Fireworks!

I never really 'got' the meaning of celebrating the Fourth of July before this year. Don't get me wrong, I love the USA and am so grateful for our 'freedoms'. The reason I couldn't embrace the holiday is because I did not feel free within myself. With the practice of yoga, body work and journaling, I am finding freedom from within. I would talk about feeling free when I ran but in truth I needed to find the freedom deep within in order to fully embrace and feel freedom as I run. Be sure to take a moment to watch Katy Perry's video of "Firework". I first heard the song when I met Suzy Favor Hamilton and heard her speak. She played the song and had us go to the front of the room and just rock out to it. The words now resonate deeply in my soul. "Ignite the light and let it shine/Just own the night like the Fourth of July."

I am so blessed to have met in person a woman I met on Just Finish, a running community, three years ago. We became facebook friends and have talked on the phone several times. We are kindred spirits and we made a vow that one day we would run a race together. Pamela Robbins is a true hero. I know she will poo poo me for saying that and tells me that I am her hero and source of inspiration. Pam and I are the same age. She has several health challenges that she lives with and neither one of us fits the typical 'look' of a runner. She has blogged about her adventures on the road. Pam, like myself, runs with heart and Pam runs with a passion for a purpose. She will be running the NYC Marathon this November (her 9th marathon) for Team Hole in The Wall Camp. She and her daughter Alex ran this year's More Half for Women for Team Hole in The Wall.

When she said that she was coming to Boston and would like to run a road race on July 4th I was beside myself with excitement. She signed her and her daughter Alex up for the Harvard Pilgrim 10K. We met at their hotel and drove to the Race Expo together. As my husband Tom said, "It's a reunion for the first time." We spent a delightful afternoon together and posed for a pic in our race t shirts. We even bumped into one of our friends from "Camp Hyannis."




And took a picture of the start:



We picked up Alex and Pam bright and early on race day to avoid traffic and have time to chill out before the start of the race. I had a tiny bit of pre race jitters but was so focused on the excitement of running with Pam. Pam met a fellow Team Hole In The Wall runner in the parking lot and Tom and I met one of his team mates from Childrens Hospital Miles for Miracle Team. As we made our way to the start, we spotted the Patriots Cheerleaders. I just had to take a photo of Tom with the cheerleaders and it's about the only picture I have of him with a full on grin. Bill Rodgers was introduced before the start of the race and I wondered where Team Hoyt might be. Tom spotted them right in front of us. We went over and hugged them, introduced Pam and Alex to them and snapped a photo (which is in my camera needing to be uploaded along with the photo of Tom and the Patriots Cheerleaders).

Gun time - Pam said that if we needed to go ahead because she was too slow to feel free to do so. I said are you kidding me? That's not gonna happen and besides I'm slower than you. Pam told me about the half marathon she ran with her friend Laurie who was running her first half marathon who had the same concern that day as Pam had today. She said that they vowed to stay together no matter what. So I was able to help Pam shake off that feeling we 'back of the packers' tend to feel. You know what? I need to start a movement to eliminate the phrase "back of the packers." If there were no back of the packers, there would be no front of the pack because there wouldn't be a pack or maybe we should all just be grateful we are part of the pack. Okay enough digression and pontificating.

It was very hot and we just paced ourselves throughout the entire course enjoying the company, the crowds cheering us on, talking about everything, laughing, and keeping hydrated. We joked with some fellow runners. You meet the most interesting and fun people in the back of the pack - oops there I go breaking my own vow to eliminate that term - oh heck - rather than a need to eliminate it - let's just embrace and love it! I felt so free and comfortable running/walking and being fully present in my own body. I could care less about the time and Pam said it was the first race she had run that she didn't look back to see if she were last. My body dictated my pacing for the day. I was so grateful to Tom for taking photos of Pam and me along the route and staying with us even though he could have easily done another 8:32 min/mile as he had at the Inaugural BAA 10K race last week. As we neared the Stadium we walked, dumped more water on our head and drank some more water so we could gather steam for a sprint to the finish.

As we saw the tunnel ahead we broke into a sprint. The Patriots Cheerleaders were there with their pom poms cheering us on and there we were on the jumbo tron.



We hugged each other feeling the love and respect we have for each other and how we have each learned to honor and respect who we are - no excuses. I felt transformed during today's run and felt the magic in the air as we celebrated our Independence Day - freedom from what others think or say about us; freedom to run our own race and freedom to be just who we are. It was obvious that we ignite the light and let it shine every time we take to the roads. And here is a photo of me at the finish. Baby I'm a Firework - and my colors burst!



