Category: Live Awake

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Happy Place.

Once a year, the countdown on my calendar begins. I mark my beach vacation in a special color. I wait with anticipation to get to this place. A place of sweet summer smells, crashing waves, and miles of sand to toss my cares to.

The sea for me is cathartic. It amazes me. It’s gentle and sweet one minute, strong and powerful the next. It’s a place where I release all my worries. Reflect on where I have been, and pray for better days ahead.

This morning as I was running on the boardwalk, I watched the people. I see each of their faces. Some are young, some are battered, some are aged with wrinkles, some are sun-soaked, some smiling with excitement, some are deeply troubled with sadness.

I think about where they may have been in life, what their story is. Why has their journey led them to this place on this day?

I will be using this time to spend with my family, to stay off social media… as I do find that once in a while, I need to rest my mind from all of the world.

Disconnect back into myself, journal, work on my writing… and truly return to the days when being at the beach was a time worth waiting for.

Take time for yourself today. Hit the reset button, disconnect from everyone else’s crap, and focus on what is right in front of you.

Life is short… the beach is timeless, and a period of restructuring ourselves and quieting all outside noise is a must for continued spiritual growth.

Get up and get after life today. 💙. Amen.

#hopedealer #shuttingdownmymind

Follow along as Suzanne Swanson takes us through her transformation from addiction to athlete. Find support and healing in your own life! We’re sending Suzanne’s blog updates via email along with a daily dose of motivation. Don’t miss the next post… delivered straight to your inbox.

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What Does it Take?

A reader writes in:

“Suzanne… I want to transform my life, but what does it take?”

It takes raw transparency and admission. It takes sleepless nights, and self-evaluation. It takes brutal honesty, and a solid moral compass.

It takes sacrifice, selflessness, and sanity. It takes 4 a.m. wake ups, and sweat, and tears. It takes humbleness, and acceptance, and an openness to learn.

It takes less outings, and more sleep, less processed shit, and more whole foods. It takes pushing yourself, and pavement, and pride.

It takes simplicity, and serenity. It takes less ego and more higher power. It takes more giving and less receiving.

It takes willpower, and determination. It takes big dreams and ditching small-minded thinking. It takes love, and hope, faith, and trust.

Yeah… that’s what it takes… all of it.

Take it or leave it… but believe in you. Believe in what your soul yearns for, and believe with all of this… anything is possible.

Amen ❤️. #hopedealer #transparency #transformationjourney

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Running on Hope.

Know what’s better than running on hope?

Answer ➡️ ABSOLUTELY FREAKING NOTHING!

Hope begins…

Hope opens…

Hope befriends…

Hope lives….

Hope heals…

Hope allows…

GOT HOPE?

#YepISaidIt #hopedealer #myblueeyesaresmiling #mailboxtomailbox

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Instant Joyful Human

Instant Joyful Human: 💙
Directions: Lace one pair of comfortable running sneakers.

Place favorite junk headband, and turn music UP!

Breathe. Grab favorite hydration beverage… smile and GO 💜.

Results may vary by location, and how much you move your ass. Some restrictions may apply. No money back guarantee.

Warning ⚠️… the runner you see pictured is actually a runner and full of joy. Smiling is contagious. DO try this at home!

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Visibility.

Did you ever stop to think how scary it can be to have your visibility dimmed or hidden? One minute you can see the road ahead, the next you’re following your gut, keeping the faith that you will sway gently with curves, relying on familiarity, and trusting that with each step… although foggy, you will get to your destination?

This morning’s run started out very dark, misty. Visibility was poor. I run these roads every day, I know them like the back of my hand… yet when our visibility is stripped… things appear different, even feel different.

I thought about faith on this run, and how sometimes we simply must trust. We have to believe in something greater… something better… something wonderful. Knowing that if we are just patient enough, the path will be lit and the view is incredible.

The last half of this run, the sun crept up over the horizon. The pavement was suddenly clearly marked, and the view between the trees was breathtaking.

Life can have poor visibility. We can for a moment be in dark places… but in these moments, hug the corners, rely on something bigger and greater, and have faith that your path will light.

We learn in the fog, and become a beacon when it lifts. Amen. 🖤#walkbyfaithnotbysight

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Run Before You Fly Private Facebook Group is open to all who wish to continue to share their experiences, love of running, and battles of life, with each other. Together we are better.

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Doorways

The doorways we choose each day in our life path are crucial to who we become. I have walked both intentionally and unintentionally through doorways that have led me through destruction, fear, and choices that carved the walls of my strength.

