Pep Talk Time

I am so glad I got married before Pinterest. Others have commented they are so glad they made their youthful mistakes before Facebook came around. 

It seems no matter where you look and what you do, you can easily find someone out there doing it better, doing more of it, doing it harder. It is enough to make me want to retreat and become a complete couch potato.

On each of the past four weekends I ran a long-distance race -- two 10-milers, a half marathon, and a 10K. I'm proud of my accomplishment. I'm proud of myself for pushing through 9 1/2 miles of a 10 mile race on a twisted ankle (maybe not the smartest move, but I am walking without a limp). 

Then I lined up for the Trenton 10K race and meet Alicia, a woman who has set a personal goal of running 26 half marathons this year. She ran EIGHT in October. Oh. Betty, a recent FB friend older than me by about 20 years, ran the Trenton Half Marathon yesterday and today did a 10K race. Oh. Don told me about a parent from Ashley's school who was doing the Trenton Half Marathon in the morning, then flying to Orlando to do the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon that night. Oh. I saw another friend, Anne, was running a 60K around Princeton because she wanted to (and because she missed out on an official 60K race). Oh.

Just call me a slacker. 

Then I read the following Elizabeth Gilbert blog post on my sister Rebecca's FB wall: Don't Live Somebody Else's Dream. Elizabeth Gilbert is most famous for her book "Eat, Pray, Love." She recently wrote "The Signature of All Things," after spending three years doing a lot of research into obscure topics. She summed up all the things she has not done "because they are somebody else's dream." Things like not having children, not staying in Bali or Rome forever, not 'growing her brand.' Instead she focuses on what brings life to her.

I don't have a full-time job. Instead I work freelance and am home most days when my daughter comes home from school. Because that is my dream.

I'll never run under a 10 minute mile, but I still enjoy run/walking. Likewise, I don't think I'll ever run a marathon or an ultra or an ironman. That is somebody else's dream.

I enjoy taking pictures, but it is not my dream to become a professional photographer. That is somebody else's dream.

I like to write, but I am not ready to write a novel. That is somebody else's dream.

It is pretty awesome other people, including my friends, have huge dreams and huge goals. Rather than feeling down on myself because I am not as good as they are, I try to focus on how awesome we all are in our own ways. Not one of us is better than everyone else, nor are we worse than everyone else. 

The world is full of comparititis. Let's band together to support one another.

I am the best me, and so are you.