Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. – T.S. Eliot
On January 29th, I turned 50 years alive. I like to say alive versus old. Because to me thats what a birthday means. One more year of life experience. Another year of learning more about myself, mistakes and all. I’m still finding out how far I can go. Hope you are too!
50 days before my birthday the countdown began. Below are some of my favorite pictures and thoughts that I shared with you all leading up to my birthday.
Me sometime in elementary school. I keep this picture by my computer. Makes me smile every time I look at it. That little girl always wanted to be the fastest. Fastest reader, fastest timed math test taker, fastest hula hooper. Yep, I won the contest. My favorite thing was to be faster than the boys. Could have also used some #flystyle back then. I still like to be the fastest but today its more about challenging myself to be better than yesterday.
What I love about this picture is it reminded me that there is no perfect. To have fun. Laugh at yourself often. Because sometimes you cut your head off when trying to take an awesome picture for your social media post idea.
22 years ago my 28 year old self ran my one and only marathon to date, The Baystate Marathon, in 3:57:45. I was trying to BQ. I didn’t. Then: I was very disappointed in myself. I had failed. Today: I have a very different perspective. A respect for the marathon distance and what an accomplishment it was to run a sub 4 hour marathon.
This picture was taken the day before my 50th birthday. I love this picture. Love my smile lines. Reminds me I have had a lot to smile about in my life.
The finish of the Boston Prep 16 miler I ran on my 50th birthday. Was my longest run in almost a year. Think there is a little smile on my face, even after some big hills. 2:32:52. 9:32 average. Finished with an 8:20 mile. Happy and grateful.
Being alive and experiencing life for 50 years causes one to pause and reflect. I will be honest, I have moments where I’m like, crap, do I have enough time to do everything I want to do? Am I the person I want to be? Most moments though I really don’t think about my age or the number. I just get up everyday with coffee in hand and ask myself one simple question to start my day. What am I going to do today to #beatyesterday?