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Running Your Own Race
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In this episode of Exhausted Sparrows Unite, we’re exploring the metaphor of life as a half marathon— a journey, not a sprint. Join us as we reflect on the highs and lows of running our own races, literally and figuratively. Whether it’s finding the strength to keep going, resisting the urge to compare ourselves to others, or staying true to our unique paces, there’s so much to learn about navigating life with grace.
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Transcript
Embracing Your Unique Journey
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Exhausted Sparrows Unite, the podcast that's all about living authentically. In this episode, Running Your Own Race, we're going to talk about embracing your unique journey and giving yourself the grace you need to go at your own pace.
Running for a Cause: Sparrows Nest
00:00:22
Speaker
I, Krista Jones, am here with my good friend, Chantel Schaefer, and we're going to explore what it means to live without constant comparison, honoring where you are and focusing on what truly matters. We'll dive into stories about our run over the weekend and how we can help you find fulfillment in your own pace, no matter how windy or slow that may seem. Hello, my friend Chantel. Hello, Krista. You know, when we say exhausted sparrows unite, I truly think that fits today. A hundred percent. We spent the weekend at this beautiful run in Ocean City, Maryland for our team, Sparrows nest. For those of you that do not know anything at all about sparrows nest, we feed families that are facing a cancer diagnosis and we will eventually be feeding individuals. So whether there's a child living in the home or not, starting in Dutchess County, uh, next year, it's like a really big expansion project for us. And, uh, we feed five counties, Ulster, Orange, Dutchess, Putnam, and the Northern Westchester area. And we're really, really excited. But we do this thing every year where we grab a group of people that are crazy enough to join us. They raise a pile of money, $3,000 to $4,000 each. And you're talking anywhere between 100 and 150 people. And then we spend months and months and months training them, doing a lot of fun, like get to know you events with them. And we get them out on the course and then they run their own race.
Joining the Team: A Personal Connection
00:02:05
Speaker
It's a really awesome experience. And it's really how I wound up here. Oh, yeah. Do tell. Oh, all right. Well, I mean, I met Krista Jones in 2012 when she DJed my wedding. Oh, wait a second. Wait a second. Do I have like a... Oh, that's my applause. Nevermind. I have these new buttons that I've figured out that I'm just going to start playing sound effects as you talk. Go ahead. Cool. Sound effects. Yep. Um, so I met her in 2012 when she DJed my wedding and then she asked my husband to photograph her farm to table gala in 2019. Yes, it was, it was 2019. And And, I'm um going to leave out the part about
Impact of Fundraising on Families
00:02:50
Speaker
how I wound up telling Krista I was going to run a half marathon. Not one of my finer moments, but I made a promise and I stuck to it. And I went to that meeting in 2020 and I never looked back. And it was amazing. Chantel, I think was the most afraid of fundraising. So afraid that she's like me. She just spent two weeks raising $3,000. She's like, it's my birthday. Don't give me a gift. I have to raise $3,000. And I think like she had all her money in like a month. It was, it was phenomenal. It was, it was awesome. It was scary. But, um, but you and, and Christy, Christy was like, hi, welcome to the team. And I said, I didn't sign anything. She goes, you're here and you're never leaving. And that was it. And that was it. So we raise a pile of money and it's so important for this charity because it puts meals on the table of people that are trying to figure out their own path, their own journey. They're going through something that is a bump in the road for lack of a better term. And I don't mean to in any ways minimize it, but it is something that has kind of led them off course where they thought they were going to be because, you know, you can't plan for a cancer diagnosis. And, uh, this money that the team raises, I I mean, mean, it's almost a quarter of what we need to survive every year. We need somewhere around $1.5 million. This year's run was Ocean City, Maryland. We choose a different destination every year because why choose the same? Yeah. Why? We want excitement. We want new. So this year was Ocean City, Maryland. And they showed up in full force and brought in about $300,000. And, you know, as I'm looking at the weekends, right, because it was a very long weekend and cheering people in, this was the first year out of, I don't know, 13 years that I did not run the race. So I absolutely had this fear of missing out. FOMO is a real thing. Yes, it is. Even as someone that is, I don't know, I've probably done 30 of these. I don't even know how many half marathons I've done, but I had this fear of missing out.
