Day 544: Greater than through love and support

I am sitting at Papa Austin's desk (my great grandaddy), and the thunder outside is, well, it is kind of wonderful. I moved this desk back in the house because, well, it is one of the most special pieces from a very special place, from a special person...and I just wanted to keep it.

Last year when we made the big changes in the house (the outer surroundings changing as I changed...etc)...I/we decided to sell some of our family things and some of the pieces that were handed down. About a month ago I was finally able, after years of trying, to get a leather chair for Michael. I closed it up in his office and when he came home surprised him with it. But what hit ME when I opened the door was this intense smell of good leather. In a flash, I was in the summer, back in Fuquay. My mother's mother, Grandmother Lois,  would always pry me away from the overly air conditioned, darkened den (she kept the curtains closed all day so her sister from across the street could not see what she was doing...particularly if she was still in her nightgown during the day!), her giant TV (she had CABLE..and that was a BIG deal then!) and send me off to see her father and mother. I would go, reluctantly...but when i got there..I was always glad that I did!  I would enter in the back by the den of Papa's and Mama's. Papa's big swivel leather chair in the corner where he always sat was the focus of the room and the smell of that leather and his pipe smoke was as aromatic as any scent I have ever encountered.  The desk that I am sitting at was in between he and Mama, and I sat across the room in a goose neck rocker and got to listen to stories from both of them (well into their 90's), until I was 13 years old. Think about it...Papa and Mama were born 20 years after the civil war...the stories that they told and the things they had seen...it was amazing.

Having this in the bedroom to write on, to use...well...it is a connection to a part of me that is...simply comforting. We have a rule that nothing comes in the house unless it has a use and a place. This desk is my gratitude desk. I will write my blog here and thank you notes. That will be the use of it and given from whom it came, how it was used by them, and what it means to me, that only seems right. If fact, I knocked my first note off right before I started this blog tonight. It just feels good.

This has been a very intense weekend of gratitude. On Friday, I vlogged:




the jist being that I am at the point in my working out and living well that it is dangerous. So many HUGE changes have happened. They are smaller now. The "pink cloud" and the euphoria of a lot of the success has begun to dissipate and now it about not only maintenance but moving forward with living healthily one day at a time always. No one is doing to do it for me...and it means that i have continue to reach IN to me and show up! and reach OUT to those who love and support me and not allow myself to get out this wonderful path!

Certainly Saturday was an amazing wake up call that I have a lot still to enjoy if I keep at it! I got up and went to volunteer at a mile timed race that Without limits coaching was hosting with Go Time and while there two friend encouraged me to run. I did and ran my first mile under 10 minutes ever! In fact, I ran the mile in 9:26! It was freakin' amazing. Just to make sure it was not a fluke, I got on my bike today and after doing the loop around UNCW, I went to the track and ran it...it was almost the exact same time! :)...It felt AMAZING!

The biggest part of the weekend though was our anniversary. We have combined our Holy Union Anniversary, our "first meeting" anniversary" with this date since it was the date that we were legally married in Massachusetts. We are on 15 years. For me..well, that is more than a miracle. I said to one of the runners on Saturday that "I was loved at 220..then 350..and still now...it never seemed to make a difference..tell me I am not the luckiest man walking the face of the earth." I can assure you that I know how blessed I am in this relationship. In fact, it is part of this desk's history. Mama and Papa were together for 75 years before Moma died. Nothing perfect in them....but I know they "got it" when it came to being grateful...We take it to the next level of not just making a life together..but also..LIVING a life together. I truly cannot imagine any other life....

