….Just continuing the trend from Yesterday…is it a trend if you’ve only done it once?  Anyway…

I have a guitar lesson tomorrow.  I haven’t practiced the song my teacher wants me to learn.  I’ve only been playing the songs I want to learn.  He assures me that if I learn this song it will help me learn a lot about E Phrygian and rhythm and where the actual notes are on the strings.  I know he’s right but I really do not like the song.  Water Come a Me Eye…sigh….I’m in trouble.

I ran 20 minutes today.  I was supposed to run 4-5miles but I got up late and so my rule is, run at least 20 minutes and so I did and I’m glad I did.

My word for this year is Challenge.  I was listening to the radio, KLOVE, I think actually, and the DJ was talking about having a word for the year.  Instead of doing a resolution, you have a word that you focus on for the year.  Challenge seemed so obvious for me.  It seems I’m always challenging myself to do something…run further, run faster, learn guitar, write more, read more, do more…I’ve been thinking sometimes it’s just a challenge to sit and be quiet, to listen, to really listen to other people as they talk.   When I really listen to my daughter I am amazed.  She is so smart, funny, adventurous, insightful.  I keep wondering when she will lose that childlike innocence and curiosity.  I keep hoping she never will, praying really and I don’t know why it was/is so important to me but then yesterday I read this:

“I think that the first thing to do is to make sure that all that energy, that light, does not grow dim in your hearts and to resist the growing mentality which considers it useless and absurd to aspire to things that demand effort.  Be committed to something; be committed to someone.  Don’t be afraid to take a risk.  Don’t be afraid to give the best of yourselves…Don’t look out for the easy wicket, in order to avoid having to do real, hard work.”

It was said by Jorge Mario Bergoglio to youth in Paraguay.  It pretty much sums up my hopes for my daughter. When I stopped to think about it I realized it really summed up my hopes for myself.  What is life without hope?  What is life without striving for betterment?  What is life without seeing the wonder and amazement in the everyday?  This same man said , “You are too important to be satisfied with living life under a kind of anesthesia.”  How many of us live a life “under anesthesia”?  I know I do sometimes, sometimes instead of looking for challenge I’d rather spend time on Facebook reading mindless drivel and taking silly quizzes. Today I spent the better part of an hour looking for and then posting this link to reclassify Pluto as a full fledged planet. (which by the way it could use some signatures ;-)!! )

https://www.change.org/p/international-astronomical-union-declare-pluto-a-planet-plutoflyby?recruiter=343443684&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&sharecordion_display=highlight_active_card

Learning and becoming better takes work, sometimes A LOT of work, participating in life is hard, is challenge, some days, anesthesia sounds pretty good to me but then I’ll read something like that quote and I’ll remember what we are here for…

“Happiness is demanding; it requires commitment and effort,” Bergoglio told the youth.  He’s right you know.  Happiness isn’t a feeling, not really, for me it’s that feeling you get when you are so exhausted from giving it your all, everything you have, that sense of accomplishment.  For me it can come from a faster than normal run, a long run, helping a friend, guiding a student, being a mom who listens.

So…the challenge continues, my challenge continues…to be better, to do better, to give more, to love more, to be more than I think I can be because the truth is we were created to accomplish amazing wonderful, beautiful things, not live on life support.  We give it all because He gave it all.

I really like that thought…

So for today I am thankful for a fun morning at the library with my daughter where she picked out books about frogs and bats when she knows I am afraid of them just to watch me squirm.  She laughed and laughed and her laugh is the best music in the world.  I am thankful for being able to eat lunch with her dad, my husband, almost everyday during summer:-)   I am thankful for the fun time we had at the water park after lunch and the vanilla dippin dots we shared when we were done.  I’m really thankful for ice cream today and for words from people like Pope Francis that are so very powerful.  Words really can change life.  They can inspire or kill. His words inspired and challenged me….so guess I’ll…

Keep on running…