Running Your Own Race
00:05:01
Speaker
But I've been reading books. I've been reading all these books to see what I love that resonates with me so I can add it to this podcast. And one of the books that I was reading talked about leadership. And in that book, it said, if you are indeed a good leader, you have to know that you can't all the time be in the middle of all the mix and all the fun. sometimes you have to serve a greater purpose. And so I decided to stay back very, very not willing at all. As a matter of fact, I did not even bring my bib downstairs because I was so afraid if I brought it downstairs, I was going to run. And I fought. You did. I fought for you to go get it. You did. But I felt for me helping three or four people along that course was really not where I should be. I needed to be at the end where I could help every single runner that crossed. So I was at the finish line. Chantel was out there. If this is intriguing to you at all, you're never alone when you run with us. And that's kind of what this podcast is going to to touch on that you should be able to run your own race, but you don't have to run it alone.
Supporting Runners: Emotional and Community Aspects
00:06:10
Speaker
And, um, you know, if anything that we're saying intrigues you, you can come to a meeting in January, but, um, she was out there helping runners that were struggling because that's what our staff does. We kind of figure out who needs us and we make sure that we're with them and we get them across the miles. You know, there's all different races that you can do. And I use the term race, but really it can be a walk. It can be whatever makes the most sense to you. And, you know, whatever you're doing, we want to make sure that you cross the finish line and you have a good experience because, you know, if you don't, there's a chance that you won't come back and we don't want that. No, we want you to come back. We want you to have fun. So sometimes that means, uh, Chantel is running and singing pop punk throwback music and air drumming for 10 miles, whatever people need. That's what you provide. I'm just, I'm just there. I'm just there to, to make it fun. And I think, um, you know, as I'm thinking about all of this cheering you guys in, which for me was a completely different experience, but one that was really important for me to look at the joy crossing that finish line. Um, it just resonated with me and everything that we're talking about. We talked about, you know, comparison is the stealer of joy. We talked about self-love or, you know, and I thought, wow, give yourself grace. So first and foremost, you know, it's something that we talk about in these informational meetings that you're going to go out there and this is not all rainbows and unicorns. So we're, we're pretty upfront with that. Whether you commit to something like six miles or you commit to 13 miles, it's a lot of miles on your body. And so one of the first things we say is give yourself grace, which then made me say, yeah, like in life, if you are about to embark on something that is tough, you have to say to yourself, I may not be my best for all 13 miles, but in all 13 miles, I can give myself a pass. I can say to myself, this is
Life's Challenges and Mindset Shifts
00:08:14
Speaker
the best I'm going to do this mile because every mile is different. Absolutely. And you can rest, I think, and adjust your pace. And there's so many things that you can do on a run that I thought, wow, this is so great for this podcast. Because I think a lot of times in life, we are trying to catch up to the next person. We're trying to have what they have. When we were talking about comparing ourselves to others, we're trying to be as fast as they are when they're out there to run. And what happens when you're in a run and you're going way too fast? When you come out of the gate and you're trying to keep up with those around you and it's not the pace you trained or it's not the pace that you practice, you burn out quick. Quick. I mean, so by mile two, three, you're spent and you still have 10 more miles to go. It's true. And 10 miles is a lot of miles to not be feeling your best self. Oh yeah. And part of that is you're not living authentically, right? We say this to our runners all the time. You're going to get to the start line and there's going to be music and sometimes there's fireworks and there's like the announcer and you're just so excited. But you know, this is not a sprint. This is a half marathon or a marathon. This is your life. And sometimes you see all these great things that you want to have. And you know, I think we get discouraged if we don't have them quickly, but I feel that like a run, you have to look at it in small pieces, right? So when we're out there on the run, you know, I say this to runners all the time, mile one done, right? Yeah, it's mile one, but I'm not looking at it like you still have 12 to go. I'm looking at it like you just got one behind you. You got to slowly chip into something like that. Otherwise it messes with your mind. Oh yeah. If you look at it as, oh, I have 13 miles to go. It's daunting. But you know, for me, sometimes I break it up into, okay, I ran a 5k. Now I have a 10k left or whatever. That was not the