It's raining! It's cold! And it's 6 am on a Sunday morning! The
first thought after texting, "yes, we are" to Sheena's question,
"the sky is falling, are we still on?" was to stay under the covers
for 15 more minutes. But I was wide awake, and instead of wanting to go back to
sleep or curling up with a book, I wanted to get into my warm rain-proof
clothes and hit the road!
Yes, call me crazy, but
Geralyn and Sheena have made waking up early on Sunday mornings somewhat of an
adventure to look forward to.
From the first time that
Geralyn showed up to hike with me, really nervous about being able to keep up
and finish what I claimed was an easy 3 mile loop, to the day she asked when we
would hike the 13 mile loop I had promised, it has been months of very joyful
hikes every weekend. And then Sheena came along for a 13 mile hike, breaking
all kinds of records on her first day using her Fitbit. The jewel in the crown
- Geralyn's idea to hike at Land's End followed by brunch at Louis' for
Sheena's birthday. Aloma joining us was a big bonus!
We walked, we laughed, we
took a lot of pictures. And we started a new tradition - birthday
celebrations at Land's End!
Call me crazy, because I
started my birthday morning by waking up at 4:45 am, driving my cousin to the
airport, and then heading out for my practice 10K to prepare for the
Thanksgiving Gobble Wobble. I answered birthday calls, texts and Facebook
messages while on my walk/run. And I spent some time thinking back on the year
since I wrote my first blog for my birthday.
This year, I did a few things that most people who know me would consider either crazy or just not me! I made choices that would normally scare me, I made decisions that were unlike me. I learned that, in life, you often feel that you are rationalizing decisions to reconcile them with your core values, but when you are rooted in those values, you are simply finding ways to make sure that your decisions don't go against them. This allowed me to open my heart to new friendships, and embrace people I felt I had nothing in common with (and could never work with). It made me a believer in second chances, for myself and for others.
Among other things, I
spent a whole day in Disneyland wearing a tutu, and even danced with the band.
And I wore pink Minnie Mouse ears with a red tutu - shockingly unfashionable! I
climbed on a fallen tree, and tried to balance on it. I crawled up on a tree
trunk, and pretended to sleep (while getting sticky sap all over my
clothes).
Call me crazy, but I
believe that being in the company of nature with someone else who believes in
you is the most therapeutic thing you can do for yourself.
I am going to end this
birthday blog with a quote from Sheena that is going to be my mantra.
"Ain't no mountain
high enough, ain't no selfie hard enough"
