Category: Morning Run

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Serendipity

It is true what they say… that in years to come, the dynamics of your home will change.

This morning, the house is eerily quiet. The kids are grown and out of the house, and as loved ones have passed on… the flood of golden memories flashes through my mind of “how it used to be.”

My heart was broken this morning as this was the first Christmas my beautiful Oreo boy wasn’t heading up the charge to see if Santa brought him his doggie bones… wagging his tail excitedly.

It’s a damp, foggy, drizzly, gray morning here in the Northeast. The kind of day you wish you didn’t have a circadian rhythm that has had you up since 4… but nevertheless, I rise.

So I head out to do the thing that I know will make me feel alive. I lace those sneakers, let the cold drizzle hit my face, and set out to leave it all on the pavement. The pavement who knows the interior of my heart so well, and always has the unspoken answers, or the subtle way of showing me… “it is well with my soul.”

At the top of the hill, I approach a sudden reflection of such beautiful color and shimmer so bright it almost blinds me. I stop for a moment of think of the mess swirled together. It’s a mixture of oils, waters, light beams and refraction… just like life. Even with our chaos, and change, with its messiness, and shortfalls, with our deep heartaches or branded memories, serendipity always shows up at the greatest moments of need to teach us magic, and joy still exist… even on a foggy, dismal day.

As I turn the corner to finish the last leg home, I hear the echo of my father’s favorite song… “and I think to myself… what a wonderful world.”

Merry Christmas to all my beautiful friends and family. Find the serendipity today. It always shows up when you need it most.

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Drink Down the Gratefulness

I know waking up and seeking joy on purpose isn’t always easy. Obstacles are thrown at you all day. Meteor showers of other people’s crap will rain down upon you and make you question if your path is right or crooked.

You will never have control over others’ opinions, ideas, or thoughts… the solution is to create your own. Do what works best for you. Seek out blessings, harvest joy and happiness, and work to become your greatest self.

The world wants you to compete. It wants you to swim in waters of fear. It wants to slowly inflict hate, and it wants you to carry burdens that have already been lifted from you.

Today… find joy in the simple. Find one thing that makes you smile. Do one kind thing today for someone, and above all wake up and be present for yourself.

Drink more water. Put something good in your body, and give thanks for what it carries you through.

It’s a beautiful, abnormally warm morning here in the Northeast. My legs move as I ask them to, my heart beats fast, and my lungs gracefully take me around all the turns and hills of these roads and my life. It’s simple today.

Wake up and pour yourself a cup of gratefulness. Drink it down and go!

#runningmotivation #runmorethanyourmouth #drinksomegratefulness


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Steady as she Goes.

Something about the wind comforts me. Not too much wind, or too cold wind, but a gentle wind that takes me to a place of peace.

As I stepped outside today, the wind greeted me. There was a familiar yet unfamiliar smell that takes me back to a place of nostalgia. It reminded me that I’m alive to feel all the things… the good, the bad, the comfortable, the uncomfortable.

The wind allows me to sway, it moves me with force… yet it eases up just enough until I gain my footing again and can continue to move.

We will always loose our footing. We get unsteady, we swerve, we stumble across places that both unearth feelings of deep questioning, yet serve our souls to accept grace and become better people.

Move about, sway from time to time, force yourself into those places of pondering. Realize just how miraculous this life is. Accept what your challenges are, and be determined that no matter what… when we practice, smile, and persist… we will find our balance.

Steady as she goes. Amen.

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Transformation

Transformation is a continuous remodeling of the self.

For me to continue to gain self love, and move with an energized spirit… I know the work is never done.

The open road this morning makes me feel alive. It’s a space where all the cares, ideas, and negativity dripped on me from the day before can be pounded away with each release of my foot.

How good does it feel… when we can move with fluidity… all the while showing toxic people, damaging thoughts, and dream squashers that our joy, our drive and belief in the goodness of others and ourselves will continue to triumph?

It feels damn good…

Continue to transform today. Get up and get after it. There’s work to be done!

#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY #empowerment

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Runner’s Mantra

When we stay in tune with our inner being, we recharge our power. Yoga and meditation are important for me as a runner to seek gratitude in my capabilities.

As a human being, these practices allow me to reset my focus. They set me back into the present moment and sketch a blueprint for my well-being and success.

I can easily get sucked back into conflicting thoughts. I can easily get drawn into a vortex of shit that promises success and elation but only delivers despair and destruction.

Today, seek what is good. Demand nothing but that which will fill you with happiness and promise.