correct math. But those are still people with good math skills because I'm like 10K plus 5K plus. That is not me. But that's true, right? If you break things up in your own life into really, really small segments, you're going to see a difference. I talk about my health journey because that's really important to me and, um, and to so many of us, we are actually the next few podcasts going to really start getting into your health. But, you know, I talk about that because I take pictures every week purposely now, because I don't notice a difference, uh, you know, week to week. I usually don't even notice that big of a difference at the beginning of the month to the end of the month, but I've got about a year and a half worth of pictures. So what I do is I go to that first picture from way back when, and I'm like, oh my gosh, there is a huge difference now because you are taking it step by step. Yeah. Sometimes we don't notice those little changes in the day to day because we see ourselves every day. Um, and for me, sometimes it takes somebody else saying it for me to know that my journey is going the way that I hoped or that I'm on the right path. You know, when they say, Oh wow, Chantel, you know, you're looking great today. And I go, Oh, all right. I didn't see that this morning, but I'm going to look at it different because somebody else notices it. Sure. And I think that's, we want immediate results with everything we do. We immediately want to get the good job and the better pay and we immediately want to be a good mom. And man, did that take years. I'm still messing that up left and right at home. I don't think you ever perfect that. I don't think you do either because they're just not a handbook for all of these different crazy episodes, but you know, it, it just like anything else, you know, you see improvements. Um, if you take it step by step, right. So you don't lose this, this encouragement, you know, and, and like, it's a mindset thing also. also, you Running is a mindset, but so really is life. I think sometimes that you really have to embrace whatever you're going through and you have to sit on it. So whatever it is that you're about to step into, because we all step into something somewhere in our life. We also mentally have to prepare. We notice that with cancer patients, cancer patients that we treat, there is so much to be said about their mindset in the middle of this entire journey. People that are frightened and worried, which of course everybody is, and never seem to get out of that to look ahead and go, all right, what do I need to do next? What can I do next? How can I do something to get my mind off of cancer? Something that I've now been diagnosed with and I'm thinking about every day. But
Community Spirit in Running
00:13:18
Speaker
I think in our minds, we have to shift some things in order to get through some really tough episodes. Yeah. Wait, wait, I have something for you right here. When Chantel does that, this is what I'm going to do. You know, sometimes I have to soak in what you say. She does because we don't have a script when we go into this. I'm like, it's so much more fun for us just to talk. And Chantel goes, you sure you don't want to give me anything? And I'm like, no. And then I just keep going. So, you know, I think our mind, you know, you've got to get this inner dialogue going, which was last week's podcast about self-love, right? So if we can't achieve self-love, then we can't get our mind in a place where we need our mind to be. I mean, if you and your mind are going, oh gosh, I don't know how I'm going to get this done. And it's so much. And it's, you know, you have to quiet that negative voice, which is what we talked about last week. And you have to say, I am going to get this done. Even if you don't know how you're going to get it done, right? All the answers may not be in front of you, but whatever you're about to face, your job interview, going to college, giving birth to a child, whatever you're about to face in life, I think you've got to have that mindset. Like it's, it's about to happen. I'm about to go in. Let me get on my boxing gloves. Let me hit it head on. You know, and finding joy in the journey. Right. Because I was thinking about all of you out there running 13 miles this week, which I did not have to do. But I was thinking about, I mean, I've done, you know, plenty of these. And I was thinking about how my mindset during something like a run affects my pace. Like let that sink in. Your mindset affects how fast or slow you go. So if your mindset is on ick, you're really slowed down in the middle of all of it. But if your mindset like is one of joy and you're trying to find the silver linings and things where really there doesn't seem to be, it really helps you to propel forward. We have runners that Chantal and I both go out with and some of the other staff members that really struggle because these distances are a lot. And most of the people that run with us are not trained professional runners. And what I mean by that is it's everyday people. It's moms and dads. It's people that have never worked out in their life. It's people that maybe haven't, you know, walked a few miles in years, aren't as active as they want to be, but they're