Adam Freeman Personal Training  | Cape Fear Heart Walk! GIVE TODAY! | Crest Fitness | Custom Fit Meals| Heidi Kaufman Nutritional Services-Dietitian | Bike Cycles Bike Shop at Mayfaire| Boseman's Sporting Goods | New Balance Shoes | Tidal Creek- Healthy Foods! | Pita Delite- Wilmington | Hibachi Bistro on College Road | The Star News | WECT | Wilmington Biz and Wilma | Encore Magazine | New Hanover County Public Health Department | Zoe's Kitchen | Try Sports| VitaCost online NC Company for sports Nutrition | City of Wilmington Parks and Recreation| New Hanover County Parks| Airlie Gardens | The Shell Cross City Trail | Wrightsville Family Practice | Sandra Miles Dentistry | Church of the Servant Episcopal |o2 Fitness| Active.Com| Without Limits Coaching | Go Time| Cape Fear River Watch| New Hanover County Arboretum| Coastal Land Trust| Masonboro.org| Hook, Line and Paddle| Wilmington Road Runners | Cape Fear Cyclists

Day 540: Greater Than Through Love and Support

I am updating my blog posts if you have not noticed and I am hoping that it comes through ok. The title comes through with the day (as this journey is ONE DAY AT A TIME) and the entire journey itself was dubbed Greater THAN (instead of  the original title that was see LESS of Bo) through love and support (because only through the love and support of others and a higher power, whom I chose to call God, do we/I succeed at meeting my goals and making the changes that I want to make in my life in the way that I have! 

Then, at the bottom of each post now, I have the links to the people, places and things that have effected me in a way that have created this health and wellness. Clearly Adam is going to always be first on that list. Always! But these links are here for you to research to see if these resources are something that you might want to access as well..and as I learn, I will add to the list. They certainly have worked for me.  I recieve no endorsements from them. I just love them and they have changed my life utilizing them.

Anyway...I am back at it this week at work and getting back into my routine. I gotta say that they runnnig is getting WAY better and the trail around UNCW is getting so amazing!! If I leave out house and enter the woods at the end of Randall Parkway and go by the challenege course, I can pick up the Shell Trail that is parralells rose avenue right there. It snakes through the woods in that area and is SOOOO beautful! It goes over a bridge and then enters into UNCW at the back of campus and does straight up past Graham Hewett and the the path that I laid my feet on FIRST when they laid the asphalt by the Fields runs up by the track. They have finished the gravel from there to the front of campus adn right now it is like running on the national mall! I like that feel. I am not sure if they are going to black top that..but it is nice the way it is. I run across the front of camps and then back down randall to the house! I think it is a little over 4 miles..and it is awesome! I am actually loving this more than the loop! :) and it is right out our back door!

This morning Adam put me through my paces and took it up a notch on a new machine clearly designed by the devil himself. It is a stair machine....perpetual stairs. I can imagine a hell where you are condemed to walk this for eternity! :) but it busted my tail and we had to literally mop up after me. The deal is that the ellipticals are just not getting me there..so he had to take me to that next level..and this did and then some! I will be soaking in a tub this evening! but with gratitude! LOL!

Anyhoo...off to work..break is over!

Love to all!

Links to the Keys to my Health and Wellness Success!

Adam Freeman Personal Training  | Cape Fear Heart Walk! GIVE TODAY! | Crest Fitness | Custom Fit Meals| Heidi Kaufman Nutritional Services-Dietitian | Bike Cycles Bike Shop at Mayfaire| Boseman's Sporting Goods | New Balance Shoes | Tidal Creek- Healthy Foods! | Pita Delite- Wilmington | Hibachi Bistro on College Road | The Star News | WECT | Wilmington Biz and Wilma | Encore Magazine | New Hanover County Public Health Department | Zoe's Kitchen | Try Sports| VitaCost online NC Company for sports Nutrition | City of Wilmington Parks and Recreation| New Hanover County Parks| Airlie Gardens | The Shell Cross City Trail | Wrightsville Family Practice | Sandra Miles Dentistry | Church of the Servant Episcopal |o2 Fitness| Active.Com| Without Limits Coaching | Go Time| Cape Fear River Watch| New Hanover County Arboretum| Coastal Land Trust| Masonboro.org| Hook, Line and Paddle| Wilmington Road Runners | Cape Fear Cyclists

Day 537: Greater than through love and support

it feels like the night before the first day of school. God did I hate that. the end of summer. the end of vacation...but that is what it feels like tonight. I don't have new pencils, a new lunch box, and a new bag with my initials on it...but maybe, having had some time off, I have a little more patience...a little more peace about me than when I left work two weeks ago.

