Being thankful for life - Boston Marathon explosion
Marni Sumbal, MS, RD
I was so excited to write my next blog today, talking about my training over the weekend. In view of the fact that many people are suffering from the explosions at the Boston Marathon today, I can't help but be extremely saddened by this horrific event. As a writer, I express myself the best with words on paper (or computer) so it only feels natural to write my blog but with a different take away message.
Life brings challenges, stressful situations and emotional times. It also brings success stories, inspirational moments and memory making experiences. Everyone is unique and comes with a story.
When I started my business, I thought long and hard about my philosophy and what I wanted to provide to others in this world. Over time, I took mental notes as to how athletes and fitness enthusiasts were living life and I loved the fact that so many people in this world have goals related to diet and exercise and wanted me to help them reach their personal goals.
With yet another eye-opening event that proves the fact that life is short with no guarantees, I am quickly reminded as to my mission with my business and how I choose to live my life.
Life brings challenges, stressful situations and emotional times. It also brings success stories, inspirational moments and memory making experiences. Everyone is unique and comes with a story.
When I started my business, I thought long and hard about my philosophy and what I wanted to provide to others in this world. Over time, I took mental notes as to how athletes and fitness enthusiasts were living life and I loved the fact that so many people in this world have goals related to diet and exercise and wanted me to help them reach their personal goals.
With yet another eye-opening event that proves the fact that life is short with no guarantees, I am quickly reminded as to my mission with my business and how I choose to live my life.
Over the past few days, what have you complained about? Have you gone to bed upset at yourself? Have you felt stressed with things out of your control? Have you felt depressed that everything was "off" and not going your way?
I'd be lying if I said my life was peachy-keen and perfect. Far from it. For 8 weeks (Feb - beginning of April), I didn't run because of my long-time history with on and off hip/back issues. There were days that were exhausting and stressful with my business, sad days at the hospital and there were times when I asked myself "why me?"
I'd be lying if I said my life was peachy-keen and perfect. Far from it. For 8 weeks (Feb - beginning of April), I didn't run because of my long-time history with on and off hip/back issues. There were days that were exhausting and stressful with my business, sad days at the hospital and there were times when I asked myself "why me?"
Of course, I can't motivate others to be excited to change their life if I am complaining all the time so I use my social media networks (instagram, twitter, facebook, blog) to make sure that I am living a great life, hoping that I can inspire you to do the same. I don't choose to be fake so when I share something via social media, it is not only for you but for myself. If you are an athlete, you know the feeling when you cheer for someone who is hurting during a race...it doesn't only lift them up but it gives you a sudden surge of energy. That is what I love about life - we all can be cheerleaders for others just as much as we can be cheerleaders for ourselves.
So for every day when I thought about what I "couldn't do" with running, I found something I could do to stay active without pain and to promote healing. With every tiring day with my business, I thought of how grateful I am to do what I love to do every day and how much I love my athletes and fitness enthusiasts. And with every day that I thought "why me", I thought about my worst day being someone else's worst day.
You see, we all have off, bad and stressful days. If you don't, you are not normal. I don't consider you lucky if you have perfect days every day because I feel the lucky ones are those who experiences things in life and overcome them. For that makes you stronger, wiser and smarter. In racing, every bad moment has a good moment to follow. You just have to get there. And sadly, be prepared for when you are feeling good there is likely a bad moment around the corner. That's the way it goes as an athlete.....you just have to keep moving until you reach the finish line.
One of the best parts of my business is helping others change the way that they are living life. Because it is normal to have personal issues, thoughts and worries with diet, exercise and life, I love connecting with people and making sure that athletes and fitness enthusiasts are making progress in life and not wasting days on Earth. There's nothing worse in life than going to bed feeling like you took a step backward or not making progress. By identifying what you are not happy with and what it would mean to you if you changed it, you can easily find a few ways to tweak your life to move to a better place of waking up excited to live life in a great way and to go to bed being grateful for another tomorrow.
So for every day when I thought about what I "couldn't do" with running, I found something I could do to stay active without pain and to promote healing. With every tiring day with my business, I thought of how grateful I am to do what I love to do every day and how much I love my athletes and fitness enthusiasts. And with every day that I thought "why me", I thought about my worst day being someone else's worst day.
You see, we all have off, bad and stressful days. If you don't, you are not normal. I don't consider you lucky if you have perfect days every day because I feel the lucky ones are those who experiences things in life and overcome them. For that makes you stronger, wiser and smarter. In racing, every bad moment has a good moment to follow. You just have to get there. And sadly, be prepared for when you are feeling good there is likely a bad moment around the corner. That's the way it goes as an athlete.....you just have to keep moving until you reach the finish line.
One of the best parts of my business is helping others change the way that they are living life. Because it is normal to have personal issues, thoughts and worries with diet, exercise and life, I love connecting with people and making sure that athletes and fitness enthusiasts are making progress in life and not wasting days on Earth. There's nothing worse in life than going to bed feeling like you took a step backward or not making progress. By identifying what you are not happy with and what it would mean to you if you changed it, you can easily find a few ways to tweak your life to move to a better place of waking up excited to live life in a great way and to go to bed being grateful for another tomorrow.
I don't feel that we should feel guilty for living an awesome life. I think the issue is not feeling as if you have the ability and confidence to live a great life. The ability to worry less about your body weight and to focus more on your relationship with your one and only body. The ability to worry less about nailing every workout or reaching a PR or podium spot at every race and to focus more on the bigger picture and be lucky to push your body to higher limits. Yes, sometimes we get injured but many times we can prevent injuries by just training smarter. And lastly, the ability to worry less about things out of your control and to spend energy on what you can control.
If you are complaining about your life or making excuses, ask yourself if it is important as to what you are complaining about? If it is, how will you change it? What would your life be like if you stopped wishing for things to happen and you just started to make things happen? Sometimes we have to let our ego stay at home, our comparisons to others be forgotten and memories of the past inspire us (or if hindering, don't let them hold you back).
If you are complaining about your life or making excuses, ask yourself if it is important as to what you are complaining about? If it is, how will you change it? What would your life be like if you stopped wishing for things to happen and you just started to make things happen? Sometimes we have to let our ego stay at home, our comparisons to others be forgotten and memories of the past inspire us (or if hindering, don't let them hold you back).
No one wants to say it but if you died tomorrow, would everything that you complain about be worth it? Striving for that perfect lean body, overtraining for an upcoming race or waking up every day hating the way your life is heading....is it worth it?
Let's be a bit more grateful for life, the opportunities that come our way and most importantly, your current state of health.
You can still be competitive, goal-oriented and strong-minded and still live a balanced life. Just make sure that whatever you are wishing for is something that you will actually enjoy if you eventually get the chance to get what you think you want and how will your life change if you get it.
Thoughts and prayers to all people affected by the Boston Marathon explosions and let's not forget the dedication, passion and inspiration by the 25,000+ runners who had no fears but only high expectations for an awesome day...doing what they love.