doing it because somebody's sick. So you have people from all different physical, right? Abilities. And they're out there and it is our job. I mean, some of the stuff that we're saying to these people along the way, first of all, never say you're almost there. That is the worst. If you are ever on the sidelines of a run, even if somebody only has a half mile, don't say that. Because for some people, a half mile is not what you perceive it to be. After going 12 and a half miles, they're like, I am not almost there. I have a half mile left, but we have learned not to say that. But we will tell funny stories along the way. We will, like I said, we'll talk about how you've got so much behind you, keep going forward. You're putting one step in front of the other. We're fixating on the future goals, right? We're fixating on what's in front of us, not the behind. Like I've only got two miles in. No, we're fixating on, look at how much closer you're getting to that goal. You know, we had a runner this weekend and she said, I don't even know. I think it was around mile, maybe seven, eight. She texted me and she said, I just cannot go. Like I need somebody to pick me up. And I said, you listen to me right now. She, you know, she wasn't running with the group, which we need to talk about. And I said, you need to find a person that has on this bright yellow sparrow shirt and you need to align with them. Right. Because sometimes when you can't see what's in front of you, you know, you take five steps back. And I just said to her, I go find, and I stayed on the phone with her. I called her because she had texted me. I called her and she said, I see somebody up ahead. I go get to that person and just say, I need help. So sometimes in the middle of this journey, you know, when we cannot find the joy, we have to find someone else that can bring that joy to us. Yeah. And it happens all the time. It does. I mean, my group, we picked up a runner who wasn't even a part of the team and we saw she was struggling. And at first we didn't say hi or, or, or acknowledge it and want to make her, you know, feel bad. And then I noticed that when we would start redo run walk intervals, when we would start running, she would start running. And when we would stop running, she would stop running. So finally I said, I was like, do you want to stick with us? You want to, you want to, you want to go on with us? And she said, is that okay?
Benefits of Group Running
00:18:20
Speaker
Yeah. Join us, you know, and she introduced herself and we all introduced ourselves and, and she stuck with us for four or five miles and she kept up with us. And, you know, she was alone before that. And she found that group of bright green shirts that she didn't know she needed. And, and we did it together. It makes a difference. When I started this program, this running program, I don't know, maybe 11, 12 years ago now. I'm not even sure what day today is, but I said I wanted to be different because the thing is there's a lot of groups out there, you know, even in our local area that run, they go to all these races and they just run. So this is a group of people that not only go out all these races and run, but they raise all this money. And so I said to them, you need to be kind on the entire journey. You need to, whether they're with our team or not with our team, you should be cheering everybody in, you know, and you need to be a person in life that is looking for those people that, you know, running your own race doesn't mean you have to run it alone. I think that's like a big thing, um, to, to decipher when I say things like run your own race. I don't mean that you're running through life by yourself. I mean that, you know, you know, there are going to be friends that you're going to catch up with and you're going to be with for a while and they are going to serve their purpose. And then they might be, I don't want to say dragging you down, but maybe they're no longer for you. Maybe they're holding you back a little bit and you need to be able to go and run your race again and find your next group of people that are going to get you through that. So, you know, all of this is so important. And there were just so many parallels when, you know, you guys were out there. I was like, I am just all the podcasts we've done. Like, I don't even know, probably have 10, 11 of them already like done. Um, but I said, this needs to be the next one because there's so many great things when you're running compared to just when you're living your life. I mean, how many times in life have you been alone searching for some friends and then you've had some really great friends and whatever life happens, you know, you had children, they didn't have children, you moved, you know, whatever happened, you had to then go ahead and find another group of people. So running your race means, you know, that you can also find your people, the people that are at your pace, the people that maybe they're not even at your pace, but they know that you need a little something. So they're willing to slow down theirs in order to cheer for you and run yours. