I’ve asked myself a million times where I’m meant to be, what’s meant to be … expecting some little twist of fate to drop me where I belong. In my dream house or dream job perhaps. Or with the destined amount of children or living in the right town.
Never did I expect that place to be among ultramarathoners, thru-hikers or triathletes. But then again, who believes in fate anyway? I LIKE it here. I might look like a total fool rock climbing or paddling, but it’s where I WANT to be. I feel like I have a right to belong, with my mom-bod and after-school taxi service, just as much as anyone else. It started as something I was doing for my kids. Being an inactive mom of two boys (then three) simply would not cut it. If fate ever told me anything it’s that I would need to get off my butt if I want them to have the best life and if I was to be a part of it. Not that I’d die, exactly. I wasn’t ever morbidly obese or completely sedentary, but I was not in any kind of shape either.
So I changed it. I think becoming a mom in my case (the thing so many people blame for the decline of fitness) lit a spark I never knew I had. I’m still not thin or muscular or naturally athletic. Keeping an exercise routine or going on a run is never easy. Not much is. But I am doing things I never thought possible and my wish list continues to grow. I feel like that’s setting a pretty good example for my kids in the process, too.
I don’t know yet where this all will lead. Maybe to bigger and bigger adventures, or maybe just a series of New Year’s resolutions over the years, but I feel excited about whatever it is that comes next!
The Place I Belong, West Virginia 