This vacation has not been as long as the summer's of my youth...but in many ways it had some of the same joys. When I was young, we would not go far...usually to Myrtle beach for a week or two. I would spend time playing in the fields near my grandparents, enjoying time with my cousin, exploring the world around us, getting sunburnt and trying to cross from daddy's to grandmother's house without getting a foot full of sandspurs. We went to my favorite Uncle's house at night and played rook for hours. Then shot bottle rockets. We belonged to a private pool in town and were too young to notice the "lack of diversity" there..but we had so much fun in that pool. they would grease up a watermelon and throw it in and the winner was the one to get it to the side. (ok..so we were not brilliant..but at least it was not a greased pig!). We ate watermelon like it was air and corn on the cobb eating contests where pretty regular and I spent hours and hours watching my cousin and others play at the little league fields..sneaking away to go to see my other grandmother during the games. We ate blueberries off Mrs. Mewbern's bushes and that got us through the afternoon and the Kinton's scupernon grapes were just overload for us....but were gooood!  All around us farms churned out work and people kept going to off to whatever they did, but we were free and having "summer".

Well, for two weeks now, I have had "summer". No daily office to go to. Just time to do some of those things that I love. I have avoided sandspurs on the northend and walked out and watched the sunset. Kayaked to new places discovering the almost empty beaches along masonboro and the most amazing wildlife ever. We tandem kayaked..and had a blast and along that journey explored parts of banks channel i would never have seen otherwise. We roasted corn and I ate it with the fervor I did when I was little...or at least younger..and although Watermelon will never taste like it did off the back of Grandaddy's cub tractor right after we had pulled them from the field, I have enjoyed it just the same...and remembered him. I have shared time with friends, gone to dinner, had a laugh at the comedy club downtown, done things that just filled my soul. I have even done some volunteer things and activities that feed me...oh..and i got to spend so much time on the shell trail...so much time....so much good energy burnt up there. such a blessed place....like the pitcher plants and venus fly traps at alderman we got to enjoy and the lecture..the history we witnessed with mr. rehder...wow....


I have had time to digest...or at least try to all the changes that are going on. Friends who are being uprooted in their jobs, loss, grieving, pain....there is a lot of loss and emotion around me. With those I care deeply for. I know I cannot change it for them, but I also needed to recharge my own batteries so that I can be the friend I want to be. That has been important in this and it has been so healing. Hell, I know it sounds simple, but I cleaned out my/our closet. That alone was cathartic and made me feel a little lighter. freeing me to be available to what life has to offer next.

there were some things I did not do....but will not dwell there. It has been perfect as is...and i think, as i have been learning over the years that tomorrow, when I go back to work, it does not have to be the "first day of school". Summer is not over. It is just a transition back to a routine that not only sustains me and us, but also allows for all of this to happen....for these blessings to exist and be possible.

So, while i will don my work clothes..there is still a kayaking adventure in my future this week, corn on the cob, watermelon, a connection, peace....there still is all of it....and for that, I am truly, truly grateful.
thanks be!

 Links to the Keys to my Health and Wellness Success!

Adam Freeman Personal Training | Adam Freeman Training On line | Crest Fitness | Custom Fit Meals| Heidi Kaufman Nutritional Services-Dietitian | Bike Cycles Bike Shop at Mayfaire| Boseman's Sporting Goods | New Balance Shoes | Tidal Creek- Healthy Foods! | Pita Delite- Wilmington | Hibachi Bistro on College Road | The Star News | WECT | Wilmington Biz and Wilma | Encore Magazine | New Hanover County Public Health Department | Zoe's Kitchen | Try Sports| VitaCost online NC Company for sports Nutrition | City of Wilmington Parks and Recreation| New Hanover County Parks| Airlie Gardens | The Shell Cross City Trail | Wrightsville Family Practice | Sandra Miles Dentistry | Church of the Servant Episcopal |Down to Earth Essential Oils

Day 534: Greater than through love and support: Journey with the Cape Fear Heart Walk and Adam Freeman