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. Right? I do. I do. Cause when I started with the team, I ran alone. You did. I ran alone. And I realized that I missed out on a lot. I missed out on friends. I missed out on camaraderie. And those 13 miles alone was daunting. It was daunting. That was one of the most, the second most mentally strenuous run I have ever done. The first one is Savannah, but we won't talk about that. Well, we probably should. That should be our persevere. But when I came back the next year and I started running with the group and finding my people who could pace with me or I could pace with them, it made those miles so much easier because we found things to talk about and to laugh about and unburden ourselves. I was able to find people that I could talk about the problems in my life and get them off my chest and they could do the same. And even after 13 miles, I felt lighter because I was able to share and to connect. Yeah. And that's kind of how it is in life. You know, it doesn't have to be that you have a big group, but you know, you shouldn't be alone. That's such a big thing. You know, Chantal was talking about how she ran alone the first run. We do not train you to run the entire race. We train you to take intervals. And at first I was like, this doesn't even make any sense. So I think my first two years, three years, like I just, you know, got out of the gate way too fast. Of course, everything we're telling you not to do did not pace the way I trained the entire season, ran like 10 miles straight and I hit a wall and I felt guilty doing this like walk run thing. And then I, I mean, I've done enough of these that I watch one run walkers. I mean, many times they will pass those that are just running. There are a lot of times because it also gives you pauses in your life, right? Like for me, it was kind of this whole symbolism that life is not meant to be this sprint. Life is meant for you to pull back some because if you're always going and you're never resting, you are going to burn out at mile 10. For me, it might've been mile nine. I'm going to be honest. That's still a long way to go. But yeah. But there's still a lot left. Yeah. And that's the thing, you know, you push yourself so much. What good are you doing for anybody else? And, you know, are you listening to your body? All things that we're going to talk about next week when we get into, you know, just your physical health and all these things that we compare ourselves to with other people we don't love about ourselves. You know, all of this kind of ties in from podcast to podcast. So if you miss one, you can always go back to the other and they just kind of, let's hope, flow together. So talking about our individual races compared to merging with others is it's, it's a really big thing, right? So each person may have their own set of challenges and their own milestones. And of course we should never measure ourself against somebody else, but we should honor each other and we should really pick each
Balancing Guidance and Autonomy
00:24:23
Speaker
other up. And honestly, that's how I think that was what I heard more than anything other than the finish line, which we'll talk about soon. But the runners in almost every run we've ever done said, wow, I never ran with so-and-so and she found me on mile six and I was really ready to quit. And she just got on my butt and said, no, you're not. Let's go. It's about picking people up in their journeys. And it's about you, right? Being aware of your surroundings. If you run, you have to. You shouldn't have music in both ears. You never know what's coming, right? You know, you gotta pay attention. And that's kind of how it is in life. You need to pay attention to also what's around you. So maybe you're the person that right now doesn't need somebody out there to pace with you, but certainly there's somebody that does. You know, running your own race and still allowing yourself to pace with others, I think is one of the best things that we can do for other people. Yeah. And you know, at the end, you know, we had this big finish line, right? So everybody's doing their own individual thing and everybody is, gosh, going through their own mental journey. We have people that are in these runs that have lost partners, that have lost children, that are sick themselves running the day of. We have this crazy amount of recipients that we have fed or are feeding that are like, I'm doing that with the rest of them. So we have people that are just battling all these things as they're running. So the great thing for me is I got to see all this joy as they got to the end. I got to watch them. I mean, just this crying men, women, you know, because of something so hard that they had to battle through and knowing it's nowhere near as hard as having cancer. And my motto from the beginning, when I created this team and I said, we have to, we have to create this differently because why would you want to join us? Especially when you have to raise $3,000, that's daunting. Why would you want to join us, make these sacrifices? And I said, you know what? Because there is no sparrow left behind, right? So whether you are one of the cool kids that did this run, we had runners come in around 140, 145 for 13 miles. Amazing. And then, you know, we had the average runner that was probably around the two 33 mile markers. And