Day 2 Assignment

 How does God define beauty?

The good kind of beauty
Isaiah 52:7
¶How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

The snob type
Isaiah 3:27
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Don't worry, this is only for ten days...it's going to be good for me though. How does God define beauty? I found many references for beauty, seen in a negative light when it is used to be "better than" and a positive light when it is the effect of turning towards God.

Once again, when our spirits connect with our bodies in loving, positive ways, it is Good. And that is what relationship does, especially pure love. That's when I think we are the most beautiful. We've all looked in the mirror when we are angry, down and OUT, or even in despair. It isn't a pretty sight. When I used to pout my Dad would always point out to me I looked a lot better with the smile. Even the worst features can be transformed by Light and be attractive, very attractive.

Alma 5:14
And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?


I've made a jump from relationship to spiritually being born of God. Yet I think that is the ultimate relationship, from which others spring. However, it is important to also love ourselves. Have you ever been "loved" by someone who doesn't love themselves? It can get toxic, and quickly. I have times where I hate myself, yet I love myself. It is the times when I'm apathetic, when I don't care, when nothing seems worth it anymore...it is those times when relationships suffer, not only with myself, but with others.

 

First Day Assignment

Okay, I'm doing this Recapturing Beauty 10-Day Challenge. My first task is to write all the ways I am grateful for all the things my body allows me to do, for ten minutes.

And maybe I don't need this as much as I used to. I am just now realizing how grateful I have been in the last several years. When I was young and good-looking I thought about how fat I was, how too white blonde I was...and that was about it. I didn't appreciate my youth.

But now I do, and I appreciate my current age too, oh the joys of old age maturity. I was going to insert a google image here but, wow! There isn't a lot of respect for old age on google. All the pictures aren't very nice.

But back to topic, my minutes are ticking. Okay, maybe I really do need this. Here I go...I am grateful to be able to RUN! Duh. But honestly? The time I most appreciated that was in the middle of my first marathon, realizing I was not on track to qualify for Boston, my hips were locked up, I was in huge pain, I was tired, and I had THIRTEEN.1 miles to go...in the rain. (It was only a short while before that 13 was the absolute farthest I could go before death). I prayed, for the first time, about my running. And God answered, (not to be confused with the Running Gods so often mentioned on Facebook). He allowed me to do better in my head, which Jill was telling me I needed to do. (She was of course, right). He helped me with my thoughts so my legs could work. God connected my spirit with my body in yet another way. I was so grateful my legs continued to work, even if in pain, to be able to run. In that vein I'm thankful for quads and calves and my FEET. I'm really, really grateful for my feet. And my knees. And my arms when my legs are so tired my arms become pistons, in a sense.

Shortly after that I became aware of the majesty of the human body, any human body. I'm not kidding. I started to see it as the creation it is, maybe the way great sculptors see it. I am to this day quite capable of being awed by anybody's body, and not in a perverted way...I just think it's amazing. I can walk upright, I am almost hairless compared to most other animals. Oh, this is getting weird.

I'm thankful for my mind. When it works, it's great. And sometimes it does work. There is nothing so fun as finally "getting" it or seeing it click with someone else.

I'm grateful for my ribs, which are often hard to find, but I've thought before about what they protect, my heart, (which still beats by the way), my lungs, my heart.

I'm grateful for my hands, mostly because of what they can do; I'm grateful for my opposable thumb, yup. I can hold things.

I'm out of time. I am grateful I can see.  I love being able to see, especially light. Even newborns seek the light and I have been very aware of light, or the lack thereof, for as long as I can remember.
I am grateful I can see, and for whomever thought of this crazy idea to help me see even better.

No shoulders here, not even for crying on

This is a few days ago; we have more snow now. It's gorgeous and I love it...until Valentine's Day. After that, I will effectively ban all future snow until next year. It interferes with my training, therefore, it shall not be allowed. Sigh. There are no more sidewalks, no more shoulders...even if there were no traffic it would be dangerous as there are a lot of slick parts. Did I mention it is still coming down?

11.5 on the treadmill yesterday, in two sessions. I was having an autoimmune day (hereafter abbreviated AD), so a lot of pains-n-twangs-n-thangs. I actually took an ice bath last night, the water was much colder, even without ice, than 3 bagger ice baths I do in the summertime. I know, I should have just sat in the snow, but I wanted at least my top half to be warm. And it helped. The immediate pain went away, and when my legs had finally warmed up, two hours later, I was able to sleep.

AND. The MRI has been scheduled. For this Saturday. They better see something or I will never complain again, will just run in pain till I really am insane Elaine. This has been going on since last January and it is now obvious I have other issues besides the hernia (which is fixed).

My best friend, the one who calls me all the time, is named 1-000-000-0000. Do you get those calls? If you do, do not answer. Apparently it is telemarketers, bypassing the laws and calling anyway. I get so many of them I rarely even twitch when the phone rings, just wait for the caller ID. I did have one welcome "caller" today, the FedEx truck (see below). My son's laptop has arrived. Oh well, it's been nice having him home, but I'll be losing him now to the world of technology.

