I woke up at 4am on New Year’s Day knowing I needed to do some damage control. My alarm would be going off in a couple hours and I needed to take some Advil, down a good amount of water, and have just a little more sleep if I intended to survive.
When my alarm finally went off I knew I hadn’t taken the necessary steps early enough. I had a headache and my ears were still ringing. The night before, New Year’s Eve, I’d been at a townie bar, singing (screaming) along with an 80s hair band cover band, and drinking 3.2 beer. Because I’m nothing if not classy. All of this would have been fine, f-cking fantastic actually, except for one thing. I’d signed-up to run a 5k on New Year’s Day.
Okay…so aside from the “logic” of signing up for a race the morning after New Year’s Eve (dumb). And aside from the assurances I gave myself about it being “just fine” to go out and drink the night before a 5k (really dumb). It was…ahem…below zero when I woke up on New Year’s Day.
I stumbled around in the dark searching for enough layers to prevent frostbite, gathered my clothes, and made way for the bathroom. I started getting ready and realized I still had the wristband from the bar we were at the night before…and the stamp proving I’m 21 or over. I cut off the wristband, piled on my layers, and laced up my shoes. I thought about how funny it was that I was feeling a little hungover from the night before and at the same time was getting ready to run a race. And then I realized that I was a little hungover, AND getting ready to run a race, AND I’m 36 years old!
And then, I looked in the mirror and said “I’m 36 years-old b-tches!”
And then I felt ridiculous because…who says that? Certainly not a classy 36 year-old.
I ran through Starbuck’s, then grabbed my girlfriend Aych, and then we met two more girlfriends at yet another Starbuck’s. We (I) b-tched and moaned the whole way there. We walked from the car, in negative five degree weather, to the Metrodome where we would register. We lined up and jumped up and down to keep from freezing to death. And then? Then we kicked the a-s out of that 5k. We made good time, we didn’t freeze to death, and we probably felt a million times better than we would have had we’d slept-in.
2012, for me, was a year of ups and downs. There were very good things (starting this blog!) and there were some really rough things (being miserable at work). As I look back, I feel like it was just…how do I say…meh. It could have been better…but it could have been worse.
I’m okay with having a year like that…but I’m not okay with having another.
There’s something to be said for cutting off the wristband from last night’s bar and lacing up the running shoes for today’s race. It’s time to let go of the dismay I felt at work. And the unexpected financial challenges we faced. And the less than amazing year that followed what truly was an amazing year.
But the important part is lacing up for what comes next. A new job. A new commitment to getting and staying healthy (the race was the Commitment Day 5k after all). And excitement for what’s to come.
This year? This year I’m making magic out of meh.
TODAY: What if instead of accepting “meh” as normal I work to make magic out of the meh?
PS – It’s become blatantly clear to me over the past week as I’ve been “designing” my new website, http://www.mamacadabra.com, that I am not (I repeat…I am NOT) a web designer. Who knew? The new site will be evolving and (I sincerely hope) looking better and better. I’m calling in reinforcements. But in the meantime, check it out, will you?
MAMACADABRA 