then we had others that were after that. And I said to these men and women, honestly, and I'm like, and if you don't stay, you're not coming back. I said, you are not leaving. You are going to be out here for four hours because the person that's coming in four hours later is just as important as the person that came in in an hour and 45 minutes. I cannot stand that. You are not a team if you are not there waiting for every single person to cross that finish line. And that holds true for life. If you are a good friend and you are way out in front, how good of a friend are you if you are not waiting and encouraging and pulling your other friends across the finish line? So we have to be authentic to ourselves when we're in the middle of these crowds and say, I need you to go, right? Because there are some times in your life and in these runs where you're like, mentally, you got to let me be. You have to understand that right now, I got to get through this, right? Sometimes, you know, we don't want other people's with us when we're getting through it. So people have to honor that
Celebrating Every Runner
00:28:00
Speaker
too. But then you are at the end and you don't leave. You are at the end and you are waiting, period. So our very last runner came in probably somewhere around four hours and the announcer loved us. He told me that he will never be the same after experiencing Team Sparrow. He was such a cool guy. So as we started coming in, you know, the crowd got bigger and bigger because more runners are coming. And, you know, so the cheering got louder and louder. We were the only ones there, this sea of, I'm saying yellow, Chantel saying green, but this bright fluorescent color. We're the only ones there for every single runner, not just ours, but every single one that came through. And then we had a woman that said, listen, this is going to be tough for me, but I'm doing it. And early on, she was like, listen, you need to let me do this. I was with her as often as I could be, but she was like, you know what, Krista, this is messing with me because I feel that I'm holding you back. I can't get out of this funky feeling mentally. It's hurting me. And I respected it. I was like, all right. So she said, this is going to be difficult, but I'm still going to do it. So we were all like, okay. So he let us, when she was coming in, he let us get behind her. So there are 110 runners behind her cheering, going across that finish line, lifting up that energy for her, but letting her still be the pacer and have her own race. Yep. It was amazing. It was amazing. Um, Krista's, one of Krista's famous lines is always, it's a party in the back. It is. She feels sorry for the fast runners because there's less people there. And I was towards the end. I wasn't one of the fast runners. I never am. And I'm cool with that because when me and my fellow runner rounded that corner and there was pom-poms and cowbells and screaming, like year. This is my fifth run. Every year it gets bigger and it gets better and it's just more beautiful to finish. It was, it was breathtaking to come around that corner. And I don't know half of the people who were cheering because there were so many family members there, but it, it was amazing. I don't even know know. it The was party was in the back like a mullet. I will be the mullet any day. Absolutely, because it's okay to be slow. It is okay to take a race slow because guess what? 92% of people will never complete a half marathon. So already you're faster than 92% of people in the world. So you're already faster than anybody that's sitting on the couch. But sometimes being slow is okay. There's hopefully in your world, more people waiting at the end to cheer for you. Sometimes you're stopping and you're smelling the roses. Or eating donuts. Or eating some, yep, there were donuts to be had there. But you know, sometimes people can and should be a little bit envious of that. The people that are like, it is going to take me a while, but I am going to get it done. And it might be really, really slow. But guess what? I got to see that sunset or that sunrise. I got to be around when the donut store finally opened and the rest of you ran too fast. So it wasn't open for you. So I got myself a Boston cream, whatever the case may be. But, um, the party is in the back. I say that all the time. That's true to these runners because you know, the slower you are, that's okay. There's more people waiting for you at the finish. And that's how we should be in life, surrounding ourselves with people that are reminding us that we're not alone on this path, that are reminding us that we will give you the respect you need if you need to do this at your own pace, but also reminding us that we're not going to abandon you no matter how long it takes you to get
Kindness and Support in Life and Running
00:32:09
Speaker
