sweat the small stuff...

The starting line of a race. A fresh start. Graduation. New Year’s Eve. Events that all have one common thread…Beautiful Possibility. Hope. Excitement. Adrenaline. Fear. Change. Growth.

As the new year momentum approaches and the energy pulls you to think big and bold. The glitter. The glam. The excitement of something new.  Stand at the starting line of 2014. Breathe. Open up. Let the energy of a fresh start ignite your heart and soul. Dream with bold passion and fearless possibility.  But just as in the starting line of a race, when you stand there ready to run with heart-pounding-excitement-and-anticipation for the journey head… be still and smile with gratitude for the journey that got you there. Reflect on the past year. Triumphs. Failures. Glory. Dissapointments.

We are runners…we victoriously conquer the 26.2 impossibility…we know how to think big and bold. We are rooted in the investment of a plan….the heart and passion of training. Grounded discipline and profound commitment to get to the finish line.  We get that the journey starts before we get to the race…it begins the moment we declare the dream.  Runners know that BHAG goals also means breaking down the plan into the baby steps. Forward them back, that is how we move on the run.

But how about your life? My intention on the eve of 2014?  Stillness and movement! Intention and goals written on paper.  The finish line big and bold. However, I will not go  out too fast, too soon.  Move slowly forward…I don’t want to burn out and fade from the front. Or crash at mile 20 when I hit the wall. We tend to declare new YEAR resolutions, and then eagerly jump off Jan 1st with anticipated quick-fix results. We want big and bold and sparkling changes to our lives only to land face down in the dirt mid Feb or late spring if u lucky when the illusive new years eve butterfly flutters out of view. I know. I do it too. Expecting the glitter in large strokes only to fade quickly and in the end its the same you. Without changing the small, the tiny minute details that work over time from the inside out. Every second. Every moment. Every fresh new morning. An intention to start the day. DAILY purpose changing over time. Just like the-one-run-at-a-time-approach on a training plan to get you to the finish line. Life will have hills and ditches and dirt. Two steps forward, one back.  One missed tempo run.  The burn of walking through some miles. New Year Resolutions will sometimes be on point and checked, and and then, well… not-so-much… eat that piece of chocolate, turn over and hit the snooze button instead of workout? Failure sets in and the “I’m not good enough”, “I’ll never get this,” “whom I kidding” voice starts to play over and over and then the self sabotage sets in. Until your default mode returns and it’s easier to stop trying. The illusive butterfly disappears in the fog. And you give up trying.

What if we approached life just like we do the run?

Another chance to run that hill? Who cares if I did not hit my tempo pace? Got off track?  Today, I try again. I am a runner, I got this. I know how to move through pain and discomfort and failure. Sweat the small stuff.  Just the like in the long run where it sometimes takes all you got to get to the next water station. When all you can do is walk or run through this one mile. Ok, maybe one more? And then you move through 15 miles?  Break it down. Sweat the small stuff.  Focus on right now, instead of too far ahead.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. I say “oh-contrare”…SWEAT the smallest of details rockstar runners.  That is what we do…and before you know it – you will move from the inside out. Change. Time. Growth.

The small stuff. Less is more.  Our running is simple.  Shoes and a road (and sometimes our garmin).  And so in life, keep it simple…. leave the stuff behind that does not serve you.  Hydrate well.  Eat your food as feul. Breath in and out.  Less is more….Less ego. Less baggage. Less fear. Close the chapter on our stories that hurt and torture the mind. Write a new chapter.

Sweat the small stuff and less is more…my intentions as I move  into 2014 with baby steps and an open heart. This year I will live + love + move.  Keep it simple and slow. Inside out. Daily purpose