FIVE MINUTE FRIDAY: LOVE IS NOT CANCELLED

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Siiiiigh…this week has been rough for athletes.

Just off the top of my head, athletes racing New York City Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon, The Donna Marathon, Ironman 70.3 in Lubbock, Maine, Traverse City and I’m sure others have had their plans dramatically change. 

Things are cancelled. 

You don’t need me to play Captain Obvious, right? It’s almost July of 2020. We are all adjusting to this level of uncertainty. 

Our kids, the little loves that we try so hard to shield from all of this, so many of them are taking the one-two punch of loneliness and lack of routine fitness activities. 

I heard from a few of you this week that it’s sinking in for your kiddos that soccer, baseball, basketball, gymnastics, dance, and even playing in the pool with friends are all dramatically limited or not happening. 

I want to affirm your feelings of loss and confusion. They are real and valid and worth noticing. 

And I have good news that just isn’t said with the type of frequency required for such an important message. 

Love is not cancelled. 

Y’all, people are hurting. 

Maybe you are hurting. 

I don’t know about you, but I am feeling like so many people that I just adore are living right as Dave Matthews says, “On the Corner of gray street and the end of the world.”

Are you feeling that way? 

Does it feel like the path back to yourself, your life, your peace is just too obscured by the barrage of click-bait headlines, Debbie Downers, & angry tweets that you can’t seem to turn away from? 

When it feels like your future has been cancelled, love is not cancelled. 

Quick reminder: Simple is never out of style.

We are brave women athletes (yes, you too, no matter where you are on this journey.) 

So what do we do when we are facing a problem? We move. It’s as simple as that. 

Race is cancelled so you are feeling blue? 

Move.

Kids are wallowing without something to do? Make them move. Sure, they might groan about it, but it’s what we are meant to do. You children are human, right? They are built to run. Time to move. 

Tired of eating the same foods from the same grocery delivery while staring at your same walls with the same people? I understand. Now move. 

Someone you know is really spinning out of control right now? It’s time to move. 

Because love is not cancelled. 

Can you call them? Zoom? Send messages that start with, “No need to respond, but…”

How would it feel if you had someone checking on you in your loonliest places? Probably pretty solid, right?

So move. Love is not cancelled.

Have you ever forced yourself out for a run that sounded like the last thing you want to do? I routinely tell myself, “Ok, the plan says I have (whatever, say 5 miles) to do but I don’t want to do anything but sit right here. Since I made this commitment to myself, I am going to honor it. I’ll go run one mile. If at the end of 1 mile, I want to tap out, I can end it right there out of respect for myself. 

I do this more than I should probably admit as a woman who podcasts about how much I love running. 

The thing is, I have NEVER called it quits. Never. I still believe I will when I’m lacing up my shoes, but it has never happened. Because moving your body feels good, you just sometimes have to remember that it feels good! 

Which is so much like this wet blanket of sadness I’m seeing schlumped over my friends.

It’s like we have just crawled into a hole where it makes sense to take something they said and convince yourself that your friend must be an “XYZ person.” You name it. There are a ton of names you can pick from right now, right? And you grow more distant.

Because loving is a whole lot like running, dear athletes. For some reason, we can be convinced that it’s too hard and doesn’t come naturally to us. 

When really, we are our best selves when we are living the way we were created to live: moving when we want to sit and loving when we want to be angry.

While companies and municipalities can make what is honestly the right call in cancelling our running events (ahem…but not our training.) The only ones deferring our big expressions of love are ourselves. 

Let’s try this: I challenge this community of strong, brave, resilient athletes to take the discipline challenge in love and movement this weekend. Yes, I know that feels like asking a lot of people who have been receiving the message loud and clear that day drinking and internet fighting are the activities du jour (and yall, I have done my share of internet fighting. Your girl is fiercely against some internet bullies) but I’m asking you to prove what isn’t cancelled.

So just for the next three days: Love when your first instinct is to be angry and see how that feels.

And move when your first instinct is to sit, and see how it feels.

I bet it’s pretty much the same: Peace.

Because love is not cancelled.

Check in with us in the closed facebook group for our community We Are Finding Finish Lines and share with us a story of either. Let’s celebrate the wins, eh? 

Until next time, carry on women of valor.

Heads up: Links on this page might be affiliate links. Well what the heck is that? It means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I would make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Yay for both of us!