I was dialing for dollars yesterday for an organization that I care a great deal for and  went to get a private email for someone from their facebook and on their profile was this:

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future"

It was a quote that I needed to read so badly. Not only was it the most appropriate thing I could read for the organization I was writing folks about to donate to (Wilmington interfaith hospitality network, as the agency works to provide housing and shelter to homeless families and work to bring about resources to help the families back to self sufficiency), but I needed it because I have been feeling scared...maybe that is not the word...sad? concerned? I am not sure what it is, but I know that what I have been feeling has been a sense of my overall optimism and belief in the goodness of folks being absorbed by so much around me.

As the news continues to get worse for the economy, I look to see those around me rally...like we do after a hurricane. Ya know what I mean? After a hurricane it is amazing to watch folks from every walk of life coming out to help each other: clearing debris, cooking food, providing for each other. It is like the crisis tears away the divide between us and creates opportunity to truly be about the business of our spiritual selves..giving and being givers. We are transformed by the event and no one is unworthy of help or assistance. We are all "in this together".

Yet, our country is facing and has been for some time a crisis of financial issues, wars, and deep constructed cultural divideds and I have never seen such division and selfishness in my life. One cent on our tax rate could have saved scholarships for those in need of an education and yet that was too much. Our congress plays a cat and mouse game with our senior's social security and our neediest citizen's medicare and somehow that is a legitimate discussion? Mental health and other health issues take a beating while our elected officials have the best health care in the country. Early childhood development and women's health are slashed. While we have folks who still have two cars, a home, have so much who rage against parks, wellness, and the common good and go to church on Sunday and somehow make it fit.

It seems that the harder it gets the worse it is getting for people who are so afraid to share what they have ("that is socialism!!"..well, no it is not, it actually reflects what I understand more in line with my spiritual life)..or to give a little of what they have to help others is somehow enabling folks who are "taking advantage" or who just "need a job".  And if the Government is the issue of where they are concerned about giving to...why aren't charities seeing great increases in giving? It is gut wrenching to watch, particularly being involved in groups that are working with those who are struggling.

Where is that spirit of "we are all in this together?" Instead we circulate emails that regale tales of abusers of food stamps, go viral on folks who use government assistance inappropriately...and there is such a sense of superiority in the comments that are attached from the senders or on facebook etc. (because none of us EVER cheat or take advantage and THEY are the real problem. THEY are the rule...etc etc etc)

I have been a commissioner for the housing authority for 5 years. I have been involved for a long time in groups who aid folks that are of the greatest need. I have seen the worst and the best of those in "the system", and I know it is far from perfect. Abuse of the privilege of assistance is revolting. But what is more revolting is a system that is set up that does not encourage success or change. A system that defunds opportunity, that at one time gave a "way out" for those who were able, but no longer does and ironically has no limits on the length of time to receive assistance. And yet what do we do? What do our elected officials do?  What are we doing to make a difference? What are we doing to add to the discussion to create change?

What I am seeing for the most part is this "all or nothing" discussion.  No reform of the issues at hand, just cut it off..eliminate...slash and burn...and so the truly deserving, the truly in need, those who are of greatest concern go without and those who abuse the system...well, they have won the day...and those who "have".....well, they get to keep what they "have" and get to feel superior as well.

I am hear to tell you, having had the experience that I have had, that there is REAL NEED. I have witnessed what can happen and I am witnessing it everyday when WE take the time to INVEST in each other and to CARE about each other and reinforce SUCCESS. WIHN, Habitat, UNCW/WHA Campus, YouthBuild, CFCC Foundation are just a few of the mechanisms that are at play that I have seen change lives and help folks move from assistance to self sufficiency. But these groups struggle for lack of funds and funding and support. It is inconceivable sometimes.

That is where that scripture came so powerfully at me: "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future"

I know that THE work happens through US...In those programs and agencies I just named, I have seen it...but it is fragile and not the DAY. It is not the common. the Common Good. THE Work  is not worked by some magical hand coming down to earth and clicking a finger or blinking an eye and making it happen...it requires US. For NO HARM, rather HOPE, and A FUTURE to happen, it requires US.

