Week 8 - Why We Do This

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Concord, NC - Training continues to ramp up (75 rucking miles this week) and the hours slowly tick away on the treadmill. My body increasingly is fighting me every morning somehow knowing there is a 5 to 6 hour workout ahead. When I'm starting out tired and grumpy at 4 or 5 am, of course I ask myself.....Why am I doing this?  The immediate answer, of course, is to raise money for CAN and support families living with autism.  But I find my motivation comes from a deeper place, although I cannot always articulate what that place is.  Fortunately, the Universe is listening and I had two vivid reminders this week of the greater "Why", at a point when I was feeling physically and emotionally drained.   

The first reminder was in my role as a substitute EC teacher for our school system....I love working with these kids and I'm in awe at how they see the world.  We could all learn from them and their teachers. The second reminder was when I took my son Daniel to the Shriner's Children Hospital in Greenville last night for a check-up and surgery appointment.    There are other kids there as well, conquering their own severe challenges and surrounded by compassionate caregivers.   The most important thing in these kids' lives is their families in both situations.

Therein is the very obvious answer to "Why".


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