To you, with love ...

Been meaning to blog for quite a while now, but it seems like as soon as I get one thing done, there is another thing that pops up to say, "Hey, me too, me too, what about me?"

Thought I could at least manage the pool thing, but it seems that the Gods are against me. Only slipped in two short sessions during the last little while ... skritch, skratch ... hmmm, can't even remember when. I just remember being kicked out of one pool after only a brief 15-20 minutes of doing laps. My fault completely - didn't read the schedule properly. At least it was a refreshing way to start the morning!

I would have swam tonight too but again, my fault, I chose to catch up with friends on the telephone semi-sort of making loose plans for the holiday visiting/activity schedule so that I would be able to pack in as much as possible, all the while balancing the need to do absolutely nothing.

It's been a full year, folks.

So what have I been up to recently besides NOT training? Hey, no criticisms allowed folks, and those individuals know who they are ;) I feel like I've trained enough this year to be worthy of some good time off. In the past 5 1/2 years, I've run 7 half marathons, 11 marathons, and completed one sprint, one Half Ironman, and one full Ironman triathlon. I've also raised over $30,000 for various charities - that's a lot of work! Throw in two kids, work and acting contracts and my passion for social dancing into the equation and we've got ... "WHEW! I'm tired!"

Recently though, I held my last charity event of the year, a private birthday dance party, with proceeds going to the Canadian Diabetes Association. I won't say when my birthday actually is, but I held it early seeing that people are more interested in half off sales on this particular day than in cutting cake. What a wonderful party it was! My good dance friend, Steve, showed up from the States to help me demo the coolest dance in the world, West Coast Swing. Awesome! So to those who attended the party, thanks for coming out to celebrate with me, thanks for your generous donations, and thanks for putting up with my almost crying before I cut the cake when I made the speech about my mother and why I had to do the Ironman.

What else have I been up to recently? Well, a lot of instrospection. It's that time of year, you know. Lots of loose ends to tie up, knots to cut loose or untangle ... decide how to start the New Year. Why should January 1st make such a difference? It's not the date that makes the difference, it's the ritual. I don't believe in making resolutions though but I do believe in following your dreams and making things happen.

My friend GB and I were discussing this the other day ... making your dreams reality. The sad thing is, we realised that there aren't many people who actually get around to doing this. They talk a good talk, dream a good dream, but when it comes down to actually taking the risk to fail so that they can have the chance to succeed ... People too often choose to stay in their comfort zone of mediocrity or sadness. This familiarity of having learnt to cope comforts them in a strange way. They refuse to go outside the bubble and risk falling.

If you don't break that bubble, you can't find out that you can FLY!

Be bold. Take the risk. Choose to live your dream. You can have it if you want ... You create your own reality. You decide your life.

And it can be an absolutely stupendous, happy and fantastic one if you want it ... GO FOR IT!