I have 3 very personal and very dear friends who are running Badwater ultramarathon 135M in Death Valley in a week. All three of them run for charities - and we all know how that works and how important that is. Actually, I avoided all the "donation" thing for a long time until I ran Avalon 50M and collected a huge amount for local school and hospital. Seen appreciation on faces of the REAL people who REALLY live there made quite a difference. Ever since then I made sure to check into the charity my friends are interested in - no I won't lie I go around and just solicit the money, whether the organizations need them or not.
That said, I'd like to point you to those friends of mine and their cause they are running for:
Doctor Lisa Bliss is supporting Team St. Lukes, the information is on her right side bar.
Endurance extraordinare and coach Lisa Smith-Batchen is helping MPD foundation, and she is doing DOUBLE for the second time! That's 300 miles (because of Mt. Whitney climb addition) for those who cares:)
Greg Pressler, a local all-around endurance athlete and sports writer, is all about Soles4Souls.
Make no mistake when checking it out and thinking about it: every little counts. I could never afford to spare $100's or even the lowest proposed amount, but there is always an option to offer "other" that anybody can take on. After all, that bit, a dolarr or few, put together - helps.
And on this note - a nice email I got yesterday:
PEOPLE COME INTO YOUR LIFE FOR A REASON
People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend
and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring t he relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real. But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is
clairvoyant.
Thank you for being a part of my life, whether you were a reason, a season or a lifetime.
A Mountain Soul
13 comments:
another thoughtful post. i've often thought similarly with regards to people who've come and not necessarily stayed . lessons and blessings aside , i still struggle at times with letting go. i suppose there's a lesson in the struggle too.
Thanks for the shout out for Soles4Souls! Much appreciated!
Greg
This one will have me thinking on a lot of different levels for a while. Thanks for the inspiration.
Good post, thanks !!and Thank You for being part of my life:-)
I've always felt too inhibited/shy to do the fund raising myself. But I'm happy to give a few dollars for a worthy cause (there are so many of them!). You are a good friend, Olga! : )
Thanks for your support Olga over the last couple of months. Your advice for me is always spot on. My problem is that I'm just too damn stuborn to listen. I should've listened to myself the last time I said I was going to take a break but I can't even do that. This time though I think I'm going to what everyone says and just go out and have fun. My best races have come as a result of no expectations. I think that maybe I need to just take my running in another direction. Challenge myself to a new distance or a speed through. Like most of the human race I am best when I'm at my worst. As far as I can see it can't get much worse. The only thing I can do from here is just get off my pitty train and look forward to brighter days. I'm heading out to Estes Park to stay at the family cabin in a week and I have a couple of adventures planned. I'll post them on my blog. Again thanks Olga for your support.
Cool, I'll do what I can. Did a fundraising effort myself for Portland last year, it was a huge success! Great post.
This is a very nice and sweet post! Thanks for sharing the email.
Meghan
www.running-blogs.com/meghan
That was a great post, Olga. Full of wisdom. Thanks!
I like that, here in SF, people come and go all the time.
Thank you this is really nice!! nicely said.
I like how you support other runners and what they are striving to do.
Nice words of wisdom at the end, too.
I like how you support other runners and what they are striving to do.
Nice words of wisdom at the end, too.
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