No Regrets Coyote

I am 17-days away from doing one of the craziest, grab-life-by-the-horns, may-be-having-a-midlife-crisis, I'll be 40 in two and a half months things I've ever done. I'm traveling all the way to the Southern California desert by myself to meet 7 other women whom I have never met and with whom I will be sharing a tent for two-nights while we take turns running through the day and night through the trails in the Los Coyotes Reservation.

What was I thinking? (Reference back to the upcoming anniversary of my birth 4-decades ago).

I'm terrified. My training has not been what I wanted. I've seriously considered dropping out. There is a very nice alternate who I am sure would be happy to take my place. I've got a list of reasons a mile long why I should NOT go and do this thing. The list does not even include the half-joking reasons some of my friends have offered (this second list includes, among other things, coyotes, mountain lions, and human trafficking rings kidnapping me and dragging me across the Mexico border).

So, why am I doing this hard and crazy thing that I am not even sure I can do? Because it is hard, and a little crazy, and I'm not at all sure I can do it or at least do it well. Because I have two little girls at home who hang on my every word and who, I hope, will one day not only want to do hard, crazy things they are unsure of - but will actually do them.

I want my girls to know it is okay to be nervous, unsure, even terrified but that you DO THE THING anyway. Courage does not mean you don't feel those feelings - it means you take the next step anyway. You step up to the podium, or to bat, or to the starting line. You grab the mike, take the stage, lace up your shoes, whatever it is. Trying and failing is better than living a life of regret and of wondering "what if."

So maybe I am having a little bit of a mid-life something, but I refuse to call it a crisis. I prefer a rebirth. Life is too precious, too short, too quick, too wonderful to miss out on it. And it made my heart swell that even when I told them that it meant I'd be leaving for a few days, the girls did not miss a beat in encouraging me to do this thing!

Wish me luck. Let me know if you have any coyote-repellent secrets. But above all, and to steal from Nike - whatever your thing is, just do it!

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