My Mother the Sims Character ❤
25 April, 2015
I have a supermom. I know, I know, you do too, I'm sure! Mom's are seriously underrated. I heard once if you paid a mom for all she did, she'd receive $85,876 annually. I'm just as confused as you are about where or how they got that statistic, but I honestly feel like it should be 6-figures. Or 7.
My mom is my hero. She (along with my pops) came from basically nothing and started Image Management, or Image Damagement as I like to call it. (insert pity laugh) It's a marketing company of which I have the pleasure of working at currently. I'm a content writer for websites we create, and let's just say I know a lot more about tool & die, oil & gas, and airplane/tractor/machinery companies than I ever needed to know, since those are the bulk of our clients. These big companies are literally paying the world's girliest girl who's barely 23 and has no interest in anything inherently boy-ish to write their About Us. How I have that position I do not know. Lol, I do love it though and know how lucky I am to write for a living.
Anways, back to mom. She not only volunteered at my schools, served gourmet dinners every night of my life, and runs the business, she is also the FITTEST woman I know. Competing in running races and Ironman triathlons every summer, she's serious about her workouts and even has a world-class coach from South Africa who sends her weekly schedules. She runs, bikes, and swims regularly to stay in tip-top shape. I think her and my dad are in a little competition with each other to workout more. I sit on the sideline and eat chocolate. Ha!
But really, my mom works out every day, and you wouldn't think it, either! I mean, she obviously looks great, but she doesn't have the cocky, intense attitude like most athletes do. She is SO humble, and she puts everyone else before herself. Today she asked me to put on a pot of coffee and pour her a cup, and even THAT was shocking to me. That's the type of person she is, she doesn't like to be served, she likes to serve. She embodies servant leadership more than anyone I know. She wouldn't hurt a fly, and I've never heard her say a mean thing to anybody, ever. She really is my hero and role model. There's no one else I'd rather be when I grow up than my mom. She is perfect.
That being said, I asked my mom to wake me up early this morning to join her on her weekly Saturday morning long run. We have a beautiful trail called Armstrong Park about a mile from our house. The trail runs through ponds and rivers, and there's cute little bridges you run over. It's the best trail in town.
7 AM, she woke me up, and I told her I had changed my mind. "Yeah, mom, I think I'm good on the whole running thing. I would go but I'm actually really busy," I groggily whispered as I sunk my head back into the pillow. "Fine, you'll miss out on all the fun then, missy!" Ugh.
I reluctantly got up, made myself some banana, blueberry, and strawberry oatmeal (yum, yum) and told her I was in. But that I would only run for half. Or a quarter. Or a block. Motivation at its finest, I'm aware.
We got running and I made it more than a block, so that was a good sign. We started at an extremely slow pace, 16:00 minute mile pace, just to warm up our legs, then worked up to 10:00, and then a bit faster. We were going a pretty good pace, and I was suprised to have kept up. I was actually having a ton of fun, and I was really glad I had gotten up. As we passed by the river bank, I popped out my earbud and asked her how she motivated herself everyday.
Running a few steps in silence, she told me I was going to laugh. Chuckling, I was confused. "Wait, what? Why?" Running a bit more, she started to explain:
"I like to use this analogy: Remember that Sims game from back in the day? Well, if you yourself were controlling a Sims character, and they were supposed to represent you and your life, what would you have them do? Would you have ran this morning or stayed in bed?" Ouch.
"But really, you can use it in any aspect of life. What you do with your time, what you eat, who you hang out with, how hard you work... Don't focus so much on the pain of running or having to work hard at something, look instead at the bigger picture of making yourself the best you can be."
Dang mom. I was impressed. "Another analogy I use is from Rocky ."
I had to hear this. "Haha, ok, what's that?"
"When he's facing Apollo Creed, he says he just wants to go the distance. He wants to make it as many rounds as he can. It doesn't matter how fast we run, as long as we go the distance. It doesn't matter how long it takes us to do this or that, as long as we're trying. Taking the first step is always the hardest part. You just gotta go out there and do it!"
To say the least, I couldn't have been happier that I ran with her this morning. I ran 8 and headed home, and she kept going to distance, so to speak, and ran 12 miles before finishing. She really is super-mom.
The big takeaway? We only live this life once, before we spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven, and it's up to us what we do with it. I saw a quote once, it went like this:
JUST DO IT, later. There's no rush. Have a snack instead. Maybe a nap, too. Seriously, just take it easy. Take a load off, buddy. You earned it. Eat the whole cake. The whole darn thing.
It's supposed to be funny, which it is. And rest is obviously important. But reaching your goals, making yourself and the world a better place? That takes time. It take's hard work. It takes consistency, even if you sometime's don't want to. There's no doubt my mom sometimes wants to skip a day or two, but with her two quirky mindsets: living life like a Sims character and going the distance like Rocky Balboa, she knows the end prize far outweighs the short-term discomfort.
Jesus doesn't call us to lay in bed all day and binge on Netflix. He calls us to make the most of these incredible bodies we've been given, using our time and energy as best as we know how. It takes a willing spirit to do big things. Are you willing?
