Category: Runner Stories

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Can We Do Better?

I look at this triad that stares back at me and still to this day am unsure of its unfolding. I peer into the eyes of that little girl named Suzanne. 

Dreams of a 7-year-old are quite simple… the fairytales of my princess room seemed so life-like and doable. The genuineness to travel to space, meet my celebrity crush, and care for my baby doll as if her literal life depended on it, kept me smiling and full of life.

The adult years slapped me in the face with a darkness I wasn’t prepared for. The unforeseen devil in the bottle of whiskey, the lies of processed shit food, being overweight, and the hidden agenda of my mind… were to continually taunt me, shame me, and unravel every little good thing I wanted to believe about myself.

Today you will find me on solid ground, but with dreams that soar, and a heart that’s been mended. This didn’t come without tough lessons, steadfast trust, and a pair of sneakers. Those worn out treads have carried me miles and miles.

Running gave me purpose. It befriended me at my lowest, and has taken me to my highest. It never sways, it never says…”‘no you can’t”, it’s not partial to day or night, it doesn’t care what I look like, or what I wear. It just shows up when I need it… and guides me one step at a time. It listens without judgement, and it believes in me.

Running helped me break the chains, and fight for a new existence. It instructed me to do better. We all have crap in our mental closets. We stuff it away, we drink it down, we purge it up… over and over. 

What if we just do better? Don’t wait until tomorrow. Don’t excuse yourself to repeating patterns. Do better. Do something. Do it until you see that 7-year-old’s innocence again… and when you see her, tell her she was right. You can be anything your heart desires. The end.

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Light Bringer.

Are you a light bringer and a world shifter?

I get it. No… like I really get it. I ask myself, am I really of this time and space? Has my brain been hijacked? Am I truly witnessing this world fall apart before my eyes?

What happened to the value of a dollar? The meaning of a handshake and its honor for trust. The family table at dinner time, and simplicity of holding the door for someone.

Every day I get challenged. My demons want to me to re-introduce myself. The whiskey bottle subliminally hovers, and the processed comfort foods beg for a chance to take their stronghold.

These things always resurface… coming up for just enough air to try pull me back down… to prove the vicious cycle can reset.

To shift and grow… to brighten and conquer… I must eagerly remind myself of the teachings of my sneakers… and this road.

The conditions are constantly changing. Things insidiously try to stop me from smiling, trick me into un-believing in my ability to play my part in making this world better, and knock me off course so the light dims and conceals my purpose to myself and others.

You have the ability to shine and shift today. Grace is here… there is no need to fight yesterday. Block the mental dimming switch, refuse to stay stuck, and inch your feet just a little.

You’ll ask yourself… will this really matter? To me? To others? The short answer is yes… someone is learning from you. Teach them well.

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Instant Replay: The Run to Change Lives Interview

For those of you who would like to know more about my backstory… here is my interview with Run to Change Lives.

Run to Change Lives is an amazing organization with a mission to build the most loved Running community with a passion for Changing lives. They are a beautiful group of people who helped my story reach so many individuals in need.

Please check out their Facebook Page and support their mission.

My goal of building a community and helping people in need will never be closed minded. Support comes in all directions, from all walks of life, and backgrounds.

My mission will not include a scarcity mindset but one of dealing Hope, spreading joy, and sharing the compassion and good works of other like communities. Period. The. End.

#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY#runtochangelives

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“New Year, New You”

Sleepless nights. Tossing and turning. Hating my choices. Angry at where life “put me.” Feelings of low self esteem. Daily wars with my inner self. HATE. EAT. DRINK. REPEAT.

That was my life for years, only I did it in silence so I could isolate myself from penetrating words, good people, and the truth.

It wasn’t until the long distance sport of running taught me to be tougher than my demons. It taught me patience, and endurance. 

It taught me humbleness, and mercy. It taught me that a little daily discipline, coupled with passion, and a good diet could be the answer to unlocking the door and leaving my living hell, and a hell I chose to stay in far too long.

We all hear the same crap. “It’s a New Year, New You”… “Start tomorrow, today is over.” “I’m going to do it… just not today.” 

I’m here to tell you: today counts. This minute counts. You don’t need a new month, or new turn of the numbers to give you permission to become your greatest self. Our addictions, the errors of our ways, and our poor choices can only thrive if we allow them to.

Be done with your own crap. Take the good advice you give others but never follow yourself. Make YOU a priority, don’t over complicate it. Eat a vegetable, drink more water, and let your story tell itself.

Somewhere today someone is watching you. Be a good teacher, and be a kind human. That. Is. All.

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The Little Things.

The sun is out for the first time in what feels like an eternity. Although the air feels cold, the sky above mixes hints of lighter and deeper blues.

Today I am appreciating the little things. These are things I am so very guilty of taking for granted daily. The sun hitting my face today feels like a gift. Being free and able to move my body and breathe clean air into my lungs is a gift. Being in a body that fights for us, heals… and forgives is a gift.

Feeling the “real feels” of all aspects of life is sometimes exhausting, and without a doubt a “not so subtle” reminder that we are not in charge, not guaranteed, not entitled, but beyond privileged in our being. 

How we choose to respond… how we negotiate, and our perspective, will absolutely enhance or derail our progress.

The corners of my mouth will stay upward today. Today is a good day.

Writing as Self Therapy – Self Guided Journaling Challenges Coming Soon

Run and write your way to a happier, healthier and more purpose-driven life. Sign up to hear from Suzanne via email. We’ll have some thought-provoking writing challenges, discussion groups and other empowering activities planned for 2022. Sign up for our emails here.

