Category: Runner Stories

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New Beginnings.

Spring exhibits mostly mud puddles, melting snow, and nature rising back to life. Spring is a chance uncover the long, dark, deep break of winter and start again.

New beginnings are often scary. We are creatures of habit. We are stuck in fly traps of addictions and bad habits. We tell ourselves our sanity lies in what we know… but does it?

I once fake-smiled my way through life. I was a yes-man for destruction, and a saleswoman for unhealthy. I made excuses not progress, and was drowning in tears of my internal unhappiness.

To begin again… drink from the well of goodness, not perfection. When you think you’re done… realize that you are just beginning. The obstacle course of life will be there. Negative people and ideas will be there. Take one strand of hope, one heap of faith, and one pinch of self-worth, and watch your mind and body change for greater good.

Spring is here. A chance to wash away all that doesn’t serve you, and renew your vow to yourself. Renew… Repurpose… Respond to your highest calling 👊🏻.

May this season of re-birth be our best yet.

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Go Get It.

Go Get It.

As she pulls the covers back, she notices a faint whisper of all the old voices meant to deteriorate her mind and derail her progress.

Her past buddies of laziness, discontentment, and self pity attempt to follow her to the closet… where her courage, self healing and strength– her sneakers, lay waiting.

She laces up, drinks her rocket fuel… and escapes outside to the pavement of progress.

She glides carefully, one step at a time. She hears the crunching of gravel, feels the slight change in temperature on her skin as she dips in the familiar valley of her back roads. 

It is then she realizes that no thing, no voice, no hater, no critic, no substance can undo what she has… and that is her joy.

She is me, and she is changing hearts and stirring minds… and she is extending her hand for you to come along.

Let’s go get it! #RUNBEFOREYOUFLY

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All Along You Were Blooming

Boundless living is scary. It means waking up early, it means demanding a peaceful mindset.

It means turning the negative chatter off in your head. It means sacrifice when it’s necessary, and doing the work when there is every reason to quit.

It means shaping your future when the cards are stacked against you. It means trying harder. It means tasting your tears, dressing the battle wounds, and starting over every damn day if necessary.

It means moving the vertical structures that are stacked high between you and what your dreams and goals are. It means trusting others and others trusting you. It means building what you want, even when it seems impossible.

From once a broken and lost soul, addicted and miserable… to now the love of endurance running, hiking mountain tops… to writing my heart every day in my blog, to falling into a side hustle I love.

Make no mistake. It’s not by luck or coincidence. It’s not by chance or by happenstance… it’s by determination and challenge… it’s by hope and faith, and by imagination and grace…

All along you were blooming… Today is a good to settle for nothing less that what sparks your soul.

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The Art of Wellbeing

Good Saturday Morning!

It’s not just another day. It’s more than just a shuffle to the coffee pot. It’s not about let’s just exist and pray nothing gets in our way today. 

It’s not the crap on television or fake news. It’s not the stigmas of BS people have so generously placed upon us. It’s not about faking our way through the day and hoping no one sees our struggles, our shortcomings and our setbacks.

It’s about trying to love and accept ourselves even when the mirror and mind are fighting against us. It’s about forgiving what we could not understand and educating ourselves on nutrition and wellness. 

It’s about owning what we could not change and fighting like hell to do something about it.

It’s about trying our best and believing that no matter what… life is begging us to sign a contract with renewal, and hope, with faith and freedom.

You are enough. Today, tomorrow, and forever. Time to fly.

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Purpose Fuels Passion

In the meantime…

You’ll arrive at the place of finding purpose and fueling passion when you stop feeding the monsters of negativity and failure.

You’ll arrive at the crossroads of change when you rise with gratefulness and thanks, and seek more blessings… not count more curses.

But in the meantime… do not waste any further time wishing you were someone else. Do not wear jealousy of another’s success… or anger at the ignorance of what someone does not understand.

In the meantime, make sure you are loving with your whole heart.

In the meantime, set your standards high and keep your judgements low.

In the meantime, do the very thing that scares you to death, but brings you to life.

In the meantime, do some living… haven’t we punished ourselves enough for things we had little or absolutely no control over?

Set your goals, run your races, swim the oceans, climb the mountains, grow your business, make new friends, make new plans, cross out, scratch off, re-write, do over, release, repeat…

Just remember in the meantime… that person inside you is begging you to love them. You can be anything you set your mind to. But in the meantime… let’s start by being perfectly, wonderfully, no matter what you weigh, or where your scars are, or what you did, or what you couldn’t… YOU 💙.

In the meantime, just do your best. In the meantime say please, and thank you, I love you, and I’m sorry. Stay excited, and keep believing. In the meantime… the universe is watching… be ready when it shakes you 🌎.

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Path of an Empath.

My story is not unlike that of many others. Beautiful people all around me have shared similar experiences, allowed me to visit their private space of struggle, and let me peer through their personal viewfinder of challenge and uncertainty.

Growing up, I was a kid who had low self-esteem. I struggled with who I was, and where I was headed. Even so, I comfortably knew two things about myself:

  1. I had a deep appreciation and love of books, and reading… of pretty pens and notebooks.
  2. I connected deeply with how people felt. Their sadness, their joy, their happiness or anxiety… I could feel it all… and even at a young age pondered how I could help to fix it.

Circling back through my kaleidoscope of life… I am starting to better understand why I am here, why I had to endure my particular lot of darkness, and how through my re-discovery of healing through writing and running was able to overcome my disastrous relationship with food and alcohol.

