Who knew my bucket had pockets? Pockets that have been camouflaged; well hidden behind a smug sense of complacency.
Most everyone has a bucket list, whether it's documented on paper or called to memory at the mention of an intriguing excursion or activity. I've never written a list and am more likely to admit there are many things I would never do or include on my list. Let's face it, I don't take many chances. Hence, the complacency.
Last year, however, I decided to run a 5k. Then I decided to run another one just a couple of months later. Done! Check mark on the running thing! Congratulations poured in over my accomplishment with questions about my continuing on towards a 10k or marathon.
"No, no", I proclaimed. "I have no desire to do either of those. I'm done!"
Or so I thought until a friend called Monday morning, excited over her friend's physical transformation - a byproduct of training for and running a half-marathon.
"Let's run one", my pie-in-the-sky friend urged.
I heard myself saying, "Sure, I'll do it!".
"What? Did I just commit to running 13.1 miles?"
Her enthusiasm was contagious. How could I let my friend travel this path alone? So with her promise that we could choose "a really fun city" to run our 13.1 miles, we began our journey. Never mind I don't enjoy running.
Before the sun set, three more "non runners" committed to join us, with the stipulation they would train to run a 5k, and only a 5k. No problem! We'll adjust our sails and work up to a half-marathon, sandwiching a 10k in between.
Today, with the Couch to 5k app instructing each step and moment of our 30 minute session, we began. In eight weeks, we'll gather at the starting line, no doubt outfitted in brightly colored, coordinating attire and prepare to put a check mark on a step in a journey not expected nor previously desired. And I'll have reached deep into my bucket's pockets and pulled out a large chunk of complacency, thereby lightening my load on my way to 13.1.
