stay in love

I had a really great weekend.
Self-care is muy important. If I learned anything this weekend is that I need to spend time to myself, taking care of my needs and listening to my heart and having fun. I think I learned that last week as well but anything worth learning is worth learning twice.

I worked Saturday morning into the afternoon. It wasn't that busy, I started working on the register which adds a whole new layer of hecticness to my job. I went home with the intention of taking a nap and then getting up to read. Well I ended up sleeping for six hours and pretty much just dosed the rest of the day.

I don't work on Sundays so I'm always excited about an entire day to myself. I woke up, cooked breakfast, read enjoyed my sunday morning ritual of listening to my I am Sam soundtrack and dancing in the living room to soft rock songs. Then I decided that this would be the day that I start marathon training. There's a running/biking trail that goes up the schuylkill (pronounced- scoo-kull) that goes up past the art museum all the way up to Manayunk (a section of Philly). I slapped on my running gear and walked to the river. It's really nice. They also have kayaking tours which I'm signing up for. I love the smell of salt water and the area is lined with gorgeous trees and landscape. So I started running and I ran and I ran. And then I stopped. The whole thing probably took about 45 seconds. It was excruciating. It also may have not been a good idea to start training on the one day in the past weeks with temperatures over 90 degrees. I decided to walk it. Fast, to stimulate walking. This training will be difficult but I'm determined to do it and cross the finish line.

I walked up the museum of art. On Sundays, it's pay as you wish so I was able to enjoy the museum within my budget. It's magnificent and the artwork was equisite. I really enjoy prints and photographs but unfortunately that exhibit was closed. I love wandering around art museums and really thinking deeply about what questions the art is asking and what message the artist is revealing. I feel so liberated in the presence of art. I spent a lot of time looking at religious art, especially images of Christ. It was my time to reflect on my faith and what it means for me as a person that believes that Jesus was who he said he was.
I stopped by the art museum and found this wonderful $4.00 Marsden Hartley poster which was very exciting. I've been looking for something with a lot of color to put up over my fireplace. There was a Hartley exhibit at the Harn my last semester there and I was really moved by his work.
I stopped by the bookstore and read a couple of magazines I don't have the money to buy including the recent Time that highlighted the candidates view on national service and included 21 ways to serve America, which you can read here http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1840466_1840320_1840299,00.html
It's interesting , there's a college , and I can't remember which one that actually started a partnership with City Year and allows students who give a year on to community service, educational scholarships. Knowledge serving the community, what a novel idea.
NSP was recently noted in a newsletter from Tuft about our involvement with students and civic engagement which makes me really proud of this great organization I work for http://www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/Newsletter/v5.i3.pdf.

I spent the rest of the night reading. I just finished up the leadership challenge and I'm saddened I never read it before because there are so many good lessons in it. Hopefully I can become a better leader of our organization because of it.
I've taken a new perspective on challenges at work. Never allow yourself to be the victim of anyting. I've learned that instead of framing situations as "woe is me, I can't believe I'm being treated this way" it's better to think "what can I learn from this and how can I use this experience to make myself a better leader, person and friend." It's given me a whole new experience and one that makes me excited about coming to work because I look at it as a challenge to stick to my values and strive for a higher state of leadership in my life.

Okay so, send your prayers or karma or best wishes on my marathon training. I'm trying again this afternoon. By the way, this is what I'm training for http://www.richmondmarathon.com/. Join me if you'd like.

Quote: It's not what you've got, it's what you use that makes a difference. Zig Ziglar.