Reality...and Blessings

I have been a bad blogger lately mostly because I have been a sick blogger lately! I had strep and now I have some funky thing that just won't go away. Although I got in a 10 miler yesterday in this gorgeous January thaw!

I do have something non running related...Friday was my birthday. I turned 31....yep 31. That number makes me want to be ill! It was kind of a melancholy birthday. Part of me is surprised at where my life is right now. (in a good way) I have a great job and am doing a lot of adjunct teaching. I have a beautiful daughter and a great husband. Plus I have done more in running than I thought I had in me! But there is always that side of me that is surprised at where my life is right now. (in a bad way) I had always thought I would live closer to my family...I would be thinner as a mom(although I am working on that self perception as one of my resolutions)...I thought I would be able to stay home with my kids and be able to go back to teaching after they started school...just different.
This really weighed on me until this weekend. I had to give myself a good swift kick in the booty and realize that my reality is such a blessing. Part of this kick came from watching the relief efforts in Haiti and realizing just how devastated of a place that is. I have contacted my students from there and their families are doing well. The other part of this kick came from news I got on a friend's baby girl who has Down's Syndrome. This family has been through everything...two adopted boys from Haiti one of which had Sickle Cell Anemia. They went through a bone marrow transplant several years ago with him. Then having a baby that they did not know had Down's Syndrome. And through it all they remain so focused on how blessed they are. Well today their little girl was admitted to Children's when doctors thought she is now having baby seizures.

This quote came to my mind when I heard this news:
"We can focus on the mud or lift our eyes and see the stars...."Elizabeth Elliot
I'm going to focus on the stars!!!