RUN/RID-erful Wednesday

It's important to take stock in life's everyday blessings. Sometimes I have so much going on that focusing on the small things make me smile, as well as force me to live in the moment and not take things for granted. My goal is to set aside one day a week to discuss a favorite quote or theme that currently resonates with me when it comes to running, BMX or just life in general.

This week's thoughts include:

Never Give Up

Recently I just re-read Elizabeth Clor's book Boston Bound, which is an account of her 7 year journey to run the Boston Marathon. While I'm not trying to run Boston anytime soon, her struggle resonates with me. Like many of us, she's going after her dreams. When the road gets bumpy she becomes frustrated - I know I have, too. What sets Elizabeth apart is that even though she goes through these rough times she ultimately refuses to give up. That resilience of will is something I look up to and appreciate. 

We hear so many stories of people shooting for the stars and reaching their goals, but many times we fail to hear the struggles, setbacks and heartaches surrounding those attempts. We take in these huge and seemingly "easily accomplished" success stories and no matter how inspiring they can be, they can also give us the feeling that any portion of failure on our own part is permanent. Nothing's set in stone. Chasing a dream is a lot like living life - we want it to be an easy ride but somewhere along our journey that path becomes bumpy. Like Elizabeth's struggles, how we react to those obstacles becomes the definer, not the bump itself. 

If you're chasing your dream and something prevented you, try again - maybe even change up how you go about it. It's OK to fall about a million times as long as you take that breath, get up on the million and first time, and try again.