Leave toxic crap where it belongs… and rise above the people and things you set you back. This leg of my journey always brings challenge… but this woman will always bring grit, and self-will.

Rise up today from wherever you are. Re-set. Re center. Re-focus, and then hold yourself.

Tell yourself you’re listening… you are trying… and that you are loved.

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

Run Before You Fly Private Facebook Group with Suzanne Swanson 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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It’s Not Easy, Going Rogue.

Back in my hometown this morning on my beautiful paved roads of familiarity. This past week of mountain climbing put my body to the test, revealing areas of needed improvement.

My mindset was challenged… yet this experience gave me a sense of improved peace, and a complete appreciation for what it truly means to work for the reward.

I’m starting today with a refurbished attitude. I journaled my new goals this morning, releasing all the crap that was ready to slither in and set up roadblocks. Each day begins with a choice to settle… or a choosing of doing better… being better… living better.

It’s not easy going rogue. Standing tall for better choices, seeking better people, living for God and loving yourself enough to be transparent so others can see it is possible.

I’ve lived in my own hell. I wrote the book on feeling sorry, feeling guilty, and falling short.

Today is glorious. The air is perfect, the sun is shining. I hear the wind softly singing its own song, and the birds are happy. Today can be the day you decide change is gonna come.

I see you… I heard you… I believe in you. Let’s get going. Time waits for no one.

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Simple Gifts.

Seek the simplicity of life. Stop and admire God’s awestruck beauty. Give special thanks to all who have set roadblocks… and those who have lifted them.

Practice what you preach. Make your bed. Make peace with yourself. Tell toxic people they’re un-invited, and set the table of your life with only those who bring you hope, goodness, and insight.

It’s never too late to start over. You’re not a lost cause. You have a gift. Use it. Be still, be alert, and be ready. Life is waiting for you.

My road has taught me something so valuable. That I matter, my ways of being matter, and you matter. The view finder of this road this morning was a gift. Find yours… and know it was meant to teach you… period. The end.

#lookathisview #morningvibes #beastudentoflife

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Show Your Face to the Morning.

Some of us today will wake up with a sense of uncertainty.

We will walk down the hall with the same inner conflict we have every day since we can remember.

Some of us will wake up today hungover, ashamed and with a deep disgust within ourselves that we yet again let substance win over our truest longing for sobriety.

Some of us will wake up hiding the cookie package, crumpling the chip bag, hearing the screams of defeat echo that “you’ll always be fat and unhealthy.”

One of us will have woken up after standing up to a bully, deciding that today they will no longer have power over you.

One of us will have prayed for the first time ever… hoping for just one miracle teetering on the brink of a rock bottom.

One of us will wake up and draw the curtains open for the first time in a decade… unsure if the anxiety will let them outside for even just a minute.

One of us will need a friend today. One of us will have a huge victory, and of us will no doubt have a setback.

Whomever you are, wherever you are… draw the shades, let the light in, let the bad shit out. Own it, claim it, trust it, and move through it.

Rise on up… show your face to the morning.

Show up uninvited to all the places within you trying to hold you back. Today matters, and so do you 🌻.

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Sundays are for Slaying.

Good morning‼️ My feet hit the floor… my legs are strong… my mind is clear… and gratefulness is in action.

You can wake up miserable or you can wake up and tell your demons: not today, bitches 🤚🏻.

Be a sunflower today. Sunflowers stand stall, they are resilient, and they face the sun… but their journey requires endurance and withstanding much darkness of the soil first.

Whatever it is today… whatever is trying to bury you, trying to intimidate you… whatever isn’t serving you with peace and wellness… put your face to the light, stand tall, and show them… you are a sunflower.🌻.

Now, last sip of rocket fuel and we go… Sundays are for slaying.🖤

#earlyrising #milesandsmiles #slayinthemgoals #hopedealer

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My Father’s Daughter.

This morning I set out for my 15-mile training run.

Today was rough… humidity at 98%, and an added challenge to run without music for that distance to allow time for truly resting my head from purposeful noise… and just allowing nature’s music to be the background today.

It’s these days I often think of my Dad in heaven. So many thoughts are going through my mind…

Happy that he’s at peace, a little jealous that he doesn’t have to deal with the stressors of what’s around us. Heartbroken that I can’t ask him advice on how to deal with certain things…

But even still as I round the corner to finish this run, I know he is looking down… proud at what I have overcome, smiling at who I am becoming, and glowing because his lifelong harsh but gentle teachings are woven in me.

“I am my father’s daughter.”

Fifteen miles of “I-get-to-wake-up-and-do-what-I-love…”

Life has really been good to me. 💙Amen.