I am no longer interested in trivial things that absorb my time and cease my progress. Today, I invest my time in what serves my greater purpose and yours. I am not perfect in my ways, but what I am is dedicated to my health, my mindset, and the well-being of people as a whole.

Don’t quit your daydreams 💭 ‼️ Because when you arrive at the doorstep of believing you can… kick your shoes off… you’re going to want to stay a while.

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Why Are You Smiling?

Suzanne, why are you smiling?

I smile because I am seeing my dreams unfold before me. I smile because, despite what some may think, this world is still full of good people… doing abounding things to help others.

I smile because I have stood in the ring of a what seemed like a 12-round boxing match, not only to come out stronger, sober, healthier, but with increased spiritual growth and a newfound sense of purpose and passion.

I smile because the gifts I have been given by my creator have never been more clear or more precise.

I smile because when I share those gifts, my soul feels happy, and my cup is full. I smile because the toxic crap and negative self-talk that once took their liberties upon me, can never break my wall of liberation.

Today can be the day you break your chains. Today can be your day of forgiveness, acceptance, preservation, and hope.

Did you smile today? Even when it’s hard, even when you don’t want to, even still… smile. You may just make someone’s day better. Enough about that… time to move.

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Time Capsule

There are 40 years between these two pictures of myself. As most of us do periodically, I sit back in awe of how quickly time goes… and I continue to ask myself, why am I here?

There are 40 years of experience in these pictures. Forty years of ups and downs, victories and losses. Forty years of trying to discover what my greater purpose is. What is it that sets me apart?

But furthermore, why is my drive to aid people in overcoming their own personal challenges, addictions, and maladies so important to me?

The time spent in between these pictures tells a story of survival, sadness, setbacks determination, perseverance; and most importantly, joy. The roads and pavements of my traveled feet have guided me back to a life I look forward to. The gentle mobility of one foot in front of the other, the quiet push of excitement in my heart feeling alive, have had a restorative effect on my gross wellbeing.

I stare back at that little girl, and wish I could have prepared her for so many of the unforeseen days of disappointments, life’s struggles, and internal tugs of war.

She didn’t know as she was folding her hands in anticipatory excitement, that she would have to battle alcohol and food addiction, and unforeseen trauma. She didn’t know then that it wasn’t her fault, and that God’s plan was so much greater than she ever could have imagined.

Forty years later, I am thriving, and I am well. I know the plans that have been made for me are immense and full of goodness. My dream of helping you will not falter, or be dismounted. My drive to continue to be a wellness influencer, and motivational speaker keeps me alive with determination and intention.

I am a force that’s not easily tamed, I am grateful, and above all… I am living proof that re-birth is not only possible but, wondrous. Now let’s go find some joy…

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Obedience Vs. Obstacles.

She was a lone survivor of her own maladies for many years. Day in and day out, she shuffled through the overcast world of her mind. Sure, she could find little segments of normalcy in between her constant starring role titled You’ll Never Get Out of This Place… but nevertheless, she prayed.

She had belief systems that were false. She had been led down a road that taught her life was mainly full of negatives, and that magic and splendor were only for magazines and television. The alcohol and processed food pled their case daily… promising her a comfortable place to unpack all her loneliness.

She continued this ludicrous pattern of destruction for years until one night in the darkness of trying to rest, a voice echoed in her mind. “Seek obedience to overcome your obstacles.”

You cannot repeat the same pattens of dysfunction and expect a new result. Yes, you can become unstuck from the fly trap of your demise. But this doesn’t come without obedience within yourself.

It doesn’t happen without a battle between good and evil, necessary versus unnecessary… a mix of laughter and pain.

When your desire is working in you, there is nothing capable of stopping what you can become. Something will always show up trying to halt your progress, and keep you trapped. Stay obedient to yourself. Fuel your body with goodness, and allow your reflection to tell the story.

Nevertheless… she prayed.

She is right here. She is me. She is 5 years sober. She is healthy, and fit. She can be you, too. Don’t give up.

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Take More Detours

Take a detour? Why, Suzanne? Detours are longer, they are often not the road we intended. They are sometimes scary and leave us without knowledge of where we are going or where we will end up.

The detours of my own journey were and still are crucial to where I’m headed. I wasn’t prepared for the crash and burn of several of the circumstances that were delivered to me without permission, nor the ones I allowed to repeatedly and constantly cause me self-anguish.

Taking a detour is necessary. Get off the route that has not served you. Get off the route that has continually let you down, has sabotaged your efforts, and has hijacked your mind into believing that “you can’t” or “it doesn’t matter.”

It does matter… you matter… your health and wellness matters. What you think of yourself matters. What you dream and desire to achieve matters. Take a left turn, and travel down a road unfamiliar. Ponder what it is that is stopping you. Breathe in all that is wonderful, and exhale all the BS you didn’t invite.

Take a detour today, and trust that this quiet unfamiliar place… is a space meant just for you. Be inspired at what both its softness and hardness teach you. 

May your detour today be exactly what you need. Treat your body and your mind well today. Onward, Loves.


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About Suzanne

Suzanne Swanson makes it her personal mission to help people on the path to recovery. Her own struggles with alcohol and food have led her to a place of wanting to give back to the world. Need support around setting goals, and getting healthy in every aspect of your life? Sign up for our mailing list.