Doorways can be deceiving. What you think is on the other side can be filled with false hope. Empty promise. The same room… the same toxicities… the same repeated cycles.

The doorways of my previous addicted world always seemed to open even wider when I was at the brink of disaster. That woman on the left was trapped in those rooms for a very long time.

The woman on the right carefully examines her doorways these days. Before she enters, she asks herself: if I step in, will this doorway entry serve my greater purpose? Will it fulfill me? Will it allow me further growth and less bullshit?

Take the time to think about your goals. Think about who you wish to become. Do Not Enter the doorways that are jaded, altered, or that will not serve you.

Guard the doorways to your success… and do not let any person, place, or thing enter without your permission.

You control your doorways now… what a beautiful concept this is….🖤. Go be wonderful today.

Follow along as Suzanne Swanson takes us through her transformation from addiction to athlete. Find support and healing in your own life! We’re sending Suzanne’s blog updates via email along with a daily dose of motivation. Don’t miss the next post… delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign up to hear from Suzanne via email here.

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Sunrise Runs.

Simple sentiments and ruminations from some recent sunrise runs… ☀️

Today waits for no one. Yesterday is over, and tomorrow isn’t promised.

Do the things in the present that make you happy. 🖤

Here’s the non-complicated version:

Wake up… be a kind human… pound that pavement… repeat‼️

She don’t need fancy… she just needs asphalt.

#5amrunnersclub#sunriserun#findthejoy

Sunrise run… no bullshit… no people… no emails… no problem!

“She’s got eyes of the bluest skies…” a little 5 a.m. Guns ‘n Roses never hurts!

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Thank you for supporting my writing endeavor at RunBeforeyouFly.com. I’m Suzanne Swanson and I’d love for us to keep in touch!

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Wave at the Haters.

You have one life… one chance… one dream to leave a legacy. How you wake up and act today will set the stage for your life tomorrow.

DoI have regrets? Yes. Do I stumble with my choices sometimes? Absolutely.

DoI know that I will never allow certain people, places, or things to be responsible for the detrimental navigation of my own happiness?

You bet your @ss I do.

Today is my day and yours…!!

Don’t politely tell this world who you are. SHOW THEM.

I promise you, someone is watching. We have a choice, we have a say, and we determine who we will become.

Amen and amen!

#beyourownmayday

#waveatthemhaters #smileatastranger

Stay in Touch with Suzanne

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Thank you for supporting my writing endeavor at RunBeforeyouFly.com. I’m Suzanne Swanson and I’d love for us to keep in touch!

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Why Not Wednesday

WHY NOT WEDNESDAY‼️‼️

Why not wake up today and decide today is the day you change your life?

Why not wake up today and decide today is the day you cut the excuses?

Why not wake up today and decide you are going put to rest doubt and fear?

Why not wake up today and forget the scale, forget the harsh screams of others and just be wonderfully you?

Why not wake up today and smile and wave at all them haters and naysayers?

Today is yours. The work is hard, and the road may be long, but the journey… every paved and unpaved mile, will teach you something valuable. Set out to find gratitude in each mile.

Have acceptance in each setback, and have hope for every victory yet to come. Someone is watching you. Show them kindness, teach them love, and let them in on your successes.

Bitterness need not apply. Now let’s go smash some pavement… after all, it is WEDNESDAY‼️ WHY NOT?

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Today.

Today someone is waking up heartbroken thinking they will never love again.

Today someone will wake up hungover from the poison they put in their body, thinking recovery isn’t possible. Today someone will wake up at the hand of a narcissist feeling deflated and broken.

Today someone will wake up without a job as the aftermath of yesterday’s board meeting. Someone will battle anxiety and depression. Someone will closet eat. Someone will gamble. Someone will struggle with unfaithfulness or unfairness.

Today is also the day someone will hear the birds for the first time in a while. Today someone will draw the shades open and let the light in after decades. Today someone will feel hope and comfort. Today someone will be cured of an insidious disease.

Today someone will stop and pick a wildflower. Today someone will feel the warmth of the sun.

We are not stuck. We are not hopeless. We need not be afraid. We are warriors. Tuesdays are for morning runs, and coffee shops. For telling a friend you love them and for appreciating that even when the wildflowers think no one sees their beauty… I do💛.

“I hope you are blessed with a heart like a wildflower. Strong enough to rise again after being trampled on, tough enough to weather even the worst of the summer storms, and able to grow and flourish even in the most broken places.” ~ ng

Join our safe space where we will share, inspire, love, and grow!

Run Before You Fly Private Facebook Group is open to all who wish to continue to share their experiences, love of running, and battles of life, with each other. Together we are better.