On Life

A recent observation I made (also posted a couple of days back on my facebook page, a cherished place for wisdom quotes! Ha-ha :)

[Seriously I have a few friends on facebook who always come up with these great quotes!]

Life is a lot like a series of back to back training sessions, physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. You have to give it all you've got in order to come out better, stronger, and happier each and every session.

I must "blame" this analogy on my new found passion, physical exercise but I really believe it to be true. :)

I feel physically challenged as I try to train for the upcoming triathlon; it's going to be here before I know it (only six weeks out) and I'm still a beginning swimmer (and will probably be so for many months to come) and have not yet started training two legs at a time (swim/bike, bike/run, etc.) Overwhelming?? That's an understatement! But I remind myself how far I got from where I was nine months ago.  

I feel mentally challenged to find room in our already crazy busy work/school/life schedule for upcoming foster-to-adopt parent training sessions, babysitting arrangements (mind you this is particulary hard when you're talking a whole day worth of training you can't bring your child to!), doctor appointments, paperwork filling, getting my house ready for my parents' visit, etc. But I remind myself that others are challenged with even more. For example, take those who have a few children at home, all involved in all kinds of activities, maybe with health or other types of problems/challenges, single parents, financially tight, etc. They can do it, so can I!

Office work is busy and a bit stressful right now. But I'm grateful that I do have a job to get stressed about sometimes, and for great peers and bosses who sing on the same tune that I do.

I feel spiritually challenged to keep my chin up through ups and downs, come to terms that life is crazy and will continue to get crazier but in the same time, more fulfilling and worthwhile after all is said and done. That I will not always get what I want, when I want it, that I may never travel the world (or domestically intra- or  inter-state!) carefree, take nice relaxing vacations where cooking is prohibited, and just go with the flow. That stretch marks will never go away even after I get my athletic dream body, etc., etc., etc.! Ha-ha-ha!

BUT (big one), I remind myself of ALL THE REST of the things that I DO have, that I CAN do, and that in fact, I DO enjoy cooking and that by nature I am a planner and would never really go with the flow even if I were forced to!

And I also remind myself that my mortal existence here on this earth is really short (speaking of which, I'm turning 35 in a week and I am so not liking it!) That mortal life is only one piece of the puzzle in the great scheme of things and that stressing, fretting, and feeling overwhelmed are counter-productive and really useless activities. That the only way to stop feeling overwhelmed is to work and get it done, cross it off your list, or whatever it takes to get closure and move on.  I also have to remind myself that whatever comes my way, I will embrace and make it count! (this is one of Hrishi's favorite things to say, or my favorite things to hear him say.)

So I will make it count, every single bit of it. It's a promise I make to myself and my loved ones.