Why Happy To Be A Running Mama??

As I was wishing I could get the motivation to be a marathoner again one day, I set out to read all of the back issues of Runners World that I had saved. I came across this article,
Feel Lucky About Your Next Run at Runner's World,
and it was absolutely the best thing I could have read to get my butt moving!

In this article, the author talks about slugging through her run one day and then realizing just how luck she was to even be able to go for a run. She says by just slightly changing your perspective on daily activities, you might just start enjoying them!

Not only was this article the best thing to read for my running, but I had also gotten to the point of exhaustion in just my daily life. There was many a morning that I had set the alarm clock to get up and go for a run and ended up hitting snooze or simply turning it off. I just need more sleep, I would say. Or my mind would start in on the to do list: laundry, bottles, breakfast for Samantha, coffee, packing diaper bag, work ... and by the time I got through the list I was just exhausted at the thought of going for a run!

But after reading this article, I realized a few things:

1. I am lucky to be able to get up in the morning and put one foot in front of the other and go for a run. There are so many who would love to get out of their wheelchairs for just 10 minutes and go for a walk, let alone a run. I am truly lucky to be a runner.

2. I am lucky to have such a beautiful daughter to make bottles for, pack bags for, change diapers, do laundry, etc. Millions of women who are unable to have kids or who have lost children who would change places with me every day to just have the chance to have a child. I am truly lucky to be a mama.

3. I am lucky to have a house that needs taken care of, laundry to do and food to make. Millions of people are unemployed not only in the US, but throughout the whole world and are struggling to make ends meet. I am truly lucky to constantly be on the "run" to help out my family.

Now this does not work for me every day, exhaustion of the mundane and a crying baby still get to me, but for the most part I try to think about this as the day gets long and the list gets longer. I am glad I realized this now while Samantha is 8 months and not when she is 18 and have missed out on so much. I certainly hope that I can keep repeating it as she gets older, the family gets bigger and the list gets longer. I certianly hope that this mantra stays with me until I am old and grey.

And now every morning when the alarm goes off and I contemplate hitting snooze, I simply say:

I AM HAPPY TO BE A RUNNING MAMA!