People Can Be Awesome!

My birthday was last week. This year, I did almost nothing to celebrate. Quite different than last year, that’s for sure. But this year seems busier and more in flux.

But one thing I did was go to the Butterfly Place in Westford, MA (aka, for you non-MA-residents, the edge of nowhere) with my dad. It’s one of those places that’s kept very warm and is filled with all sorts of butterflies. It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be. (I totally recommend it to anyone in the area). I even had two butterflies hitch a ride on my shoulder for most of the time I was there. Something I learned: butterflies have eerie little faces. But I was the envy of everyone there, so that was kinda cool. (Note, my dad – who also was a butterfly taxi for a while – and I are older and slower than most of the people – aka small children and the parents chasing after them – who were there).

After the Butterfly Place, I stopped for gas. I was feeling a little flustered and my typical behaviors around filling up my tank changed a little because my dad was in my car. So instead of throwing my wallet on the passenger seat, I put it on the top of my car. I may have also gotten a little distracted by the gurgling of the gas filling my tank and how I hate to use gas station rest rooms. And… for the first time in my life… I left my wallet on the roof of my car… and drove away!

I have NEVER lost my wallet in my entire life! And when I finally figured it out at my parents’ house, I was devastated. My parents called the gas station, but no one had turned it in. We raced back up there to search, but to no avail. The one shining light was that I never carry cash (I have direct deposit and a debit card… what would I need cash for? Plus… I spend cash in ways I can’t account for and it drives me batty). So really, I lost maybe $1.50 in change. I was most concerned about having to replace all of my cards (even my library card… which doesn’t mean much and I doubt someone could use it to steal my identity, but I love my library… and it was the metaphorical straw to this camel’s back). It all seemed so nerve-wracking and time-consuming for such a stupid mistake!

However, on my drive home, some super awesome man named Steve from Westford called my parents. He had found my wallet and wanted to return it! (I may not have changed my address from my parents’ address on my driver’s license even though I haven’t lived there in years… therefore his investigation returned my parents…)

For my birthday, the best gift I received was a boost to my faith in humanity! Thank you to Steve and the universe for returning my wallet! That was awesome and I’m so super grateful and relieved! I’m pretty sure my wallet was run over a few times (the zipper doesn’t work anymore), but buying a new wallet is the least of my worries. I’m just so, so thankful!

 

Other People Can be Awesome!

Wow… it’s certainly been awhile! I’m sorry I vanished.

What have I been up to since I last posted?

• Well, I’ve attended three weddings (and two rehearsal dinners because my wonderful boyfriend was a groomsman/best man).
• I did one race, which I still need to update you about! It was fun!
• I was intensely under the weather for over a week with a super powerful stomach bug
• And I’ve been working towards buying a house!

All big and crazy things. Although the house isn’t a sure thing yet. We had put an offer in on it earlier, and the owners chose to go with someone else who bid more (can’t blame them there). However, the other bidder had to pull out because their bank wouldn’t give them enough money to buy the house, tear it down, and build something grander that they could sell off. I’m sorry for them, but psyched for me! It’s been a bunch of work already though. I’m guessing that the seller can’t afford to keep their house, which is a major bummer and I feel very badly for them. However, it also meant that they couldn’t afford to do the proper testing required to sell a house. Which means that we’ve had to pay for all of that and we found out about an hour ago that the house failed a major test! (It’s failed a few little ones already). When I say major, I mean it will cost about $20k to fix and it’s not something we can live without (unless we have no interest in ever using any luxury a bathroom offers… shower, toilet, or sink – and I’m not the kind of girl who can give up indoor plumbing). So we’ll see… I’m not sure the owners want us to take $2ok off our offer.

However, this is a motivation blog. You don’t care about my silly house woes which will resolve themselves either way.

So let me talk about motivation. Let me tell you what has been getting me through all of this stress.

I often like to say that I find other people to be motivating. For example, when I first started running outside and was loosely doing the walk/run of the Couch to 5k program, if I could see another person when it came time for walking, I would keep running until they couldn’t see me anymore. A little crazy? Heck yes, but it really helped increase my running distances. Plus, I live near Boston… so there are always people on my running path.

Well, during this last month, I focused again on other people motivating me. Specifically, my wonderful boyfriend. When I was struggling with that stomach bug, I didn’t want to eat anything ever because as soon as I swallowed something, my intestines would seize up. I didn’t even want water. That’s just not right. He was there the entire time, making sure I wasn’t starving myself.

When this home buying thing got a little scary, he was always there making sure we were on the right track. (I hate spending money, it makes me so uncomfortable. No joke, buying a cell phone makes me want to vomit. I had my last cell phone for 8 years before finally getting a new one. I could never be a member of the iphone cult that has to get the new product the second it comes out. Makes me queasy just thinking about it.)

And I really believe that motivation can completely come in the form of other people. It’s super important to have someone in your corner even when you aren’t. My boyfriend is a truly wonderful person who is always cheering me on or taking care of me or supporting me in whatever way I need. He’s a very positive person. I think that’s really important. Negative people have a way of draining motivation from us. And that’s really not helpful when we’re draining our own motivation.

If there’s anything I can wish for you is that you have an equally wonderful person (partner, relative, friend, whatever) to help motivate you towards what you want (not what they want) when you need the extra boost.

Good luck!