Something Someone Once Said About Me And Other Things (Writing Challenge Days 2-5)

Starting on 3/17 I began a 30-day writing challenge. Must I write for 30 consecutive days? I know that I should! However, it's 3/21 and I'm finally getting to day 2, and 3, and 4, and 5. Until I build better discipline and routine into my life, it's likely that I'll fall into bed at night remembering that I should have written a post. If I haven't written by mid-evening, it's not likely that I will. But you didn't want to hear my excuses for not writing.

Day 2 of the writing challenge says to write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forget. The first thing that pops into my mind are the words of a coach from my 9th grade year. Even though I was the vice president of my Fellowship of Christian Athletes my senior year of high school, I didn't actually play a lot of sports. I played on a basketball team in middle school, ran on the track team in 9th grade, participated in intramural basketball in college, and played soccer in a local league in my 20s. During all those years, I liked writing more than sports, and well, today I'm writing! But when I read the writing prompt, I remembered my track coach telling me I was "made to run long distances." Since I only ran on the track team for one season, it might seem that I didn't take him seriously, but throughout my adult life, I've run off and on. In my early 20s, running was just a way to relieve stress. Later it became a way to clear my head. Midway through our 7 years of infertility, running became a way to force my body to do something. (I couldn't force it to carry a baby, but I could force it to run 13.1 miles.) These days running is a way to clear my head, to remind my body who's boss, and to stay fit enough to be an older mom keeping up with an active little one. It's also time to spend with God, reminding myself to persevere through difficulty. Currently I'm training for a half marathon (only 6.5 weeks away!) and grateful for those words spoken decades ago: I was made for long distances. I might feel like a tired, older mom of a toddler, but I can do this!

Day 3 asks for my top three pet peeves. How about talking with a mouthful of food, poor spelling, and I know there has to be a third - anybody reading this who knows me want to chime in and remind me of what annoys me? What are your top three pet peeves?

Day 4 says to write about someone who inspires you. Hmm, I want to put some thought into it, so I think I'm going to have to come back to that one.

Day 5 tells me to list five places you want to visit. Oh yes, a list, I can do that to catch up with my writing friend Renee on this writing challenge. I've had the opportunity to do a lot of traveling, so I'll name the places I look forward to visiting with my husband and our little daughter: Lithuania, my parents' house, my husband's parents' house, Philadelphia, and the Baltimore Harbor. 

Want to join in the writing challenge? Here's the (blurry) list: