Continuing with the tradition I started the past 2 weeks, today’s word for motivation monday is resilience.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this word this past week. To me it really embodies what I need to have both for running, my marriage, and my life in general. We all have things that knock us down, that is just part of life. Resilience is what causes us to pick ourselves back up each time and keep moving.
Resilience doesn’t mean that things don’t get to us. It doesn’t mean that we don’t fall down or that we don’t break apart sometimes. That is just how life goes, and emotion or frustration don’t make us weak. Resilience is taking a moment (or if you are me sometimes a day/week) and letting ourselves be upset and then picking ourselves back up.
I am an extremely emotional person. You may see it some on the blog, but if you ever meet me in person you will learn this very quickly. I used to be ashamed of this fact. I tend to cry more than most people, I am extremely sappy, and often times I take things to heart that I really shouldn’t. I used to feel so bad for this and I kept trying to change myself. I kept trying to be something I wasn’t.
As I have grown up over the last several years I have learned that this doesn’t make me weak. Emotion is a great thing and I often am much more sympathetic to others because of this. Just because I get upset over something doesn’t make me any less of a person, but it is what I do once I am done getting upset that makes me resilient. It is not letting something take over my life, but keep pushing forward in the right direction.
I know I have mentioned it before, but my husband always tells me it is not about suddenly making some big change over night but it is about getting up every single day and furthering yourself in some way. Even if it is a very small baby step.
I really have thought about that lately. In my life and in my running journey. Some days we have awful runs but it is about not letting that hold us back. Sometimes furthering yourself is simply picking yourself back up and going out and readjusting your plan. It can mean just simply doing something again and giving it another shot.
As you all know I’ve been cross training with my husband as he has dealt with a tough injury the past week or so. It’s been really hard for him especially being so close to the race he looks forward to every single year. The Boston Marathon has such a special place in our hearts not only because of all that has happened recently, but also because it is the place we got engaged almost 5 years ago.
I don’t look at taking time off to be with him as weak, I look at it as resilient. If I can encourage him, help him, and get him back to where he wants to be then I am so happy to do that. It is teaching me a lot to at the same time and I am learning how to take care of my body and make it stronger even when I take a short break from running. I am learning that life isn’t all about helping ourselves but also helping others to be resilient. Sometimes we all just need a little push.
This was one of my absolute favorite quotes after I lost my job. To me it meant that life isn’t always going to go our way, sometimes it’s going to do everything in it’s power to go the opposite way, but if we adjust how we look at life and we focus on the things we have control over we can learn to find happiness and a blessing in every situation.
As you know Wes and I really don’t like where we are living currently. To say it has been a hard 4 years would be an understatement. We always say we don’t care where we go next as long as we get out of here. It’s negative, but we are ready to move on. However, just yesterday when Wes and I were pool running I looked at him and said “it is a blessing that we are here right now because if we weren’t you probably wouldn’t have a pool available to you for pool running.” When we lived in NC we looked everywhere for a place with a pool but could never afford it, now we have access to THREE and at a very discounted price. It may be a small blessing, but it is a blessing none-the-less!
I’ll leave you with this final quote. It is so so true. I’ve really made a point to try and remind myself of this lately. Not every day is going to be a good day. Whether it is with you running, in your relationships, in your family, or just life in general it is guaranteed that we will not have good days all the time. However, it’s all about our attitude and if we really look at our lives and our situation we can find SOMETHING good in every single day.
My challenge to you this week is even on the tough days, the days when your run doesn’t go well, you get in an argument with your spouse or someone at work, when money is tight, or we are just down right exhausted try to find SOMETHING good in your day.
The winner of the Though Blossoms’ bracelet giveaway is Jenna Freeman!
Congrats! I’ll be emailing you shortly so we can get your bracelet ordered and on it’s way to you!
What is your favorite quote on resilience?
What is ONE good thing about your weekend or your Monday?
Sweet.
Again I am loving these weekly posts … it is something I always say ‘we cannot control some of the things that happen, we can only control our reactions’. I think you are doing pretty well – but really that is a question only you can answer for yourself, and you and Wes for your relationship.
I think that the gym example is perfect – I was reading your recap post and thinking THREE pools?!? Wow. There is one in the Y I was a member of, so hearing about your gym is amazing. Of course, some people think that my access to running routes and hills and flats in my area is amazing as well (I know I do) … so we all have to find the positives. That was something we talked about before – you said you and Wes were building lists of things about your area you liked. I think that is really important.
Here is a quote – “The oak fought the wind and was broken; the willow bent when it must and survived.” – Robert Jordan, ‘The Fires of Heaven’.
Love that quote! Thank you for sharing. We try to focus on something positive every day even when it is hard or we have a million inches of snow that won’t stop coming down 😉
We’ve made it this far – a few more months is NOTHING in the overall scheme of things!
I definitely understand, we don’t love where we are living but it’s the best grad program for me so we deal with it. That being said, so many times this winter when the place we used to live has been covered in snow and ice, I think how lucky I am to be able to train outside and have decent weather. There are positives everywhere, you just have to look for them!
Exactly! Great example! I am envious of your nice weather 🙂
Thank you for the Monday motivation. I’m at my parent’s house and my motivation is lacking. I don’t want to do anything, but lay on the couch and watch the Olympics. Have a great Monday!
Ashley, Married to the Game
Laying on the couch and watching the Olympics sounds like a great day to me! 🙂 I know i can’t do that either though. Hope you have a great Monday! 🙂
I made a new friend at spin class and turns out she is a doctor. I really needed one this weekend with a kidney scare. She was able to get me in for labs right away. I’m so grateful!
Wow – scary story! Hope you’re OK!
Wow I hope you are doing OK and feel better soon!
I have a tattoo on my wrist that says “Unbroken” for some of the very reasons you write about in this post.
Love that! 🙂
Thanks for this post, was great to read while I enjoy my coffee before class today 🙂 I can relate to your musings about being too emotional and feeling like you have to change that. I don’t know how to say this in a way that doesn’t sound douche-y (probably because there isn’t a way), but I sometimes feel more emotionally mature than other people my age (I’m 22) because in my head, I instinctively try to understand everyone’s perspective, which makes me feel like i’m doing that “mom thing”. and i’m so so cheesy. i don’t know it makes me feel weird sometimes. and i can’t really change myself because then if i do i’m not being true to myself and that makes me feel weird too… eh who knows i’m likely just overthinking this. 🙂
anyway, on resilience though, i totally agree with you. hardships are the best opportunity for us to build resilience. it’s how i try to look at the situation whenever i feel like i’ve failed. in a sense, resilience is flexibility, the ability to bounce back. thanks for the reminder!
Love that Eva! I have grown up a lot in the past couple years and I am slowly getting there, but yes I agree changing that part of you would change yourself and that isn’t what anyone should do!
Hope you have a great week 🙂