Tug-of-war

The Road Less Traveled
by Kit McCallum

How often we must bear the challenges of life;
The endless roller coaster between happiness and sorrow;
The constant ups and downs of daily strife.
And always the question remains .... why?

Life is not an easy road for most;
It twists and turns with many forks in the road,
Although always, and inevitably, we are given a choice ...

Do we turn to the right ... or the left?
Do we take the high road ... or the low road?
Do we take the easy path ... or the difficult one?

Decisions are not easy for those struggling for direction ...
And sometimes the many choices and signs become overwhelming.

While standing at a crossroads in life,
The urge is to take the most comfortable path;
The road with least resistance ...
The shortest or most traveled route.

And yet, if we've been down that comfortable road before;
Have gleaned its lessons in life, and learned from our experiences;

Do we yet again follow the known?
Or does our destiny lie in another direction?

The fear of the road less traveled is tangible and all too real;
It manifests itself in many ways,
And tends to cloud the issues that might otherwise be clear.

It is in these times of confusion,
That we must seek peace and solitude;

Time to contemplate on our life,
Our experiences and our choices past;
Time to look back, and reflect on what we have learned
Without fear or confusion.

For only each of us knows our own personal thoughts;
Our unique past and personal history;
The experiences that brought us to the crossroads we now face.

We can always learn a small degree from others experiences,
And yet ... no one person can walk in our shoes,
Others know not, the trials and tribulations faced in private ...

For each is individual ... unique ... and personal.

And that is why ... while standing at a crossroads,
Only "we" can formulate the decision for ourselves;
The true direction that lies within;
The choices we must deliberate on with clarity and wisdom.

For it is only through personal reflection,
That we can now choose our destiny;
... Our next adventure;
... And the future we will embrace.

Im sure you can tell by my posts that I am going through a bit of a rough patch, only because I am doing a lot of self-analysis. I am at a turning point in my life, one that I am super excited about and ready for. I feel this poem sums up how I am feeling right now.

Today was good, I went to the gym before work and did 30 minutes of abs/back/shoulders and then at work we went for a group run. I was out in front the entire time and when we first started out, I was thinking, "why am I out in front chatting with this guy who qualified for Boston, Morgan is a faster runner than me, why didn't I chat with the other guy... damn." Even though I was out in front the 5 mile run went really well, I am happy to say :) My shins didn't hurt much at all! YAY!!! I think I am on the right track and its all because of these...

and the fact that I have backed off my running and done other things to keep fit. I gave up planning on racing a marathon. I think that was a good choice as I seemed to push back which marathon I was going to do. Next weekend I am going up to Sedona where Daley and Bill will be racing the half marathon (i did it last year) and I will be racing the 5K. It's my first 5K (besides sprint triathlons), I am excited. My plan is to continue to improve my times over the shorter stuff. I do have one goal! Its to be back in racing shape by may :) That means dropping some LB's and letting people kick my ass!

Alright I am gonna go.

Cody hiked Black Mountain again today! He is such a star!!

Cheers