Gratitude
is Done.
Hope has been checked off the
list. We literally laughed out way through humor. And now we
are here. Underachieving during the one week where I should have been primed
for success. Inspiration.
It
was almost cancelled.
I
had grand plans of getting miles in each day, in honor of someone or something
that inspired me. I started off with my mile+ loop Monday and Tuesday, but
those were the hardest miles I ran this week. It felt forced, and contrived, which
inspired me to, well, not do much running after that. For an experience that
has had me planning running outfits, excitedly, to searching desperately for my
running shoes Saturday morning. I planned to join friends for a group-Zoom run,
but that 7:00am alarm? Just, no. I eventually got up and got out later in the
day, and finished my miles on the treadmill and at Club MTV w/ D-Nice and later
at #ClubQuarantine
#AfterDark
EVEN THIS BLOG ENTRY IS LATE – and I love writing?!
What is going on?
If
my underachieving inspires you, then we have:
15k = 9.3 miles
Running
(outdoor): 4.82 miles
Running
(treadmill): 1.413 miles
Exercising:
62mins/3.061 miles
[The Math: 9.3mi – (4.82mi + 1.413mi) = 3.061mi; 3.061mi x 20min = 61.22mins; 62 mins
of exercise/physical activity]
3k = 3.1 miles
Running
(treadmill): 3.429 miles
[The Math: Well, D-Nice an’nem was partying with a purpose to raise money for UNCF (Donate! (if you can) and I was well, you know, looking for purpose… #HillmanCollege
#Alumnae]
E-Boogie got
that 5K in too! Done. Dedicated my
inspiration run to my homey Ross that passed away on the 10th.
#prayers #love
She also dedicated a run to my father, who passed around the time we were
supposed to do the #RockNRollSD #HalfMarathonRelay. I love
her for that, and other reasons… Like being my #someone in #california, who…, and still, reasons more.
But
about this Inspiration thing…
Before
I moved back to California, I came to the Bay Area for a visit. Literally,
there was no big concert, or sporting event, or anything causing me to fly from
ORF >> SJC
other than the Bay Area is one of my homes, a beloved one. I was out to dinner
with a friend who had recently began his running adventures. He dove into the
deep in of the running pool where Spartan Races happen, and well, I still
needed floaties for my running adventures. I was so proud of him, marveling at
his Spartan Race series medal (one of three he was looking to earn). It reinvigorated
my love and passion for running. Not so much to sign up for the mud, climbing, burpees,
and fire, but enough to consider the next challenge. I will never forget what he
said to me, after saying, You’re a smart girl, but that’s a dumb phone… #iLovedThatKeyboard lol
Somebody gotta inspire those that inspire [others].
Most
of what inspires me is out of my daily reach. Before my father became present with
the Lord, he was always 1000+ miles away from me. The spirits of the ancestors
are among us, but we must search for them, for the things they left behind, for
their faces, to remind of our why.
I
went on and on thinking to all the people, all the places, all the things, for which
I have an abundance of gratitude, for how they inspired me. It was only when I
got home, I realized that he was saying something like, me, like I, was
inspiring people, and he had to do the work to inspire me, so I could inspire others.
Before
I started this week, ready to take on the pavement, each day, and give to all
that inspired me, paying homage to him, for that moment, was not on the list.
Maybe my inability to be great in the way I planned was about that. Was about
finding that moment. Finding him. About doing something, that inspires someone
else. About being on the giving end of inspiration, instead of taking (being)
inspired.
It
seems strange, hunh? To do something with the intention of inspiring others. Like
you’re just THAT good. Scratch that, you’re just that damn great, and the world
is waiting for you to have that Ilyana effect on them, because, in times like
these, we need fixing! But what if it wasn’t that. What if it was an act of
service, to those, who plow and till the lands which birth what inspires us? I
imagine their yokes are heavy burdensome blessings…
Because
honestly, when that memory of him came to me on Sunday, I was already past the
5K mark. (I was also jammin’
to D-Nice. I get my best thoughts when I run #inspired).
Good
thing everybody knows…almost doesn’t count.
This
week is all about COURAGE! How
fitting…