A quick funny thought
My husband brought out the brochure for the Treeherne Marathon "run for the hills". All morning I have Bruce Dickinson in my head singing 'Run To The Hills'. Huh! Haven't heard that song for a very long time, don't remember any words other than 'run to the hills, run for your life'. I'm not sure if I can run this one in September as we are not yet sure if we will find babysitting, but if I do I think I will have to add this song to my play list, somewhere between Casting Crowns and Newsboys.
Have a great day!
Nicole
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Learning to slow down?
It has been an interesting day with so many different topics of discussions. Work is my social life for the most part. As well it is a school house where I am taught many lessons I am lucky enough to experience through others.
For myself, lessons best learned are those I get to experience myself. Although there are those that it is just as nice to learn through others mistakes. Either way life is all about learning. To stop learning is to stop growing, to stop experiencing, and really there is nothing left after we stop. Each breath is new, and to figure out how to keep that in mind has been difficult lately as I have found myself caught up in the every day life, forgetting that it is everyday LIVING that I'm going for.
Had a great walk home with my youngest yesterday. We had been at the pool and then walked (about a mile) home, but on the way we found so many awesome distractions! First a stop at the fresh fruit stand. We were needing apples, and strawberries, but after a few samples we found plums, beets (along with instructions on what to do with them), and of course cucumbers. What a grand time my three year old and I had deciding what to bring home. Then back to our walk, only to find honeysuckle flowers (or weeds?) along the way. Of course we need to stop and pick a few for some of the girls my son knows. I did not have the heart to tell him that they were not going to survive the night, it was adorable to watch him plan who was going to get which flower. Then when one was lost we had to quickly find some more to replace it. Then there was a park on the way home as well. At this point I'm thinking that we will never get home to make dinner, much less to eat, but I am determined to be LIVING and not get caught up in the everyday life of droning onto the next thing! So we stop to play for 5 min along the way, really is 5 min so bad? There are no other commitments for the evening, so 5 min is really nothing, except for the incredible experience for watching my three year old run around smiling as he gets as much sliding time in before we start back on our way home again.
Once home we get into cleaning vegetables and making dinner. What a great 40 min though! It is all in our frame of mind. I just have to remember to get out of the rushing around mode and into the enjoying the living mode. Something to think about as the week progresses and I feel like I'm being pulled. Pulled back into societies view of what should be, of what success is to 'them', of what success is suppose to look like. Redefining this is hard but I've seen it done and know it is do-able! So here we go.... off on another adventure of not caring what anyone else thinks, and ENJOYING every minute of it!!
Have a great day!
Nicole
For myself, lessons best learned are those I get to experience myself. Although there are those that it is just as nice to learn through others mistakes. Either way life is all about learning. To stop learning is to stop growing, to stop experiencing, and really there is nothing left after we stop. Each breath is new, and to figure out how to keep that in mind has been difficult lately as I have found myself caught up in the every day life, forgetting that it is everyday LIVING that I'm going for.
Had a great walk home with my youngest yesterday. We had been at the pool and then walked (about a mile) home, but on the way we found so many awesome distractions! First a stop at the fresh fruit stand. We were needing apples, and strawberries, but after a few samples we found plums, beets (along with instructions on what to do with them), and of course cucumbers. What a grand time my three year old and I had deciding what to bring home. Then back to our walk, only to find honeysuckle flowers (or weeds?) along the way. Of course we need to stop and pick a few for some of the girls my son knows. I did not have the heart to tell him that they were not going to survive the night, it was adorable to watch him plan who was going to get which flower. Then when one was lost we had to quickly find some more to replace it. Then there was a park on the way home as well. At this point I'm thinking that we will never get home to make dinner, much less to eat, but I am determined to be LIVING and not get caught up in the everyday life of droning onto the next thing! So we stop to play for 5 min along the way, really is 5 min so bad? There are no other commitments for the evening, so 5 min is really nothing, except for the incredible experience for watching my three year old run around smiling as he gets as much sliding time in before we start back on our way home again.
Once home we get into cleaning vegetables and making dinner. What a great 40 min though! It is all in our frame of mind. I just have to remember to get out of the rushing around mode and into the enjoying the living mode. Something to think about as the week progresses and I feel like I'm being pulled. Pulled back into societies view of what should be, of what success is to 'them', of what success is suppose to look like. Redefining this is hard but I've seen it done and know it is do-able! So here we go.... off on another adventure of not caring what anyone else thinks, and ENJOYING every minute of it!!