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The Eve

I find myself on this day feeling no sense of madness or rush. I awoke to a surprise dusting of snow making the “real feel” of this holiday just a little sweeter.

I don’t have all the things that money can buy. I don’t have millions in the bank, I don’t have a yacht or a boat, (I do, however, have enough sneakers to fit Southeast Asia)… but what I do have can not be measured in pounds, ounces, stones, dollars or cents.

I have a life that has been filled with many blessings. I have learned the hard way, I have climbed out, jumped in, clawed and fought. I have won some, lost many, but amidst my trials can not believe how very kind life has been to me.

I have a family that no matter what believes in unity, love, and tradition. When one hurts we all hurt. When one wins… we all win… which is rare… and beautiful.

I have a job doing what I love, and regardless of the ever changing face of the nursing profession, I have had true friends, and the opportunity to work with some of the most kind hearted doctors and nurses in this world.

I have had the chance to help the lost, the lonely, the sick, and the addicted… and I will never forget the valuable lessons in stigmas, humility, and understanding that they have taught me.

Today, I try to remember the true meaning of this Eve as I await to celebrate my Savior’s birth.

Presents and holiday traditions will commence. The tables will be set, fancy plates, and silver polished forks will gleam. While these things are lovely… may we all reflect on just how lucky we are to be here… even in these times of unsettlement and uncertainty. And may we never forget all the sacrifices of forefathers, our patriarchs and matriarchs who have taught us our traditions.

Today on this Eve I run for peace, for acceptance, for understanding, for your blessings and mine. For Hope, and for future, for our children, and their children… and but most of all… for love.

Merry Christmas Blessings to all.

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No. More. Excuses.

“I’ll start tomorrow.”

“I’ll do it in the New Year.”

“Next month, I’m taking control.”

I just have to use up what I have. I already paid for this. I deserve it, I’ve had a bad day. This food will comfort my soul. I only live once. I can’t live life without it… and the list goes on…

All the beautifully packaged and tied-with-a-bow excuses we allow our minds to use as a playground.

I had every excuse in the book to justify why I guzzled booze on the daily, and abused my body with toxic crap. I was “justified” or so I thought.

I fed my fear with sugar, and my low self worth with whiskey. I believed in nothing, I had zero self esteem, and darkness covered me like a weighted blanket. I refused to speak about the elephant in the room, and I almost let the lies become the truth.

The power is inside you. Only you have control over what you will continue to tolerate, and what you will change for a better life. Why would we wait? Grace is new every morning.

To excuse, or not to excuse? That is the question.

#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY #nomoreexcuses2021 #takeyourpowerback

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Whispers in the Hall.

They whispered down the hall at her. She could hear all the chatter. The “she’ll never be’s” and the “she wishes she was”.

She didn’t fit in. She didn’t know how. She was lost. She was lonely… she was afraid.

She questioned, she stood, she begged, she knelt… she waited… until her purpose was born.

To all those things that constantly try to break me, stop me, persuade me, and derail me…

You ain’t never seen what a little Irish, a little pavement, and a whole lot of belief that my creator knew how my journey would change lives can do.

You can stay stuck or you can fly… either way is painful, and not without sacrifice.

Which legacy do you choose to leave?

#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY

#Christmaskicks #wecanallmakeadifference

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Timeless Tuesday

So you get up today and you say to yourself… ah S*#%, it’s just another Tuesday. You think about all the crap you did or didn’t do right yesterday. You punish yourself for the failed efforts of both personal and professional goals.

You let the television, the false promises of society, and the stigmas that have been branded into us for years take the lead role in your play of life.

I didn’t want to face reality. I didn’t want to stop guzzling whisky, I didn’t want to eat kale and superfoods. I wanted pity… I wanted comfort food, and I wanted to hide in my deep dark abyss of self loathing.

Get up… get dressed…. and get out of your own way. It’s not “just another Tuesday.”

Today can be the day of renewal, of starting over if you must, of making a list of crap you’re not tolerating and sticking to it.

Today is a day of uprooting all the nonsense, of reaching out for help, and finally putting you first.

Take special care today to forgive yourself. Know you are given grace each morning, and that small steps of determination will always win over large leaps of fear and uncertainty.

“Beautiful girl, you can do hard things.”

You’re damn right I can…#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY

#tuesdays #yesyouabsolutelycan


Journaling Course is Here!

Heads up for those interested in journaling for self-therapy, setting positive goals and welcoming an attitude of gratitude to ease stress and improve health overall.

We have a Peaceful Holiday Season journaling challenge all packed up and ready to deliver to you via email.

We’d love to have you on board for our illuminating writing discovery series. 

Learn more about this journaling challenge and sign up for the course here.

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

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Illusions.

Don’t be fooled by false promises, quick fixes, instant gratifications, or if you act nows!

Life is full of short-lived crap that is assured if we turn down the “I know a short cut” road. Every part of your path is meant for exactly where you need to be.

The long road, the slow and steady pace, the stay-the-course path that you know is right… will lead you to your place of joy, contentment, and peace.

I do it too. I get anxious, I get annoyed when I don’t see results fast enough. I let the brutal lessons I have learned in the past overtake my mind, and suddenly I am cross-examining myself to induce doubt, fear, and be strong held to what I know isn’t for me.

Our health, our wellness, our internal peace… our innate ability to help others become better… begins when we do not negotiate with doubters, guilt inflictors, or evil thoughts of the mind.

Illusions look good. They are pretty, perfectly pretended, and often false.

Draw the curtains, let the light show you the truth… and remember you are only buying what you sell yourself…

#RUNBEFOREYOUFLY

#wakeupandrun #mamaknows