What has bothered me lately is to see folks who harm either overtly or by denial of the problem. Those who see what is and choose to look the other way or see what is and act in accordance with what will only serve their own selfish ends. They limit hope for so many and create a future for ALL of us that is divided and engulfed without that spirit of giving..without that spirit of "all for one"...without a sense of who we CAN be. 

I believe with every fiber of me that there is perfection in a plan that is handed to us to "prosper" each one of us...but it requires each one of us. It requires that WE do something. That We care about each other. That WE give. That WE understand. For me, from here on out...I will be asking "what have I done today to proper hope and the future.

 Links to the Keys to my Health and Wellness Success!

Adam Freeman Personal Training | Adam Freeman Training On line | Crest Fitness | Custom Fit Meals| Heidi Kaufman Nutritional Services-Dietitian | Bike Cycles Bike Shop at Mayfaire| Boseman's Sporting Goods | New Balance Shoes | Tidal Creek- Healthy Foods! | Pita Delite- Wilmington | Hibachi Bistro on College Road | The Star News | WECT | Wilmington Biz and Wilma | Encore Magazine | New Hanover County Public Health Department | Zoe's Kitchen | Try Sports| VitaCost online NC Company for sports Nutrition | City of Wilmington Parks and Recreation| New Hanover County Parks| Airlie Gardens | The Shell Cross City Trail | Wrightsville Family Practice | Sandra Miles Dentistry | Church of the Servant Episcopal |Down to Earth Essential Oils

Day 531: Greater than through love and support: Journey with the Cape Fear Heart Walk and Adam Freeman

My favorite movie of ALL time is "hunt for red october"...I have watched that movie...oh, about 1000 times.  There is a line in it in which the captain recalls that when cortez traveled to the new world and landed, he burnt his ships. Thus, the sailors where highly motivated to explore the new lands. I thought about that line a lot last night I was finishing something i have been doing off and on for a while now: I got rid of ALL of the big and tall clothes in my closet.

Up until now I have gone through and gotten rid of some shirts. Selling them on E-bay and using the money for charity. I even mailed them with information about the American Heart Association and my journey hoping that perhaps the next recipient of the items might be inspired. But I have held on to a TON of stuff. No more. Last night, after hours of pulling and proding, it is all in bags, ready to leave the house.

But holding on to them is not an option..see, I am not going back. None of this "fat clothes" bs...this is a lifestyle change and I have made it. I am "burning the ship" of my 3x, 4x shirts, my 48-54 inch waist pants, my 3x rugby shirts (ok..that one hurt..I have a collection of these and I LOVE them...but not enough to go back..but damn....LOL!) Holding on to any of these clothes says that it is ok to not do what I am doing for myself today for my health. It is not. Moving forward and staying the course....exploring more of this unchartered world of health and wellness, that is where it is at!...ok..enough with the analogy...but it is good...and there is a certain freedom in "letting go".

It is shameful how much clothing there is. I did this thing when I got larger in buying clothes..and lots of them that were like the quality clothing that I had always worn. See, somehow if I could keep up the appearance that I was wearing the same clothes as I had always worn, then, well, it was not that bad. Never mind that I could only either shop online or in the big and tall sections of stores.

Every once and a while I would go into one of those "regular stores"..the amber-expressed-navy-buckle places and I would feel like the sales people would just stare at me like.."really?...can we help you find your way out?" I felt like a total perv in those places. Typically I would look at hats and accessories and slink out trying not to be noticed. However, this weekend, Michael and I where in the mall and he wanted to go into Express. The salesperson asked ME if there was something I wanted....now, mind you, I am about 20 years too old for those clothes..but he nonetheless asked ME if I wanted to try on something..he thought I could FIT into those clothes...and the cool thing is...If I was really have a mid-life crisis and wanted to dress inappropriately young...I could have fit in those clothes! It was AWESOME! I felt completely free and it was nice!

Another blessing along the way of many blessings...
Now, what to do with all these clothes..I guess have a sale and figure out how to convert the cash to the Heart Association!
Thanks be!

