"Come
run with me," the moon said to me on my drive home from class last night. "Sure,"
I said. "Just as soon as I get in touch with Joe, if he's not home."
I got
home, and sure enough, he wasn't home. But there was a message on the answering
machine from him saying that he would be home at 9:30 or so. So I did a couple
of things I wanted to take care of, changed into my running pants and my sneaks.
9:30 came. No Joe.
"Come run with me," the moon said again.
"But there's
no one to walk with. What if I get into trouble?"
"The roads are lit, and on
the parts where it's shadowy you know how to stay alert. You really won't be in
trouble," the moon insisted.
So off I went. The temperature and breeze were
just right for my new fundraising long-sleeve shirt, there was very little traffic
out on the street, and it felt very relaxing. About a half-mile into my walk,
the moon whispered, "So what's bugging you?"
"Oh, nothing. I just don't feel
like I've got enough time for everything," I sighed.
"That might be because
you DON'T. Have you ever thought about paring down your activities?"
"Yes..
but I'm really committed to all the things I have remaining. Work, and school,
and training. The bulk of the fundraising work is done; all I have to do is get
my friends and family to send their pledges in. And all these other things are
important to me."
"Have you thought that maybe you should settle for good enough
instead of absolute perfection? That maybe under the circumstances, absolute perfection
is a little more than you can handle right now?"
I stopped in my tracks. I
hadn't thought about that before.
"Because it seems to me that the most important
things to you is that you get the student loans deferred so that you can pay the
rest of your financial obligations, and being in classes does that. The other
important thing to you is that you get the fundraising done, which you said you've
accomplished. I think it's time you just did the best you could, and didn't worry
about it any more."
The Seven Sisters, concealed behind the combined veils
of full-moonlight and Dover citylights, whispered their assent.
I walked with
the moon and the Sisters for two miles. I listened to their advice, and found
peace in my heart.
posted by Adrith 3:47 PM
Remember that toenail I had messed up? Today I managed to yank that sucker mostly
off when I bashed myself into a counter. OW! It's hanging on by the quick, but
it pretty gruesome and gives me the woolies to look at it. My toe is all purple
now under the bandaging. Great! :P More gruesome-ness? I missed my 10K start
line from sleeping through my alarm, and I hear that the half-marathoners take
the red course through Disney. Poop! There's another race coming up, so it's not
all lost, but I am disappointed at both missing the Disney 10K and the red course
that won't run by the countries. Maybe it a rumor. I hope so!
On the bright
side? The BBQ went well and got to meet Hannah (mom) and Isabelle (9 yrs old)
and Joe (7 yrs old) at last. Joe is my Patient Hero for NF. Hannah is also racing
for Joe at the Disney Half Marathon, and then she's going on to the South Carolina
marathon the next month. They were very nice, and the kids were a pleasure --
I love being around good kids. I got to tell Hannah I had just broken a grand
with fundraising! I still
have a ways to go, but it feels good to have met my minimum goal. While Hannah
and I talked about NF and her races in the past, the kids were more into playing
with the trampoline with my 2 yr old niece. I can't remember if it was Isabelle
or Joe who told me I had a nice house, but that made me laugh. I suppose from
a child's point of view, our house is pretty fun -- between the swing in the tree,
the trampoline, the iguanas, turtles, snakes, PowerPuff Girl paraphanelia, sprinklers,
wading pool, burgers, and the bright, happy furniture nobody cares if you spill
on -- it's a house kid's don't have to worry about running around in.
The other
good news? Was a cool 66 deg today! OH YEAH! I'm loving that bit of it!
posted
by Cat 'Astrophe' 9:09 PM
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