Week 6 check in

Wow! Here we are, 42 days into the new year! Only 11.5% of the year has passed! So how are you doing? I did one monumental thing for me at least, and had a couple of major realizations. So let’s dive in.

My monumental thing was that I participated in a 5K. This was my 4th ever, but this was the first time I picked a 5K because I wanted to do a 5K. The others were supporting an awesome ministry called Coreluv, which does great work with orphans in Haiti. So why did I randomly pick a 5K to do? I’ve set a goal of doing 4 of them this year. But here’s what happened. I ended with my best per mile pace ever, my best 5K time ever. I finished 169/175. The guy who finished first had a 15 minute and change 5K. I mean, the guy finished in 15 minutes. I finished in a smidge under 45 minutes. In fact, the majority of the people finished in 20-30 minutes. I did some jogging and the rest walking. I’ll be doing my next 5K in 2 months and I’ll be running it. I’m doing really well with the Couch to 5K app, and the best part is that my boxer/lab pup who has been going with me has only tried to cut in front of me about 3 times.

Now to the realizations. And they tie together. The first one happened Saturday afternoon. After my 5K, my oldest asked “why does daddy do 5Ks?” My wife started to answer, and she said because I want to be healthy, get exercise and I chimed in with “they’re fun!” But she noticed. She’s almost 9. And then she said the thing that got me. “I want to do a 5K with daddy, too!” There’s the realization that I’ve known since I became a parent, but I get those hit over the head moments as reminders. What I’m doing is being noticed. I’m setting an example for my girls, something that I didn’t always have the healthiest and most positive set for me.

And then the second realization happened yesterday while hunting for a book that my oldest daughter couldn’t find. What ended up happening was I was supposed to snap a picture of a page for my wife and send it to her (which I did), but I didn’t return the book to where it was supposed to go! But we’re looking everywhere in my daughter’s cluttered room. Then we looked under the bed. And the piles of stuff that came out from under that bed! It was a mess. But then the realization hit again. Not only am I being watched for the good example, but the bad examples are being picked up as well. My wife and I don’t always put things away like we should. And we don’t always make our girls pick up their stuff. So, when they see that example, they follow it. So I spent the afternoon focused on cleaning up the kitchen. And tonight, I’ll focus on another room. And another...and you get the point.

As a parent, it’s not easy. But when you’re honest with yourself and your children, and you work on consistent discipline for yourself and your children, you all win in the long run. That’s the word that I’ve always struggled with my entire life. Discipline. And it’s something that’s really hard to pick up when you’re 40. The good news for me is that I’m realizing it is possible. It’s hard, but it’s possible.