We have always made changes in our lives by taking baby steps. We did this when we wanted to start eating healthier, when we switched over to drinking more water by getting re-usable BPA-free plastic water bottles, and more recently here, we have done the same thing with our desire to be more environmentally conscientious. One of those “baby steps” was to buy reusable shopping bags. Now the ones we bought to put our groceries in, we keep in the van. And they are easy for us to remember when we pull up to the store. But we also use the bags to haul in stuff from the van, such as mail and other items we have accumulated while out running errands. For example, if I have to go to say, maybe the running store to buy a couple of things, for example maybe a new running shirt!! (Yee-ha!) and some energy gels, we don’t have to get a bag from the store, we just drop them into the re-usable grocery bag on the back seat. In fact, sometimes we refer to it as “the errand bag.”
When it was light enough out for me to start running home from work in the morning, I needed to bring my lunch and running clothing to work with me. I was using a backpack during the months I would walk or take the bus home, but I didn’t really want to run home with a backpack on. So at first I started using plastic grocery bags. But since we were trying to cut down on our use of plastic bags, I thought I would get several tote bags to take to work. Later during the week, when we were out running errands, we could swing by the hospital and pick them up with all my re-usable lunch containers and work clothes.
So off we went in search of tote bags. My plan was to buy four, one for every day I worked during the week. I found some small tote bags that would work, but then T pointed out a nylon re-usable grocery bag that folded up into a little pouch with a small carabineer on it. It seemed perfect, as I could just get the one bag instead of four, and bring it home each morning clipped to my running shorts.
So that’s what I got and it’s worked out great! I no longer use the plastic bags to carry all my stuff to work.
It’s just one more baby step we are taking to go green.
How ’bout it?
-Vision Runner
P.S. Way to go Robin! Robin won the Runner’s Edge running socks that we gave away in the donor’s drawing over at my fundraising project for Guide Dogs for the Blind www.RunOverToEllens.com. If you haven’t donated yet, go to www.FirstGiving.com/VisionRunner and donate your $1 to be entered into the future drawings…and once you donate, read your email for the special private donor’s only access link to be able to watch the daily video blog.
Thanks!
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 article:
Title: Baby Steps
URL: http://runnerinsight.com/2009/06/15/baby-stepsbaby-steps/
To stay motivated for any goal, you absolutely must have a big enough “Why”: the reason that makes you keep going when you don’t want to and it’s easier to quit. That big enough “Why” is the key. However, sometimes finding your big enough “Why” is the stumbling block when setting a goal.
I personally have found myself using lots of different “Whys” to keep myself motivated and moving forward. Some of them are just short-term “Whys”, that help for a day or a week or two or three, and some of them are long-term “Whys”. For any goal, the size of the “Why” has to be equal to or greater than the size and importance of the goal.
I’ve been a runner for just over 17 years now, but when I was first starting out, I needed the motivation of my friend Dana to keep me going. I would have given up and would not be a runner today if not for Dana running alongside me with her enthusiastic energy and love of running. My “Why” was just keeping up with Dana, and that was a big enough “Why” at the time. Eventually her passion for the sport took root in me, and I have since found my own pace, and haven’t stopped running yet.
Once Dana moved away I was left to run by myself. Not necessarily a bad thing though, as running alone allows me to re-connect with my self and center my thoughts. And even though I have a deep passion when it comes to my running, there are times when I do need some strong motivation to get my butt out of bed and pull my running shoes on. So here are some tips and techniques I’ve used over the years to make a big enough “Why” for myself. I have relied on these tricks to stay motivated and keep my running fresh and fun.
I used to be able to keep myself motivated by running a new trail or area of town. Seeking out new running paths and exploring streets and trails kept my running new and exciting. I found some beautiful and magical spots by simply running in a new place.
But since my diagnosis with Retinitis Pigmentosa in 1997, my eyesight has been slowly declining over the years. This makes it almost impossible for me to run new trails anymore. In fact for safety reasons I pretty much only run on controlled paths that I can navigate with my white cane and limited vision. And it definitely gets boring sometimes running the same path every single time I put on my running shoes.
So now I am using these other tricks to keep me motivated.
One sure-fire way to get me out of bed to go running is new running clothes. A new pair of running shorts or shirt can keep me going for weeks, but soon the novelty wears off. I could buy more running clothes, but I’m running out of room in my closet and drawers! I have more running clothes than one human should be allowed! But hey, that certainly won’t stop me from picking up just one more running shirt…or two, or three… :) Did I mention how much I love running clothes? It’s my not-so-secret addiction.
Another motivational tool I use is new songs on my mp3 player. When I load up my mp3 player with a new playlist, my “Why” is that I honestly can’t wait to get out and run so I can listen to all the new high energy songs. This can last quite a while as well, as I only allow myself to listen to my running music while running. In a similar vein, if I have a good book to listen to, that can keep me hitting the pavement for up to a couple of weeks. But the problem is that all of these strategies last only a few weeks at best. And it’s easy enough to load new running music or books onto the mp3 player, but it’s not really a big enough “Why” for the really long-term.