Lists of Blessings Do Not Work

All my life I've been regaled by admonitions to be grateful, often with the assumption I will start by naming off my blessings, which usually go something like this, 1) family 2) God 3) country
4) health....etc. So I make the list. And I don't usually feel grateful, usually I feel guilty--I have all this, I have been blessed by all this, so why am I not happy? Why does my life not seem easy? Why aren't I contributing more--what do I have to show for it?

But I've heard gratitude is great at combating the blues; I've also learned discipline of thought patterns (cognitive behavioral therapy) works. President Monson recently spent an entire conference talk on gratitude. The first part of prayer, the way I have learned it, is to thank God for our blessings. So, I've been working a little harder on it.

It does not work for me to make lists of blessings. But recently, I decided to try a little harder. There was a day. A doozy. I felt kicked in the gut emotional pain, not really knowing why. I don't get PMS, so shush about that! I was driving so I had some time, about 20 minutes. I started naming blessings; I tried to make the list different and more specific. Then with each blessing, I would try to understand why I had been blessed with it, why I was grateful for it, sort of an essay on each blessing. Each guilty or destructive thought dismissed: I tried hard  to let in more and more light on a very gray day. It was hard work.....but it eventually worked. It took 20 minutes, which seems like a long time until you consider how long every other therapy takes.  Instead of making me more grumpy, as a list of my blessings often does, I arrived home anxious to go to work, even cheerfully.

No matter how down you are, or why, efforts at gratitude can work. Why ask why? Because when it comes to gratitude, it works.

Morning feast

A gorgeous morning here, -2F, and the above is part of my attempt at a fruitarian diet this morning. It really does give me a buzz and heightened senses when I eat fruit on an empty stomach and that is all I eat. However, succumbing to pizza late at night probably negates any possible weight loss effect....


My foot and hip are still hurting and I haven't ran since Saturday. Is this a real pain or some sort of autoimmune wackola? It didn't hurt while I was running. My foot feels better every day. I may run on it today.

Exorbitant amounts of holiday calories loom in my immediate future; exercise of some sort is crucial.

Flying life

If I don't blog enough, it's because I don't run fast enough. Every time I run fast, I think of blogging...otherwise, not so much. I've been a little unhappy in the hip area, but much of the pain seems to be going away after stopping physical therapy and doing less miles. We shall see...

But today I did 10 in 1:14:45 on a 3% decline on my amazing schampazing treadmill of treadmills. Average pace 7:28. Speedy me. And then I kept going for another mile, then ran out of time, not energy... and NO pain. I am very happy.

And speaking of happiness, my oldest son came home from a two year mission in Brazil a new man, much happier, more confident, even better-looking. Oh, and nicer too. I will not soon forget that moment. He even talked to son #2, encouraging him in an hour more than I have in the last three years. There is new hope in the world. Notice the "Do not enter, EXIT" sign. He is finished with that phase and now moves on to the next phase, the film program at university.

Home 24 hours, then one day later we flew to Virginia to pace my siblings in the Richmond marathon. Unfortunately, I was too busy worrying, running backwards on the course, and bringing in three siblings, to take pictures. However, my oldest brother qualified for Boston and I swear he could have gone another mile. He looked much better that evening than he had in Hartford, even though he completed the Richmond course more than an hour faster. I also saw my Mom and Dad; my brother and sister-in-law are taking care of them. My sister-in-law is doing a great job. We also went to the Holocaust museum there in Virginia, always a sad yet inspirational experience. Never forget.

Since I've been home life has been very busy, just running here and there and everywhere. I'm not really sure why--I think I'm just catching up? Let's see, today I did the above run, jumped in the shower, then took car #1 in to get snow gear, then came home and frantically did housework, then did Meals on Wheels, paid bills, went grocery shopping, dropped off two extra turkeys to a charity, picked up car #2 with its new snow tires, picked up son from his after school work, came home, and ate more veggies.
Oh yeah! I'm on a fruit and veggie/pure food thinger. I mostly eat fruit and veggies but will eat protein if it's not processed, and not a lot. So far I've lost three pounds but I'm not sure as my weight fluctuates dramatically all the time.

I will try to blog more often.

It's a new day. Grab it, sit on it, then stand up and stomp on it.
That came into my head...which means I am very tired after the stomach flu yesterday and then staying up half the night trying to get my oldest registered for his winter term classes. (I got his classes...except his "must haves" :/
I just received this email in return for the one I sent in the middle of the night,

"Both TMA 105 and 185 are raincheck registration classes. You will need to click the "R" option to raincheck the classes, and the Department will be in touch regarding officially adding the classes. Currently there are no students enrolled, so if you raincheck both of those classes, there is still an opportunity to get into them. If you have any other questions, please let us know. Thank you and have a great day!

The College of Fine Arts and Communications
Advisement Center"


I think the Democrats will do better than we think. But if Reid and Patty Murray both win it will be very good for my running...frustration is always a good motivator.  Why do so many stay with the status quo? Same song as the Republicans, but louder, same spending, but more, same politics, but less consideration of the constituents. Both of these people have been in office far too long, both have very low approval ratings, yet they both may get re-elected.