Have a great day!
Nicole
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Just some thoughts.....
So I have been reading 'Born to Run' again. I am picking up some interesting details I didn't see last time. I only began reading this past week and I am enjoying it all over again. Some things I would like to share.......
" It reminded me of a proverb attributed to Roger Bannister,....... 'Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up,' Bannister said'. 'It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle- when the sun comes up you'd better be running." pg.13 Just before this the author questions why we never see a wolf icing its knee, and after, he comments as to why we are the only mammal on the planet unable to rely on our legs.
Later on in the book (I'm not there yet this time through) the author Christopher McDougall goes on to find research showing that our bodies have the same characteristics of those animals who run. I find it interesting that God really must have a plan. He has equipped us with every thing we need. Our feet have been designed to do something awesome, carry us along our road, path, journey. He not only made us He made us very good.
"And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day." Genesis 2:31 (amplified version)
Not once does it say that He mucked up on our feet! Of course I understand that we have been given the intelligence to fix things and to be creative and we should use our brains to build and live. We were made to enjoy our lives as well, to be filled to overflowing with gladness.
"I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing." John 15:11
This is what the running high is all about, I think. And it is not limited to running. I had an experience a couple of weeks ago that left me 'high' for almost two days, it was a great work out with some interesting people. It is the state of mind, or maybe the state of spirit you are in I think that determines this. For those out there in tuned with your body, mind, and spirit.... you get it. Even if you are only working on being in tuned with any of these areas, ...... you get it, or you wouldn't be working on it. There is something more to this running than just the run, isn't it great how beautifully and wonderfully made we are!
I'm not saying that running is for everyone, but the joy and gladness is for everyone in the things we were each designed to do. Each of us were designed to live with a purpose, and when that purpose is found so is the joy 'of full measure and complete and overflowing'.
I hope we all get to find this in our lives, the point where we get it. The point where it all becomes a 'runners high'. I wish you Joy.
Nicole
" It reminded me of a proverb attributed to Roger Bannister,....... 'Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up,' Bannister said'. 'It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle- when the sun comes up you'd better be running." pg.13 Just before this the author questions why we never see a wolf icing its knee, and after, he comments as to why we are the only mammal on the planet unable to rely on our legs.
Later on in the book (I'm not there yet this time through) the author Christopher McDougall goes on to find research showing that our bodies have the same characteristics of those animals who run. I find it interesting that God really must have a plan. He has equipped us with every thing we need. Our feet have been designed to do something awesome, carry us along our road, path, journey. He not only made us He made us very good.
"And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day." Genesis 2:31 (amplified version)
Not once does it say that He mucked up on our feet! Of course I understand that we have been given the intelligence to fix things and to be creative and we should use our brains to build and live. We were made to enjoy our lives as well, to be filled to overflowing with gladness.
"I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing." John 15:11
This is what the running high is all about, I think. And it is not limited to running. I had an experience a couple of weeks ago that left me 'high' for almost two days, it was a great work out with some interesting people. It is the state of mind, or maybe the state of spirit you are in I think that determines this. For those out there in tuned with your body, mind, and spirit.... you get it. Even if you are only working on being in tuned with any of these areas, ...... you get it, or you wouldn't be working on it. There is something more to this running than just the run, isn't it great how beautifully and wonderfully made we are!
I'm not saying that running is for everyone, but the joy and gladness is for everyone in the things we were each designed to do. Each of us were designed to live with a purpose, and when that purpose is found so is the joy 'of full measure and complete and overflowing'.
I hope we all get to find this in our lives, the point where we get it. The point where it all becomes a 'runners high'. I wish you Joy.
Nicole
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Grateful Hearts
I have had some busy days over the past month. With busyness came so many things, but I have had the time to count blessings. I think this is important as I really believe that we have forgotten to do this as a society. Not everyone, but allot of us have.
Last Thursday I experienced a grateful heart. The entire day I could only feel ecstatic for all the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to meet. For those I've know for a while, I am thankful to have them in my life (even if I only get to see them every one or two years).
I am blessed in so many ways, a wonderful husband, two awesome kids, a great city where I can afford to live, schools my children can attend, grand parents for my kids, family I can hang out with (even the in-laws), the ability to work, the ability to play, the ability to feed my kids. It sounds like simple things, yet it has been a week of eye-opening as I run around and realize that we sometimes take these small things for granted. I have the tendency to get up-tight and frustrated with things easily and now I sometimes ask myself WHY? Is this something that really matters? Sometimes it is, and many times it does not, and so many others it can be a learning experience for both my children and myself if I choose to just not loose my temper and recognize the opportunity.