So for me, one of the best motivational techniques I have ever used is training for an event or a particular goal. At one point a few years back, I was going through some new and wonderful changes in my life and my running days were pretty much non-existent. But after about 6 months I was really feeling the void in my life that only running could fill, so I made the decision to train for BloomsDay: a very big race held each spring in Spokane, Washington. There would be over 40,000 runners and walkers participating in this race. By having a goal race to train for, I was giving myself the “Why” I needed to stay totally motivated to get out and run. I even trained on hills even though I hate running hills, as I knew there was the dreaded “DoomsDay Hill” at the end of this 7 plus mile run. So having a looming event on the schedule is a great “Why.”
After BloomsDay, I kept training for small races here and there, but it was not until I decided to run in my first full marathon, that I learned the true meaning of dedicated and perpetual motivation. I knew that I would have to be unwavering in my marathon training program for 6 long and arduous months if I was going to pull off the training schedule and ultimate running of a full marathon and live to tell about it. Of course, “living through it” that was my big enough “Why” for that one.
So for 6 months I told as many people as I could that I was going to run a marathon. Their supportive reaction and amazement that a blind runner was going to run a marathon fueled me on.
My friends and family were another great source of motivation, as they each helped me however they could. My friend Vickie rode her bike with me on my long marathon training runs and our conversation and laughter was so much fun. Some runners use running clubs to keep them motivated, but with my work schedule I was not able to take advantage of them. But my partner and I attended workshops put on by the marathon organizers.
After all the miles of my marathon training program and ultimately running the marathon, I was tired from training so long and hard. It took some recovery time, but soon I was out there running again and doing a fairly good job of staying dedicated to it.
At the beginning of this year 2009, I got flattened with lower right back pain. At one point I sneezed, and I was down right now, rolling on the floor like a beach ball. The diagnosis came back that I had sciatica down my right back and leg. It was impossible for me to run for over 2 months! Once I was given the okay by my chiropractor to run again, it was slow going, as the sciatica was still hampering me somewhat. But soon I was plugging along and eventually my lower right back pain was all healed up, and I was moving normally.
Even though my back injury was healed, and I wasn’t having the lower right back pain anymore, I was having trouble getting past the 3 mile mark on my runs. Before my back injury I had been running 6 to 8 miles at a time, easily and comfortably, so it bothered me that I’d get to 3 miles and be wiped out, even though I shouldn’t have been.
So in order to challenge myself, get myself motivated to break through that 3 mile barrier and push my comfort zone, I decided to do a virtual Run Over To Ellen’s: to the Ellen TV show in Burbank, CA. This 1,222 and a ¼ mile run from my home in Montana to the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank will take 34 weeks running an average of 36 miles a week! Before my lower right back pain and the sciatica issue, I was running about 18 to 24 miles a week.
But not only am I doing this virtual Run Over To Ellen’s in the hopes of getting Ellen Degeneres tickets to see a taping of the Ellen TV show, I’m fundraising for Guide Dogs For the Blind at the same time. My quest is to raise $30,000 for them between now and the end of the year.
So this Run Over To Ellen’s fundraising project will keep me motivated and running for 8 months! And by doing a daily video update for the special access Donors Only page, I am determined to do the mileage.
So I think I have found my big enough “Why”…for this year anyway!
Recently, we were discussing how our current money system got started. Without going into too much detail about it, one thing I came to realize was that money is really just a belief system. I mean, think about it. How can the government just keep creating more and more money? We certainly don’t have that much gold in Fort Knox! We have to have faith in that piece of paper with the dead president’s face on it or the number in our bank account, for it to be real, because there really is nothing (no gold, no mountain of banana peels or parakeet feathers) to back it up and confirm that one dollar is worth one dollar of value except for our faith in the concept of a dollar.
So if the government can just create money out of thin air why can’t you or I? Well, basically we can! But only if we believe we can.
For example, as T was explaining the other day: When she buys a mobile home for a few thousand dollars, goes in and fixes it up by spending some more money, and then puts a price tag on it of x number of dollars more than what she invested in it, she has just created money. The sales price of the home is just a number. And when someone gives her that number of dollars in order to now own that home, she has literally created money out of thin air.
And the way that she can do that is because people are grateful to have a decent roof over their head, that is affordable, that gives them a place to store their groceries and televisions and computers and toilet paper, and that they can now call their own. That pride of ownership creates gratitude. And gratitude creates money in her pocket. In reality, money is just gratitude.
My attitude towards money has changed dramatically since that conversation. I now treat each bill I have to pay as giving gratitude for the product or service received. I am truly grateful to pay the power bill that provides heat to my house. I like heat, especially in the winter. I show gratitude to the grocery store for letting me take home food to eat. I like food to eat. And while no one enjoys paying taxes towards wasteful spending, I really am grateful for the schools and the roads and the fire department, etc.
A few weeks ago, after I had my deep tissue massage for my sciatica I forgot to give Robin a tip. So when I was paying my bill at the front desk, I asked Kelly to please give Robin this gratitude for me.
Really it’s all in how you look at it. Are you just spending money and paying bills and complaining the whole time, under the mistaken impression that money is something? Money isn’t anything but a belief system that helps us enjoy the things we want. Maybe try shifting your thinking and realize that it is a way to be grateful for all the things you have, and often take for granted.
I still find myself grumbling about paying a bill or the cost of gas, but for the most part, I try to remember all the great and wonderful blessings I enjoy and that I’m living in a great country where I can pretty much show my gratitude for anything I want!
And when we are truly grateful for what we have, then more and better can come our way!
Speaking of that, did I mention how grateful I am for my running clothes? ;)
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?)
