I started this blog post in February 2023 and I’m finishing it in September 2024. A lot has happened since I last posted. Life got flipped upside down, thrown up, and stomped on. I finally feel like I’m coming out the other side but some days it is hard to put one foot in front of the other. Over the past 18 months, I have found when I say “yes” to things I’m in a much better space.

Here are some ways I’ve said yes, and also said no to say yes: I’ve kept up my mile a day and am working towards day 2,000 later in the spring, I’ve started a beginning run club for my town and encouraged more than 30 people towards their movement goals, I’ve run another six half marathons and then a full marathon at NYC, trained for a marathon and then stopped, kept up with two teenagers and taught one of them how to drive, threw a huge party a year after my divorce and had more than 30 women from all stages of life come celebrate, had some random last minute adventures with friends going to concerts and plays, drank A LOT of wine, realized I had to stop drinking SO MUCH wine, read 6 books and have 6 more in process on my nightstand, joined in with local politics volunteering for candidates I feel strongly about, met new people on my miles either through town or at races (some of whom live down the street and others live states away), made new friends, said goodbye to some old friends that weren’t a good fit, wore out five pairs of sneakers, refinished a bathroom, learned to mow the lawn, will hire someone to mow the lawn next year, went cross country skiing for the first time ever, picked ice skating back up with my daughter, beat my son in a half marathon (this won’t ever happen again), gave up coffee only to welcome it back, traveled to Texas with my daughter when a friend invited us to Taylor Swift, won tickets on the radio to Dave Matthews and took the kids to see my favorite band, drove north so many times my car knows the way by heart, floated in the lake for hours after a long run on a new rail trail…

If you’d have gotten the “say yes” post in February 2023 it would have been much darker. Some days still are dark, but looking back right now, running is the common theme that has held things all together. When I said yes to my running, its opened new doors and created new connections. It doesn’t matter how fast I am, or how far I’m going, but saying yes to running brings light into view which chases the darkness away.