It is hard to have a grateful heart all the time, but I want to live here more. I want to experience life from this perspective more. It has to be a choice though. I was listening to a sermon the other day and she said 'it takes no effort to find the bad, you just have to wait and it will find you. You just have to do nothing for disease to find you. There is a choice involved for finding good. You have to choose health, this needs to be a conscious decision, then there needs to be an effort and an action.' How true when you think about it.
It strikes me as interesting; I find this to be a simple truth, and yet not so simple when you realize this is a choice we make every day. In the foods we eat, it does take longer to make our food rather than buy it already done. The activities we choose, taking our kids here and there (this can also be a great thing) yet we don't make the most of this time, or we don't find the time to do the activity with them. Small choices we make every day, and some of the time it is not a conscious decision it is just a habit of convenience.
This behaviour is learned in our society. We have been taught to consume and buy and to not think much further than our own comfort. It has to be a conscious decision when we stop to re-educate ourselves. I think about the movie "The Matrix". The scene where Neo is sitting in the chair and he needs to make a decision, one he can never go back from. Does he take the pill? or does he continue off into the blissful existence of not knowing? Once we know certain things, there really is no going back. Once we see the truth, it is some thing we can not turn away from.
This is all really heavy this morning so I think I will stop here and digest some breakfast and coffee. I will do so with a grateful heart as I watch my children enjoy the morning, and we watch the sun come out from behind the clouds.
Have a fantastic day.
Nicole
Last Thursday I experienced a grateful heart. The entire day I could only feel ecstatic for all the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to meet. For those I've know for a while, I am thankful to have them in my life (even if I only get to see them every one or two years).
I am blessed in so many ways, a wonderful husband, two awesome kids, a great city where I can afford to live, schools my children can attend, grand parents for my kids, family I can hang out with (even the in-laws), the ability to work, the ability to play, the ability to feed my kids. It sounds like simple things, yet it has been a week of eye-opening as I run around and realize that we sometimes take these small things for granted. I have the tendency to get up-tight and frustrated with things easily and now I sometimes ask myself WHY? Is this something that really matters? Sometimes it is, and many times it does not, and so many others it can be a learning experience for both my children and myself if I choose to just not loose my temper and recognize the opportunity.
It is hard to have a grateful heart all the time, but I want to live here more. I want to experience life from this perspective more. It has to be a choice though. I was listening to a sermon the other day and she said 'it takes no effort to find the bad, you just have to wait and it will find you. You just have to do nothing for disease to find you. There is a choice involved for finding good. You have to choose health, this needs to be a conscious decision, then there needs to be an effort and an action.' How true when you think about it.
It strikes me as interesting; I find this to be a simple truth, and yet not so simple when you realize this is a choice we make every day. In the foods we eat, it does take longer to make our food rather than buy it already done. The activities we choose, taking our kids here and there (this can also be a great thing) yet we don't make the most of this time, or we don't find the time to do the activity with them. Small choices we make every day, and some of the time it is not a conscious decision it is just a habit of convenience.
This behaviour is learned in our society. We have been taught to consume and buy and to not think much further than our own comfort. It has to be a conscious decision when we stop to re-educate ourselves. I think about the movie "The Matrix". The scene where Neo is sitting in the chair and he needs to make a decision, one he can never go back from. Does he take the pill? or does he continue off into the blissful existence of not knowing? Once we know certain things, there really is no going back. Once we see the truth, it is some thing we can not turn away from.
This is all really heavy this morning so I think I will stop here and digest some breakfast and coffee. I will do so with a grateful heart as I watch my children enjoy the morning, and we watch the sun come out from behind the clouds.
Have a fantastic day.
Nicole
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Wow...... A lesson in being there
It has been an interesting week. I was really sad to find out that a couple of friends who have been married for 15 years have decided to split up and separate.They were married a month after my husband and myself, we actually stole their wedding date, by accident (long story). There are no kids involved, a couple of dogs, a house and two adult lives.
I've decided that I think that I need to be a better friend. That this could happen and I stand by completely oblivious to it all? I am naturally naive, but here I now just feel neglect full. Not that I could have done anything at all but to not even have a clue that two close friends were in trouble? I am disappointed in my by standing behaviour and attitude.
