Running

So, on Tuesday evening I went running for the first time in years. I think the previous attempt at running was when I was companions with Krysten over two years ago. And this may have been my first attempt at running solo. Tuesday was a long day. I had several meetings, almost 7 hours of coding, a GRE prep study group, babysitting, institute and a run to the grocery store to get ingredients for smoothies and toilet paper. Well, not ingredients for toilet paper. Just toilet paper. You know. Anyway, I was pretty much going non-stop for a good 15 hours. So basically, a fairly typical day. Anyway, something in my day kinda stressed me out and caused me to feel restless on top of feeling the effects of sleep-deprivation. I felt weak, and my head hurt a little, but I didn't feel like I could do nothing. Part of me really wanted someone to talk to, but the top options were unavailable. My mind was preoccuppied and i was feeling antsy. It occurred to me to run. So I changed into my running shorts, running shoes, and Mesa High Bam t-shirt and took off running. I ran a few blocks, and then walked a few blocks. The highlight of that lap was running through sprinklers. And then I ran a few more blocks, and then decided to visit some girls in the ward that I didn't know as well. And then I ran home. And when I say 'ran', I mean 'jogged'. When I got home, I started writing in my journal. Half a page into that a friend stopped by to talk. I was grateful. It's important to me to feel valued or needed as a friend, so it just felt good to be able to have someone want to talk to me and to then be able to listen that night. By the time she left and i finished writing in my journal, I only had 5 hours of night available before I knew I would have to get up. Or in other words, it was almost as late then as it is now. So that was my Tuesday in a nutshell.

So life is busy. Its full of good things that I love. But even good stress is still stress. And I keep piling more on. I remember getting back from my mission and feeling very busy with school and work that first semester. I was always on campus, always tired, and didn't feel connected to people around me. I remember promising myself that I would never again be so busy that I didn't have time for people. Well, at the time I think I meant to not be so busy. But I decided instead that it means that no matter how busy I am, I'll always make people a priority. Serving others and being a friend and socially interacting with people is what is most fulfilling to me. And so I delight in finding opportunities to talk and be with good friends (like Melanie), to get to know people (like the girls in my ward I visited), to serve people (like babysitting for McKenzi), to listen to people (like Krystin and my roommates), to call and email old friends (like Pat, Valerie and Emilee), and to play with people (like friends in the ward). And I am happy. But tired. I need to find a little more balance because I need to be mindful of my health. Anyway, I love life right now. I love my two main jobs, I love volunteering, I'm enjoying my GRE prep, institute, and all else that is consuming my calendar. It's a good life.

Oh, and confession. I'm leaving to campus at around 6:00 tomorrow morning to work at the coding lab. I didn't work at the coding lab today. So the plan is to sleep in my clothes from today and wear them to code tomorrow, and then change into clean clothes when I come home to eat lunch and pick up my car before going to work from 3-11 at my other job. I shouldn't have admitted that! Well, gotta run! (Don't worry, Mom, I'm not going running at 1am...I'm just implying that I need to get off the computer and hurry off to bed.)