From my heart to yours
With love and gratitude,
Mary

End Polio Now on Blog Talk Radio

Today's interview on Blog Talk Radio with Darien Marshall and Darius Jones was one of the best interviews I have experienced in a long time! There was a technical glitch that occurred at about the 10 minute mark. I was talking and then noticed there was 'dead air' on the other end of the line. I said, are you there, are you there? In the past my heart would race and I would feel a sense of panic. Not today! I was calm knowing that there always is a higher purpose at work. With grace and gifts from the Spirit, Darien and Darius filled the airwaves with their spiritual wisdom. They are Science of Mind practitioners and their ministry is evident in all that they do. We eventually found our way back together and continued the show. You will feel uplifted, inspired and fueled with Love as you listen to the show!

Listen to internet radio with ItXs All About You on Blog Talk Radio

Inspirational Quotes

I have collected inspirational quotes and posted them to my website and decided to dedicate a blog post to this collection. Enjoy!




"To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed." ~ Bernard Edmonds

"The miracle isn't that I finished; the miracle is I had the courage to start." John Bingham

"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places." ~Author Unknown

"Ten thousand flowers in Spring,
The moon in autumn,
A cool breeze in summer,
Snow in winter.
If your mind is not clouded
By unnecessary things
This is
The best season of your life." Wu -Mei

♥ “Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source.” ♥
~Leo Tolstoy~

"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first."-- Frederick Wilcox

"Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow." - Helen Keller

I learn something from every teacher in my life, even if it's learning how not to live. - Louise L. Hay

The muddiest water clears as it is stilled. And out of that stillness, life arises. - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you ~lewis b. smedes~

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. -Martin Buber

It has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today, and the reality of tomorrow."~Dr. Robert Goddard

"You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state." ~Sharon Gannon

“Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time." --Marian Wright Edelman

"It is not by accident that the happiest people are those who make a
conscious effort to live useful lives. Their happiness, of course, is
not a shallow exhilaration where life is one continuous intoxicating
party. Rather, their happiness is a deep sense of inner peace that
comes when they believe their lives have meaning and that they are
making a difference for good in the world." Ernest Fitzgerald

"Adventure is a state of mind - and spirit. It comes with faith, for with complete faith, there is no fear of what faces you in life or death."-- Jacqueline Cochran

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have
within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the
stars to change the world." Harriet Tubman

“Hold fast to your dreams, for without them life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” Langston Hughes

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." Thomas Edison

"Most successful people begin with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so."
David Brooks

"It’s amazing how courageous you can become when you know God’s got you covered." unknown

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot." Eleanor Roosevelt

And another quote by Eleanor Roosevelt "Nobody can make you inferior without your consent."

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes." Benjamin Disraeli

"The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time." Abraham Lincoln

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet." William Blake

"The sense of impossibility is the beginning of all possibilities." Sri Auribindo

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." James Barrie

"We flower into the fullness of our being little by little. Jamal Rahman

The more we talk about love, the stronger it grows in consciousness, and if we persist in thinking loving thoughts and speaking loving words, we are sure to bring into our experience the feeling of that great love that is beyond description – the very love of God." Charles Fillmore

"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances that they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." George Bernard Shaw

"The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities." James Allen

"Life is a field of unlimited possibilities." Deepak Chopra

"Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality." Jonas Salk

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Goethe

"We can either watch life from the sidelines, or actively participate. Either we let self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy prevent us from realizing our potential, or embrace the fact that when we turn our attention away from ourselves, our potential is limitless." Christopher Reeve

"Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination." Tommy Lasorda

""But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten. But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning." - Thornton Wilder

Namaste,
Mary

Father's Day

19 June 2011
For Tom
Loving father, husband and so much more

It took ten years we weren't sure if our dream to be parents could come true
And then we had the ultrasound and found we were having not one baby but two.
We didn't have a lot of money or support from either side
You've been an incredible father, to our children a mentor a guide.
And though we're empty nesters, and our twins are almost 24
You're there to listen for hours on end as they share their dreams and more.
A builder of our son's website, for our daughter a road trip to Tennessee
Putting the needs of our family first never once asking how about me.
A role model of integrity - loving, patient and kind
Forgiveness and love overflow from your heart,
a more wonderful father no one could ever find.
Not only to our children, but to your patient partner, to all youth whom you meet
You offer the love of a father - you are compassionate, tender and sweet.
This Father's Day my wish for you is a day filled with love and light
Time to relax and get in a run, meditate and do what feels right.
I'm so grateful you are the love of my life,
ours and the world's children are truly blessed
Wishing you a Happy Father's Day may this Father's Day, like you, be the best!

With my love,
Mary