there. Yeah. It was a darn good weekend. It was a beautiful weekend. What was your takeaway? I mean, I know there's many takeaways, but was there any part of the weekend that just really resonated with you? You know, I think it was, it was the, the people of Ocean City and some of the runners that weren't with us who commented on how amazing our team was and how many of us there were and how exuberant, I mean, you posted a photo on Facebook and a runner from the marathon who wasn't with us commented on how much it meant to her to have this group of people that didn't know her from Adam cheering her through the finish of her marathon. I think, I think that for me was, was just really special. It's all about kindness, right? And I said it on, I think the podcast last week, one of my to-dos is compliment five strangers a day, show kindness to five strangers a day. And if we all just did that, right? If we just made like these little changes so that even if it's not our friends that we're waiting on at the end, whoever it may be, when you are clapping for people that you don't even know, like think about what you have done for them. You don't know what they walk through. We say it every week because we're trying very hard to show you our authentic selves, right? So you don't know what somebody else is
Adapting to Life's Unpredictability
00:33:48
Speaker
walking through. There is grief and there is sadness and there is happiness and there is joy. A lot of mental health things that we'll talk about in weeks to come. But man, just a clap for somebody that you don't know is amazing. Yeah. And important. It is. It is because when you hit mile 10 and you didn't have any spectators that were cheering you on, it gets, I'm going to use the word again, it gets daunting. And, and to just see a sea of people, whether they know you or not cheering and shouting and telling you, you can do it. It, it lifts you back up and it gives you just a little bit more to keep on moving. And just like a run, there are going to be different parts of the landscape. There's going to be some hilly parts, but when you go up a hill, you have to come down. I love the downhill. I do as well, but you should not run that really fast. Oh, see, I put my arms out and I just soar. I have been taught by running coaches that that is when a lot of the hamstring issues happen. So I'm just giving you my word of advice. But, you know, it is like any course, there are bumps in that course that if you're not paying attention and going at a pace where you can still soak it all in, you know, you can land in a hole. We had that happen with one of our staff members yesterday. She ended up doing the New York City Marathon, right? There are smooth parts where it is just smooth sailing. It is flat and it is straight and you could see the beautiful horses along your way. And then, you know, there is really like unnavigated territory, which is exactly how a lot of life is. You've got all these great plans. I say it all the time. You make all these wonderful plans and say, and this is how my life is going to go. And then God laughs and he's like, okay, but it's not. And there's a lot of things that are uncharted and you can't prepare for. And if you can't prepare for them, that's okay. When you get to those areas, that's when you just set your pace differently. That's when you change your mindset. That's when you try to find the joy in what's going on, in some kind of a silver lining that is somewhere on the outside. And I promise you, you are going to be okay. Yeah, you will. So next year, we are looking at running Fort Lauderdale. I'm going to be doing that in 2025. Well, you're doing it next weekend. I am. But, you know, in case you're listening to this podcast in December, then you won't know that it's next weekend, which is November. So I'm running next weekend. And then January of 2025, I'm going to do Bermuda. And then we are going to open. We're just going to open up the gamut for all of you to come to informational meetings and kind of see what we really do. And if you want to be a part of this, because I'm telling you sometimes too, when you are in the middle of your own walk and your walk is just, you're struggling and you're just not feeling good. Sometimes to do something for someone else, it gives you purpose. And a lot of times, you know, I struggle with that. What is my purpose? And that's why when I can help someone else, it really makes me feel so much better about just everything else that I've got going on in my own life. So we'd love for you to come. It's going to be in January, third and fourth week of January. We're going to have these meetings no more than an hour, but you know, I promise you it'll change your life. Yeah. And coming to a meeting doesn't mean you're committed. It doesn't just come in here. What we're all about. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't mean that like Chantel, you become staff four years later and I'm sitting on the side going, Chantel, what's her name? And she's like, I really am the devil wears Prada right now. I go, you really are. Who is that? We also have to talk about our brain function and all of that great stuff in podcasts to come. But thank you for joining us on this running your own race. This right here is a journey, right? It is not a sprint. There's no need to measure yourself against anyone else's journey. You're able to take your time. You're able to celebrate your podcast. And if you take nothing else away from today, take this away. You need to keep showing up for yourself.
00:38:25
Speaker
until next time keep moving forward with grace because this race is worth