Day 530: Greater than through love and support: Journey with the Cape Fear Heart Walk and Adam Freeman

ok..I am swear i am not being lazy..but i am VLOGGING today becuase I am still on vacation. I also really want to share the amazing new section of the cross city trail with folks...it is a piece that runs along rose avenue and it is AMAZING! so peaceful, serene..a place to get lost in the middle of the city! What a blessing!

here is the link if you are getting this by email or on a reader



we are enjoying out staycation so very much and have so much to reccomend! It was one of the smarter things we have done! :)

Day 525: Greater than through love and support: Journey with the Cape Fear Heart Walk and Adam Freeman

I let my posts slip away for a week. An intense week. July fourth was awesome in so many ways. I had the first, literally the first experience where I went to a party at someone's home and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I don't want to offend anyone who might read this and who might have had me over..what I mean by this is...it was the first time in years I was truly comfortable in my own skin....It was an indoor outdoor party...there was food by middle of the island catering (good old fashioned country food), a mixture of people, a steel drum band..and just people I love. But unlike other events where I worried that my clothe did not fit right, or i did not look good sitting down, or I was so conscious of my weight...I literally sat in this party and just enjoyed everyone's company...never got over heated..ate just a little, but enough to be satisfied, and just enjoyed the evening. No one would suspect, I would imagine, that I was that uncomfortable in social scenes for so long. I am always, or at least I told, seen as the someone who is so "out there" and social. But I spent years loathing going places..because I was so self conscious. Don't get me wrong, I ain't over all that! LOL! but, sitting in Livian's, it was just nice...and that was...a relief..I could breathe..enjoy..not feel so pressured..and really enjoy connecting and being with people. What a pleasure.

But after that evening, I am afraid there were some things that happened that made for some intense time. No need to detail it as it was more involved in those I care about than anyting to do with me....but what is so important for me, what is so amazing and so needed for me to write about is how, when I reach out in what appears to be the darkest moments, when what appears to be the worst of circumstances, someone, something is always there. It may not be in the form or in the way I want it. It may not come in the desired manner in which I prefer, but I am reminded in every episode of concern and need in my life, that no matter what, no matter the dire feel of a moment, I am not alone, we are not alone, if we allow that love, support and help to come in through and from others... I have said to a couple of people this week how much they mean to me. How much having people I can trust and how much their love means. It is more precious than anything else in this world and I NEVER take it for granted.

If nothing else, it goes back to the name that donnie gave this who journey "greater through love and support". By connecting with and to one another, we can and do overcome and get through anything and everything...and this week, it felt like, it was going to be a non-stop need. We sometimes have to watch as others feel pain, and the most courageous and helpful thing we can do is just be there for there...because I cannot fix it. At work two people I love dearly lost their positions after literally serving the university for decades..another 147 positions were cut. It was hard, harder than I can remember to say "but for the grace of God..". A dear friend's son was hit on his bicycle and sustained spinal injuries and just today, I learned that a woman I love dearly, who is the sister of two of my dearest friends has stage four, colon, lung, and kidney cancer. If she is 50, I would be surprised.

My friend Nick walked up to me and said "but tell me something good. I need to hear somehing good today." I love Nick for that. I turned to him and I was able to tell him what I heard from Tracey wilkes about a student that she had in Dreams who was able to attend a modern dance workshop because community donors saw the value in making that happen for this 13 year old to seek out and fulfill his talents, She talked about how 100% of the students in her program, 90% of whom are on free lunch (thus below poverty line) have graduated high school when 56% of those below the poverty line drop out. I told Nick about how a recent graduate of the Youthbuild program got a job with Kids Making it full time and two of them are in college and we have another YouthBuild grant. I told him about meeting with Bob Calboun from Cape Fear Habitat and Jim Morgan from his board and connecting up on a new initiative they are coming out with for revitalization, and how the chamber was so involved in helping with the Youth Enrichment ZOne for at risk youth and they wanted to recruit volunteers...and how I had vacation..and how we were having time...and by the end of all that...all the things that have been happening and had happened...well, they did not go away...they are still there...but somehow..there was a balance...somehow that sucking noise of negativity that came at me last week...that emotional intensity...well, like I said, it did not go away..but I was filling up with the good...Nick reminded me to "tell something good".

