Balance--Resilience--Faith @sarahsajohnson

"So, why don't you just do all twelve miles tomorrow?" A cavalier question from my husband after I noted that I would need to fit in six miles each day for the last two of this month to hit my 100 mile marker, a streak which I have kept since June 2015. It felt good to know that he believed I could simply do that on a whim, but I couldn't remember the last time I had run that mileage. Sure, I had done several seven mile runs in the past several months, but a whole half marathon? Knowing I had the luxury of two days, I planned to do ten today. Just run the lake. Again, I couldn't recall the last time I had done it and the conditions today were good enough with snow that had already blanketed the roads, minor winds, and a balmy 18 degree real feel temp. A run around the lake means you are committed with that plan because the further you get, the more you need to simply press on since going back doubles the mileage versus making the loop. On today's run, I ...

My family and I just finished watching the new Dr. Seuss's The Grinch . The depth of the story line was lost on my girls, but I could see both the overt loneliness of the Grinch as well as the absence of a father/husband figure in Cindy Lou Who's life. Regardless of how you want to interpret that absence, it is interesting to note that the family still moves forth in gathering. Still shares love. Still invites the Grinch at the end, and there is a great moral to all of it. I cannot help but picture Cindy Lou's mom stealing three minutes to herself in her closet before the guests arrive. Is she grieving from a divorce or death? She doesn't show any of that so much as exhaustion from the daily grind of being a single, working mother to three children. Even in the happiest place on earth, Whoville.  I am in awe of her strength, grace, and the way she loves her children and continues through the stress with grace. Her character prompted me to reflect upon my own strug...

I was stalked on my run tonight. Again. And it never fails to rattle, infuriate, and bolster me all at once.  Let's be honest, I am no stranger to danger and unpredictability. I live in a town of a population of 1300, and the terrain upon which I tread is a lot of country roads. Over the course of the four and a half years of my running streak, I have encountered countless skunk, deer that have nearly sideswiped me, two bear, a few foxes, many barking dogs, a fawn that literally licked my leg, and several squirrel, mice, etc. Honestly, during the dark hours of marathon training, I have had to be careful not to trip over deer and raccoon carcasses along the roadside. This is where I live.  I used to be like my friend Adam Welcome, running the dark streets in the 4 am hour so that I could get my training runs in before the start of the school day. I felt so strong! My only battle was proper nutrition and mental toughness. That's all I needed right? That all chang...

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” ― Sheryl Sandberg, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy Five months. The amount of time passed since I literally leaped into faith. When the consistency of a paycheck ceased, and the reality of having no place to report for "work" really took shape. When I consider how short five months is in the scheme of the 451 total that I have lived, it's not very long. In fact, it's only .01% of my lifetime to date. Minuscule! Yet, like the period after any significant loss, it has felt long in some ways. Challenging. Sometimes depressing, but often exhilarating with the potential, new learning, and promise of what is on the other side of the courageous leap into the unknown.  My own experience of adapting to a new normal has me thinking about how my challenges and intentional focus on bu...