll want to check out my Run Over To Ellen’s fundraising run. We only need 30,000 people to donate $1 each. When you get your donation in and get your private access to the donor’s only daily updates, you’ll want to go check out the video blog because we love to do give-aways to our donor’s. This week’s giveaway is a great book by Mary McManus “New World Greetings” – so everyone who’s donated by August 10th will be in the drawing. Tell your friends!!
If you’ve donated and been following the video blog daily updates on my Run Over To Ellen’s fundraising project, you know that I’ve been dealing with a bunch of heavy equipment and construction machinery and closed roads on my running path this past month. Well, now the construction project has been completed, and my running trail has open and easy access again.
I wanted to let the crew know how much I appreciated everything they did to help me out this past month, so I wrote a letter to the Editor of our local newspaper, and am also mailing a copy to the construction company that they work for.
Here’s the letter to the Editor that I sent this week:
Editor:
I just wanted to give a big shout out to the crew at Jensen Construction Co. for being so helpful and kind to me during the road work out on South Ave. the past few weeks.
When I was told that South Ave. was going to be closed, I became concerned. How was I going to get the mileage in that I needed each week to meet my goal? So not knowing what to expect, I ventured out the first day construction was to begin. With my white cane in hand and running clothes on, I made my way slowly and cautiously to the “Sidewalk Closed” sign. After waiting less than a minute, one of the workers approached me. I explained to him about my dilemma and he was more than willing to accommodate me. He put his elbow out, and escorted me around the enormous construction equipment and mounds of gravel until we were on smooth sidewalk again.
He told me it was no problem, just wait for one of them each day, and they would be glad to help me around.
So for this past month, that’s just what I did. I know Brad helped me several times, and Tom a few times. And while I can’t remember the names of all the other great folks that served as my eyes for me, I really want them ALL to know how much I sincerely appreciate their kindness and willingness to help me run my 36 miles a week on the path I can navigate.
I’m sure that construction crews don’t get enough recognition for a job well done, but in this case, it goes well beyond an “Atta boy” and “Job well-done”. You folks at Jensen on the South Avenue crew all made what could have been a major setback for me, a huge success! So a monstrously huge Thanks!
P.S. If you donated and can’t find (should be in the FirstGiving email response you got when you donated) or remember the private access link to follow the daily video blog updates, email us at admin at RunnerInsight dot com and we’ll be happy to shoot you the access website link again.
I'd like to donate a cuppa coffee to Vision Runner, as I understand that all that running and writing requires a great deal of strength and energy and focus......
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I'd like to send Vision Runner $10.00 so that she can get a gift card for her favorite coffee establishment.
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I'm feeling very creative and I don't want to be inhibited by someone else's choices. I'm going to pick my own dollar amount...cause what if I want it to end with 46 cents or something?
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What about me? I need some for me..... (Go ahead. Order some for yourself, why don't ya?)
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