Energy- I'll take a Straight Shot por favor

Sometimes I'm tempted to say I hate running. While that's a definite exaggeration, running is hard for me. At least as much mentally as physically, if not more so. But do you know...why I know...I'll keep coming back for more?

It's Game Time.

The energy that surrounds game time. I remember it from the time I was a little girl, when it wasn't a luxury at all but a woven-in part of life- soccer games, volleyball games, sprinting away from brothers before getting tossed in the pool. I also remember it from last weekend's race. Now a luxury, they are few and far in between. Energy in concentrate form. More potent that a can of Red Bull. A straight shot of adrenaline. Usually a double.

You know one of the hardest things about being a stay-at-home mom for me? It's the being alone- being a one man band. It's having to rely on me- and me alone- to drum up the energy and SELF-motivation and ambition to do the next thing. To get homework done, to make a dinner, to get kids bathed. And the solo energy I produce is far from concentrate. It's a constant exercise of digging deep and performing...alone. Continual series of pep talks. An inner strengthening for a non-self-motivated person.

But when I get out of the house, something happens. The reigns change hands, and while I'm still in charge of all the physical responsibilities,  I'm no longer in charge of doing it all- the mental part of it seems to take care of itself. I'm infused by this energy of being around others. My performance level is naturally heightened by merely being in the presence of human beings sharing the same life experience as me. My patience level rises. My stress levels lower. It's easy to have good parenting moments. It's easy to laugh with my kids. It's easy to talk through problems. It's easy to engage and just be present.

That's why Cafe Vida is my BFF. That's why I try to be the one to take and pick my kids up from school as much as possible. That's why I want Saturday family excursions. They're these brief experiences that act as Game Time. Everything I've been practicing so hard to be good at in the solitude of my own home, I'm out and about and it's no longer a struggle. It's a reward for the long hours of doing it alone. Where I don't have to be self-motivated but am naturally motivated by the energy in the air.

That's why I know I won't give up running.

Because of Game Time. Where the energy isn't stirred up from within, but is soaked up from the outside in. It's a mental reprieve- which is much more anticipated than the physical reprieve.

These Game Time moments, they're when I feel the most alive.

They're why I go through the rigorous routines of exercising alone and parenting alone. Game Time always leaves me wanting more.

What's some of the harder things about being a mom for you? What are the pushes that keep you moving and ENJOYING what you do?


Part of me thinks I should teach the kids some rally song and give them a blow horn so they can get some energy flowin when they can see that mm is struggling. Would be awesome right?!!