From the Heart For the Heart

Okay, it's a good thing there was no running on the schedule for this morning because my leg still killed from yesterday's stumble-and-fall adventure. Of course, had I not run yesterday and waited 'til today, my leg would have been just fine. Can't win! Anyway, the pain progressed through the night finally waking me around midnight and carrying on until Aaron gave me some acetaminophen at 5 a.m. (Now, why didn't I think of that ...) That awake-not-awake time did not go unused as my would-rather-be-sleeping brain went on to solve a whole host of problems, but being awake most of the night killed any chance of a productive morning run. Again, good thing one wasn't scheduled!

By the way, the pain is less when I move and has gotten better throughout the day, but that was not the case this morning causing a lot of cringing and limping to get from point A to point B. I also found out just a short trip to the grocery store was enough to inflict a small brand of torture upon getting out of the car. I was so annoyed. So. Very. Annoyed. So, I licked my wounds by treating us to the yummiest bunch of strawberries I've ever seen in January ...

It's almost dinner time. That means these are about to be gone ...

In addition to doing my weights and providing a pretty decent side show to anyone who saw me walking this morning, I came across a great quote I wanted to share. It came from a Katie Couric interview of Pastor Joel Osteen on her show on December 19, 2013 (thanks to the DVR, I still had it a month later ... yeah, like most things media, I'm behind ...). Anyway, during the interview, Osteen said the following:

"I think if you start the day off grateful, you're setting the tone for the right direction. You know, if you don't set the tone yourself, you can't just let it default, or it'll default back to negative."

I would go so far as to say he's completely right about that. At least, that's been my experience. I can promise every day I run -- no matter how far -- the day starts off better than it used to. That's my time to wake up, get the blood going, loosen the muscles, have some guaranteed quiet time, to accomplish something, have some thinking (or not) time, reflect and say my morning prayers and to just be. And, how could I have all of that, plus be in touch with how thankful I am to be able to run, and not start off the day grateful.

You'll note that wasn't posed as a question ...

Whatever inspires you to start your day off as best you can, do it! It's awesome how that tone tends to carry through the day. Even if it's pushed to the background, it's still there as a foundation.

Tomorrow's day is supposed to start with a run! I'm confident I can get it accomplished one way or the other, so I'll check in and let you know how it goes ...