Mom Musings Monday: Cherry On Top Award
#1 Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
#2 The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.
#3 The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.
Here we go...
#1. My answer to this evolved as I read other people's responses to this question. It was finally through reading MissZippy's answer that I had my own 'a-ha!' moment on what I'd change. Ya see, she wished she could take back and change her college years. Oh....I'm so with you on that! But then it got me thinking why I felt 'off my life path' during those years, and frankly through most my 20's in general. Then I made the connection that I didn't have any athletics, sports, or events during those years to keep me physically active and fit.
I went from high school where I played 3 team sports (tennis, softball, track), to having nothing in college and beyond. So, I had zero incentive or structure to take care of myself physically. I mean sure, I played on our dorm floor's innertube water polo team now and then, and tried to take tennis 10A for a semester or two, but it's not the same as having the consistency and accountability of being a part of a sport. It was really weird for me to make this connection. Because it really wasn't til' ~7 yrs ago when I decided to take on running and testing myself physically, that the other parts of my life started to take shape into the person I believe myself to be today. really.
So, if I could go back and change one thing in my life, I'd go back and play sports during college and beyond. Who knows how much it would have actually helped me stay grounded in an otherwise koo-koo developmental period in life, but that's my answer. Also, all of my female friends who did play college sports have an extra sense of personal and career confidence that I'm sure comes from playing collegiate sports. It's something I really admire. And now as a mom, it's something I want to support my children to do as they grow and eventually venture out to college and beyond (in ~15 yrs!)
2. Here's my 6 to pass the Award along to:
1. Shut Up and Run!
2. Run With Jill
3. 5k Rae
4. CaratunkGirl
5. Julie's Running Blog
6. Box, Run, Eat
3. Thank you MissZippy and BarefootAngie B. It's been SO fun to see the growth and contagiousness of your blogs, and I find such inspiration from you both ;)
Now...what do you think of my take on sports and your 20's in life? Would love to know. thx!
Comments
I think if I had stayed active, I would have been healthier and had more self-esteem going into my 20s.
Sports and me in the 20s:
Being inspired by runners through Parque de Maria Louisa at all hours but never joining them
crazy intense 364-day Masters
educational burn out
moving to running town, but too busy teaching SpEd in institutions (e.g. mental, prisons...)
Solo runs around Walden Pond while watching the triathletes in the pond... never certain of how to begin ... too shy to ask for help
teaching burn out
Happy Whole Foods Baker (mm.... good life skills!) and Spanish immersion
A solid teaching job (Spanish!) and a return to running....
Happy trails of VA....
4 months after 30th birthday 1st marathon completed
Now planning first ultra!! :-)
Yeah...those 20s are a challenging time! But... they get us to where we need to be.... :-)
I went through a bit of a weird phase right after I graduated from college because most of my friends had moved away, the ones who stayed local all had boyfriends they spent most of their time with & I was single, and I wasn't really sure if I liked my job or what I wanted to do next. I did a little bit of running in college but had drifted out of it at that point. I refer to that year as my "quarter-life crisis" because my routine was go to work, come home and go for a walk, then watch Jeopardy! and eat dinner (sad, I know) and obsess conabout what I wanted to do next. About a year after graduating, I really got into running and then discovered triathlon the following year. Ironically, it turns out that the same masters' team I swim with now, existed while I was in college and was practicing literally 2 blocks away from my dorm and think - if only I had known about masters' swimming then...oh well. This is probably more than I needed to write, but the point of all of this was to agree how much having sports/physical activities has helped me to give myself some motivation and direction.
And thanks for tagging me!! Finally someone did it!