This couple I have admired in many ways. They never minded the other had outside interests. They seemed to encourage each other in their separate interests. This is something I have admired over the years in this couple. This is all new so I probably don't and won't ever have the whole story. I don't need the story.I really just need it to know that I have to make a better effort to be a friend.
One of the running things I have said to have incorporated into my life is 'improve personal relationships', here I have previously failed. So now I will study harder. I will make more of an effort to be out there, caring and just being there when a friend needs me. Maybe even when they don't need me, just because.... that's what friends do!
There is the story of Job in the bible. There is a time in his life when all is lost, with the exception of his faith, and his friends gather around him. Allot of stupid things are said, all trying to make him feel better, but all he really needs is someone there to just be, to just be there. Nothing needs to be said, there is something to be said in not having to say something at all. Anyways, I need to put in the time to just be there. Nothing more, nothing less.
This brings to mind another situation where I was probably a bit neglect full of a dear friend by trying to be kind and not hurtful. All I can do now is pray and let them know that I am here, whenever the need arises, I am here. So that is what I will do, I will let them know I am here. Every month (every week seems stalker like) I will leave a message on their answering machine to let them know I miss them, and that is all. I won't let the situation get the better (bitter) of me. I will put the work into 'improving personal relationships'.
This is a hard lesson to look at, as I have always considered myself a really great person for a friend, but to see how I have taken my friendships for granted has once again led me to another lesson in humility. And a real eye opener to the world around me. This is not an easy thing to do, look at myself this closely inside, but after the shock of seeing those around me in such.....? Not sure what to call it, as things are seeming quite amicable right now with the separating couple.? To be so oblivious to those who have been hurting? Yes, it is time for me to step up the efforts! To go out of my way for those I love and hold dear to me.
So that is the only warning if you happen to be a friend of mine and are reading this, I love you all so dearly, you are such wonderful people, and I plan to make sure you know it!
Have a great week!
Nicole
I've decided that I think that I need to be a better friend. That this could happen and I stand by completely oblivious to it all? I am naturally naive, but here I now just feel neglect full. Not that I could have done anything at all but to not even have a clue that two close friends were in trouble? I am disappointed in my by standing behaviour and attitude.
This couple I have admired in many ways. They never minded the other had outside interests. They seemed to encourage each other in their separate interests. This is something I have admired over the years in this couple. This is all new so I probably don't and won't ever have the whole story. I don't need the story.I really just need it to know that I have to make a better effort to be a friend.
One of the running things I have said to have incorporated into my life is 'improve personal relationships', here I have previously failed. So now I will study harder. I will make more of an effort to be out there, caring and just being there when a friend needs me. Maybe even when they don't need me, just because.... that's what friends do!
There is the story of Job in the bible. There is a time in his life when all is lost, with the exception of his faith, and his friends gather around him. Allot of stupid things are said, all trying to make him feel better, but all he really needs is someone there to just be, to just be there. Nothing needs to be said, there is something to be said in not having to say something at all. Anyways, I need to put in the time to just be there. Nothing more, nothing less.
This brings to mind another situation where I was probably a bit neglect full of a dear friend by trying to be kind and not hurtful. All I can do now is pray and let them know that I am here, whenever the need arises, I am here. So that is what I will do, I will let them know I am here. Every month (every week seems stalker like) I will leave a message on their answering machine to let them know I miss them, and that is all. I won't let the situation get the better (bitter) of me. I will put the work into 'improving personal relationships'.
This is a hard lesson to look at, as I have always considered myself a really great person for a friend, but to see how I have taken my friendships for granted has once again led me to another lesson in humility. And a real eye opener to the world around me. This is not an easy thing to do, look at myself this closely inside, but after the shock of seeing those around me in such.....? Not sure what to call it, as things are seeming quite amicable right now with the separating couple.? To be so oblivious to those who have been hurting? Yes, it is time for me to step up the efforts! To go out of my way for those I love and hold dear to me.
So that is the only warning if you happen to be a friend of mine and are reading this, I love you all so dearly, you are such wonderful people, and I plan to make sure you know it!
Have a great week!
Nicole
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Feeling the road
So I had a great run this weekend! The only reason it was great is that I finished and came away with some new lessons learned. I really learn more about myself as I run, some things I would prefer to not know. But then I guess I couldn't do anything about things I don't like if I don't first admit to needing a change?
