Tuesday, May 25, 2010

And How We Play It Is Everything: A Tribute to A Friend

Just like on the playing field (one hopes), playing the game of life successfully requires a deep knowledge of the rules: how to apply them, when to apply them, which bend of the rules is allowed by honor, which is required by grace.

The finest players also know that you play the hand you are dealt, that the only thing that always pays off is hard work (talent can get you only so far), that unexpected obstacles in the course of play are best handled squarely, without panic, but that you can only do that if you have prepared well.

To whit: one of my dearest friends (she of the longest standing friendship in my life) has been dealt a blow in the last month - a diagnosis of cancer. In another time, if I had been asked to speculate about how she would approach something like this, I would have guessed that she, as one of the great practitioners of life, would have handled it with grace, grit, determination, spirit, and a deep faith in self that comes from an inner strength built over years of hard work.

Alas, I do not have to guess.

But I would have been right because that's exactly how she's tackling this one.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Did it!

It took me four days but I made it to the bleachers and ran the circuit four times. Felt way better than I thought it would after six weeks off. Got to thinking about - not for the first time - the four different types of people out there: those who think they can, those who know they can, those who don't know but will try anyway, and those who quit. Luckily, I was running with a woman who came under category three. She ended up doing more than she thought she could. I opted for sanity and finished when I knew I had completed a good workout but would pay (in a bad bursitis-y kind of way) if I pushed it farther. Perhaps I am becoming a thinking athlete finally?