I’ve seen several posts or shares around the interwebs about people being in a “funk.” It happens. We all get in them. I was pretty down after Arizona for a couple of days… it was an amazing weekend and I had a blast, but I still couldn’t cloud the fact that I missed my race goal. It’s like eating an ice cream sundae and it’s the best thing in the world, but they forgot to put the cherry on top. Delicious ice cream, every bite… but man, just needed that cherry.

Ok. I’m a runner and I’m supposed to be healthy, so replace ice cream with salad and cherry with tomatoes in that last analogy. Better?

What was I saying? Oh. Being down… it happens. It doesn’t even have to be running related. It could be work, it could be your neighbor, it could be the guy at Starbucks that doesn’t understand “triple pump.” The point is that there will be an “up.” I’m not sure when it will happen, or the best way for you to reach it. But it will get better.

For me, it’s all about finding what makes me happy. Or what makes me smile. Isn’t there a saying “Find out what makes you happy and do more of that.” If not, there should be. I’m going to be honest, most of us have to do things that we don’t like. It happens. Stuff just has to get done for one reason or another and you just have to suck it up and do it. But it’s the counterpart to that you have to find. It’s that balance. For someone who doesn’t do yoga more than 2x a month, I can get pretty zen about things. Maybe it’s the running for hours and hours and being alone with my thoughts.

My daughter. My balance.

Wifey is out-of-town for the week, so I’m playing single dad. First off, girl’s hair? Way hard. Usually wifey handles it and she must have some kind of magic moves or something… or maybe it’s years of practice. We do a good job of mastering things we are good at. I’ve always been able to put her to sleep, showing her what all the cool bath toys can do and doing all the voices in story time – accents and all. When her hair was shorter, I used to comb that thing like no one’s business and she looked good. But then it got all long and someone said something about a pony tail or a braid or what are those little rubber bands called? Those.

Those kinds of things make me smile. It’s putting a headband on her head because that’s the best I could do, but making sure her puppy shirt is clean because that’s what she wants to wear with her airplane socks. Balance. I’m not going to get everything right, but I’m going do my best at what I can do.

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But she is my balance. She is the reason I’m able to get through the all the muck. There are frustrating times, but when she runs to my arms and screams “daddy” it’s all ok. She helps me remember what is important in life. For me, it’s family. It’s making sure that she grows up to be a good person. It’s trying to catch her before she falls and letting her know she is going to be ok when she does. It’s staying up until 1 am to post this blog because I don’t want to miss out on time with her when she is awake. It’s making sacrifices knowing that the result is worth it.

I can’t tell you what your “balance” is. But it does exist.

Let’s start here: what makes you happy?