I had been training in my vibram five fingers, then on race day I gave them up for my husband to wear, and I went out in my old water shoes. This was not a smart thing to do. I didn't realize how differently you feel the road in the VFF's, as it is much closer to barefoot than a water shoe. I think this surprised me as the water shoe has what seems to be a thinner softer sole, where as the VFF's have a harder sole but one that fits much closer to the form of your foot. Moving from a water shoe to the VFF's is an easier transition than back tracking from the VFF's to the water shoe. Once one gets used to feeling the road under your feet, going back I seemed to loose my stride, the placement of my foot on the road. It matters.
It matters what road we choose to tread on. It matters that we can connect with our bodies that have been so wonderfully made. It matters that we can connect with the world around us, and the road under us.
Well if you have read a bit of this blog you may be seeing where I'm gonna go with this now.... I'm really believing that God made us wonderful, and He made our feet to do a job that they are well equipped to do. We were not made broken. In the awesome book "Born to run, a hidden tribe, super athletes, and the greatest race the world will never see" the author Christopher McDougall writes about our consumerism (or a company's greed) as part of the driving force for the creation of bigger and better shoes. He also writes about how many people felt that our evolution has gone well with the exception of our feet, which need help, according to some specialists. He then goes on to provide support and studies which prove these people wrong. To me this supports the case that God has created us perfectly. (not that we are perfect in our choices, but that is another story altogether!) God did not leave out our cushioning, He is our soft cozy place to go when we need comfort. This leads me to another thought... maybe we were meant to FEEL the road, EXPERIENCE our journey, LIVE our lives.
This is a lesson I think I will experience all week as I remember the differences of running barefoot with fitted protective covering, one that let's me feel the road and still protects me from serious injury; and one that fits loosely over me to dull the feel of the road altogether, and does not really protect me.
Above is a picture of the park where we ran. This is the trees by the zoo as we were walking back to our car after the race, what really caught my eye was the incredible colors in the trees.
Have a fantastic week!
Nicole
Nicole
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Random thoughts the night before a long run
A quote I heard last night:
"Better to be with Jesus in over your head in the deep water, than to sit comfortably on the safe shore!"
I think I will just have to trust this as I seem to get myself in over my head time and time again. Another of my favorite quotes is "Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it!" I can't recall her name at the moment, but she is a business woman in the US. This is the quote which got me to sign up for my first half marathon. After I signed up for my first half clinic I did feel over my head, now I'm feeling that again. I must enjoy it, I keep doing it to myself.
I find that I need something to motivate me, if I sign up for an event then I need to train, if there is no event there is no goal, there is no need to train. I have goals, a reason to train, a need to get in over my head. Looking forward to this month as I am looking forward to my first marathon. I will hold on dearly to some scripture as I go though.
But tomorrow is another day. Actually tomorrow is Sunday and I am excited about running another half marathon. This one I get to run with my husband, it is his first and I hope I can keep up. He just started running these last 6 months and has been doing really well. Previously he hasn't been able to run at all as his knees would usually give out after about 10 feet, so with the new stride as a barefooter he has trained for and will run his first half tomorrow. Lucky us, my running partner has girls old enough to babysit, and so we are getting the opportunity to run together. We have done a 5km, a 10km and this will be our first half! I am truly blessed!
Have a great weekend.
Nicole
"Better to be with Jesus in over your head in the deep water, than to sit comfortably on the safe shore!"
I think I will just have to trust this as I seem to get myself in over my head time and time again. Another of my favorite quotes is "Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it!" I can't recall her name at the moment, but she is a business woman in the US. This is the quote which got me to sign up for my first half marathon. After I signed up for my first half clinic I did feel over my head, now I'm feeling that again. I must enjoy it, I keep doing it to myself.
I find that I need something to motivate me, if I sign up for an event then I need to train, if there is no event there is no goal, there is no need to train. I have goals, a reason to train, a need to get in over my head. Looking forward to this month as I am looking forward to my first marathon. I will hold on dearly to some scripture as I go though.
But tomorrow is another day. Actually tomorrow is Sunday and I am excited about running another half marathon. This one I get to run with my husband, it is his first and I hope I can keep up. He just started running these last 6 months and has been doing really well. Previously he hasn't been able to run at all as his knees would usually give out after about 10 feet, so with the new stride as a barefooter he has trained for and will run his first half tomorrow. Lucky us, my running partner has girls old enough to babysit, and so we are getting the opportunity to run together. We have done a 5km, a 10km and this will be our first half! I am truly blessed!
Have a great weekend.
Nicole
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