I am a Do-er

I don't know when it happened.  Maybe it was 6 years ago when I started running and then took a month long snowboarding class.  They were definitely life changing experiences from which I will  never be the same again.  I blogged a little about them here and might have to expand further one day.  But maybe it started before then.  Maybe it was the year we pulled Jake mid year out of a school where nobody valued him. Maybe it was when I decided to forge a new path not sending Jake to pre-school and then homeschooling him for 2 years.  Or maybe the real moment happened when I walked down the aisle to my high school sweetheart at 19 years old.

I don't know when I became a do-er and not just a thinker.  Which moment in my life was the turning point where I realized I could do what I put my mind to?  I don't really come from a family of do-ers.  We are more talkers.  We sit mesmerized and slightly confused as we read about or listen to people who share all the things they are do-ing.  We don't really do.  We just talk.

But then one day I did.  I stepped up and announced I was marrying at 19.  I stood firm when everyone tried to talk me out of homeschooling.  I boldly plowed forward when everyone at Jake's school thought I was some crazy mother in denial.  And then one day, I ran out my back door and nothing has been the same since.

2 years ago when we were talking about going to Africa, a year before the actual trip, someone in my family commented that it will be nice if it works out.  IF it works out I thought!?  Was I talking like I was only thinking about it?  We ARE going to Africa.  And we did.

After Africa I told a friend how I really felt like I had become a do-er.  I wasn't just a dreamer, a talker, a thinker.  Since then I have dreamed new dreams that I believe will happen.  I really do believe I will be able to write magazine articles and that God will lead me down an exciting path.  I am not afraid to pursue that dream I am excited to take action as well.

And so this weekend I did another thing that I would have in the past just talked about, been amazed by others who were able to do it, and wished I was a person who did it.  This weekend I became a triathlete.

I signed up in February and proceeded to keep up with my weekly killer spin class, regular runs, weight lifting and in March added twice weekly lap swimming.  If I ever thought about staying home one morning I would be reminded of this impending deadline of June 5th to be ready for the event.  I knew I wasn't a competitive person and my goal was simply to finish the race.

Last Saturday I did it.  I became a triathlete.  Something I always admired in other women is now something I have done.  I rock. 

I think one of the biggest changes in my life as a result of becoming a do-er over the years is in how I view the world and specifically other people.  I don't meet people and think, "I wish I could do that."  "I wish I was like her." "Why can they do that and I can't?"  Now when I meet people doing amazing things I can enjoy who they are and what they are doing without any feeling of inferiority because I know that I am capable of doing whatever I set my mind to.  I am a Do-er.

To read all the details go check out the WEWAWO blog where I write with my sisters about all our athletic endevors and healthy eating ideas.