Ironically, or by no coincidence,  I was asked to follow up behind Adam, who was speaking and INSPIRING at the downtown rotary...and by doing this, before we got up there, I was filled with "the good news". I have no idea what I said when I got up there...but I know that what I shared followed being grateful. I needed to do that. I needed to extend the life I have been given. I am glad that was the bargain that we struck..and that is what I am asked to do.

I went for a run when I got home and the heat was intense, but not to bad. I am at such peace this afternoon. I know that part of taking care of me..as I talk about the "physical, spiritual, and mental" self is to "fill me" spiritually so that when I experience a friend in a dark place, or I am around suffering, or something "surprising" happens, I am able to deal with it. We used to call it the "spritual bank account". Part of this week is to relax..do things that add to that account...give myself a break and be about the business of healing in some ways. I am a fortunate and blessed man to have that opporunity!

thanks be!

Day 514: Greater than through love and support: Journey with the Cape Fear Heart Walk and Adam Freeman

Ok..so going for a run is no big news..but going for a run in the woods is..and preparing to go run through fire, mud and through a course of obstacles with a pack of other fools..that is news to. Yep, I have signed up for the Warrior Dash in August and i cannot wait (go to http://warriordash.com/). One thing that a lot of folks don't know about me is that as a kid, my mom's rather loud voice used to echo through the hills of chapel hill trying to hunt me down trying to get me to come inside. Although about half the year I spent in teh hospital growing up because of severe ashtma, the other half was spent, and as much as I could, outside, traveling through the creeks and woods of Chapel Hill..getting as dirty..as muddy, as filthy as I possibly could. It was not till I hit puberty that I became sedentary and let the ashthma and the "I can't do it" take over my life". My childhood was filled with camping, being outside, and it was MAGIC. Part of this journey..a large part of this change and being back to a health that is amazing has been re-discovering that part of myself that loved being outside..loved being physical..playing sports even and being ALIVE in so many ways! This dash looks like so much fun and I cannot wait.

Oh yeah..i know I am 44..and I am not going to go crazy. I aims to finish! LOL..not win! :) I also aim to have a good time. That is the aim now..enjoy myself..enjoy being alive. Enjoy being healtier and continue to grow. Yes there is work involved..but there does not have to be so much struggle all the daggone time. There is so much to enjoy! It is an "attitude of gratitude!".

Anyway, back to the run last night.....The woods behind our house are the woods by UNCW. They are also the woods that go between Randall Drive and Rose avenue and border the challenge course for UNCW. I hotfooted it down the path and it was great! It felt like being in the woods back home in Chapel Hill..smelled like home to with honeysuckle hitting my nose mixed with pine..and I was able to keep pace with the soft sand under my feet. I was watching myself to make sure I was steady becuase of the change and variation in the ground, but it was good.

When I got to the end of the woods..there it was...the Gary Shell Trail that now borders Rose avenue has been put in. The asphalt was clear and beautfiul and I stepped onto it and it was serpentine and wrapped through and around the woods behind the homes. It was lovely. I was overwhelmed with joy as I ran down that stretch..seeing another piece of this progress. But here is what I encountered. I saw a father a way down the path, getting onto it with his daughter. Dad was overweight and looked out of shape. But here he was. out for an evening walk with his little girl. Because of this path...a working class neighborhood that has no sidewalks, now has an area for he and his daughter to spend time together..and maybe, if they keep this up, he will get healthier and his daughter will have him around a lot longer. I saw a couple riding together..and lots of others...this was and is an extension of health, relaxation, and wellness for the neighborhood and EVERYONE could access it and use it! What power in that! What blessings! What COMMON GOOD!  I was energized in my run like none other. Grace...so much grace comes in being a part of something like that. It is something I can never repay or fully explain..but I am grateful..and I will run, bike..and do it all as long as I am here....

thanks be!