I got my full eight hours last night, check! I woke up rested, energized, rejuvenated, and completely…overwhelmed. Truth.
Everywhere we turn, there’s words and hopes of a NEW YEAR, new chance, fresh slate, and an abundance of opportunities (yes, I’m guilty for spreading this message too.) The first Monday of 2014, talk about pressure! With a to-do list pages long and thoughts of cleaning the house, packing for a trip, going to the gym, spending times with friends and family, cooking a delicious edible dinner, and so on, I didn’t really know where to start. I stared at my computer for a while, got some things done, made a smoothie, and wondered what the heck is up with mother nature…55 degrees today?!
So, instead of sitting on the angst that is the first Monday of 2014, I got up, got my ugliest running clothes on, the ones I don’t care about ruining or washing until they fall apart, and I headed out with hopes that I may just avoid the rain, get in some nice miles, and come back with pure clarity.
No such luck, but I was lucky enough to stumble upon this swan in this (somewhat) frozen pond and the swan taught me a little life lesson.
I stopped for a minute and watched the beautiful white creature, who was inching along the (somewhat) frozen pond with quite intention. As to what exactly his intention was I imagined somewhat to be “don’t fall in, don’t fall in, don’t fall in.” as the ice looked thin and swan was ever so slowly progressing forward.
Watching the swan pick up one foot and carefully put it down in front of the other, all the while staying still and concentrating on the mission, reminded me of exactly what I needed today. It’s not about a giant leap, not about tackling my 2104 to-do list all NOW, it’s about slow and steady progress. It’s about literally picking one foot up and putting it in front of the other. It’s about moving forward, not backward, and more importantly, not falling in all together. And ya know what? Even if we do fall in once in a while, we learn from our mistakes and move on. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just a little water.
So, I carried on with my run with this in mind and suddenly felt more at ease. I ran home to get done what I knew had to get done today, but first, I jumped in a lot of puddles and I got moderately rained on. I came home soaked, and that was alright because I knew that all I needed to do was put one foot in front of the other.
One Healthy Breakdown: as long as you’re moving forward, that’s enough to get you there.
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