Plus races in the Andorra Mountains, California wine country, Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, PA Grand Canyon, Texas state parks + the streets of Addis Ababa
As an African-American woman, I debated as to whether or not I should respond. But here goes...This year has been unbelievably hard, for all the reasons you know. I am not celebrating a victory because there's still so much to be afraid of. To be honest, running has probably been the one thing (besides family and God) that have kept me going, and sometimes when I run, I'm fearful...will I make it back home? It's exhausting and I'm tired of being strong, and angry at the same time. Yes, I'm angry because I have to be "strong" for myself and everyone else. I will keep going because there is no other choice. There are flickers of good things...I have a race on Saturday (Kentucky Derby mini-marathon) and am looking forward to it. Like Dory said in "Finding Nemo"...just keep swimming...and that's what I'm going to do.
Beautiful dog and good message. When I start feeling at odds with the world it is usually my perspective that needs adjusting, not the world's. Thank you Terrell.
Good morning, Terrell. Your post really spoke to me today. I am feeling a bit of the same impatience and learning that I need to slow down and let my dog make circles too, hypothetically not literally. Being kind and forgiving, both to ourselves and others, is key, I believe. Lately when I find myself feeling impatient, I take a moment and breathe, then ask myself “what’s the rush?” I challenge myself to find the joy or humor in that moment. This is working really well for me. I try to refrain from watching too much tv or news lately because that causes all sorts of frustrations in myself that I don’t need and doesn’t help. I think we’ve all been through so much in the past few years that we need to practice patience, as you said, with ourselves and those around us, strangers or not. Yesterday morning while waiting for the breakfast I ordered myself and a coworker, they had a tv on and I watched some of the proceedings of the recent case when an African American man sat down close to me. I was kind of pacing around, still waiting, repeatedly checking the time on my watch, and noticeably anxious. When the lady gave me my food, I turned back around and made eye contact with him and nodded. Even though my mask was on, they say you can still tell if someone is smiling at you by looking at your eyes. He nodded back and very confidently told me “you have a good day”. His response just made everything better for some reason and I affirmed back “thank you. and you too, sir.” That one moment made my day! I’m not exactly sure why but perhaps I felt a sense of hope and gratitude for the kindness of another. I walked away and thought “thank you, God. I needed that.”
Thanks Terrell, as usual a great post to round out the week. Amelia, the dog I "inherited" from my teen daughter, does circles like Twix at meal time and when trying to get me to play with her (dog toys specifically). I know she is happy, but not sure why the circles. She is happy at other times with no circles!
The following is for Twix ... “Speaking of circles, when I’m in an out-and-back race and I approach the turn-around point, I look for the proverbial turn-around sign with the upside-down “U” and do a little pirouette in front of the race volunteer and say, “OK, I turned around ... now what?” Happy running.
Great post Terrell. Your cultural references are amazing. Anne Lamott? Del Griffith? CS Lewis last week? You are firing on all cylinders! Thanks for the post - it helps my thought processes!
It is the little things in life that have the most impact on us. I was reading about that in my devotional this morning. I like the idea of bird by bird, or circle by circle. I remember from one of our readings to take it one tree at a time as you are learning to run well. I believe that was from "Running With Sherman" but I am not sure. Thanks for the thoughts you portrayed in your post.
As an African-American woman, I debated as to whether or not I should respond. But here goes...This year has been unbelievably hard, for all the reasons you know. I am not celebrating a victory because there's still so much to be afraid of. To be honest, running has probably been the one thing (besides family and God) that have kept me going, and sometimes when I run, I'm fearful...will I make it back home? It's exhausting and I'm tired of being strong, and angry at the same time. Yes, I'm angry because I have to be "strong" for myself and everyone else. I will keep going because there is no other choice. There are flickers of good things...I have a race on Saturday (Kentucky Derby mini-marathon) and am looking forward to it. Like Dory said in "Finding Nemo"...just keep swimming...and that's what I'm going to do.
Terrell, you could try copying your dog and the three circles. There may be something to it! ;)
Beautiful dog and good message. When I start feeling at odds with the world it is usually my perspective that needs adjusting, not the world's. Thank you Terrell.
Good morning, Terrell. Your post really spoke to me today. I am feeling a bit of the same impatience and learning that I need to slow down and let my dog make circles too, hypothetically not literally. Being kind and forgiving, both to ourselves and others, is key, I believe. Lately when I find myself feeling impatient, I take a moment and breathe, then ask myself “what’s the rush?” I challenge myself to find the joy or humor in that moment. This is working really well for me. I try to refrain from watching too much tv or news lately because that causes all sorts of frustrations in myself that I don’t need and doesn’t help. I think we’ve all been through so much in the past few years that we need to practice patience, as you said, with ourselves and those around us, strangers or not. Yesterday morning while waiting for the breakfast I ordered myself and a coworker, they had a tv on and I watched some of the proceedings of the recent case when an African American man sat down close to me. I was kind of pacing around, still waiting, repeatedly checking the time on my watch, and noticeably anxious. When the lady gave me my food, I turned back around and made eye contact with him and nodded. Even though my mask was on, they say you can still tell if someone is smiling at you by looking at your eyes. He nodded back and very confidently told me “you have a good day”. His response just made everything better for some reason and I affirmed back “thank you. and you too, sir.” That one moment made my day! I’m not exactly sure why but perhaps I felt a sense of hope and gratitude for the kindness of another. I walked away and thought “thank you, God. I needed that.”
Well said! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Thanks Terrell, as usual a great post to round out the week. Amelia, the dog I "inherited" from my teen daughter, does circles like Twix at meal time and when trying to get me to play with her (dog toys specifically). I know she is happy, but not sure why the circles. She is happy at other times with no circles!
The following is for Twix ... “Speaking of circles, when I’m in an out-and-back race and I approach the turn-around point, I look for the proverbial turn-around sign with the upside-down “U” and do a little pirouette in front of the race volunteer and say, “OK, I turned around ... now what?” Happy running.
Great post Terrell. Your cultural references are amazing. Anne Lamott? Del Griffith? CS Lewis last week? You are firing on all cylinders! Thanks for the post - it helps my thought processes!
It is the little things in life that have the most impact on us. I was reading about that in my devotional this morning. I like the idea of bird by bird, or circle by circle. I remember from one of our readings to take it one tree at a time as you are learning to run well. I believe that was from "Running With Sherman" but I am not sure. Thanks for the thoughts you portrayed in your post.