Training Your Brain to Achieve Your Goals Seminar!

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar hosted by Black Girls Run!  The guest speaker was Dr. Stan Beecham, author of the book entitled: Elite Minds.  There were so many great takeaways from his talk on Saturday.  I will only highlight a few of those.

First, we all know that we are our own biggest critic.  The question Dr. Beecham posed was, "What gives you permission to judge and critique yourself?  We are quick to say we don't want to criticize or judge others but we do it to ourselves all the time.  I know in my case I do it all the time.  I'm harder on myself than I should be.  I don't really enjoy the small accomplishments because I'm always worried about what I have not accomplished. I'm working on breaking this habit.

He talked about wealth.  So, let me ask my readers, what is wealth to you.  Dr. Beecham stated that wealth has nothing to with the things we usually associate it with.  It has nothing to do with money and material things but it has every thing to do with the way you are living your life and your happiness.  How wealthy are you?

SUCCESS! Success isn't about desires but it is about actions.  We all desire to be successful and success looks differently for each of us.  What actions are you taking to be successful?  Success has no one path.  It all looks differently for each of us.  He talked about our misconception of success.  There is no one easy way to be successful but there is on path to failure. Quitting!  Giving up on yourself is the only way to fail.

Everyone has a calling and most of us will spend our entire lives not knowing what our calling is.  Just know if you have a calling and you try to run from it you will not have a moment of peace.  If you are called to do something and you avoid doing it, it will haunt you and you will not have peace until you complete what you were called to do.  You don't have to be totally comfortable to do something.  Most of us spend half our life working a job we hate to make money to live a life that we hate.  Know your calling and follow it.

This is a quick and dirty overview of the seminar.  Perhaps, the most important thing that stood out to me was the way he started his talk: You are the right age, at the right stage, the right race, at the right place and at the time... Basically, you are capable of doing whatever it is your heart desires.  Stop being your biggest critic and live your full potential.  You have no idea how far you can go and great you can be.

Check out his book: Elite Minds and hopefully you are inspired as I was by his discussions.  I am only 40% through the book and it has been inspirational! I'm sure I will blog when I have completed the book! Stay tuned!

Runners' History! Inaugural Summit...

Today, I had the pleasure of attending the Inaugural Summit for Black/African American Running Groups in Metro Atlanta.  The summit was held by South Fulton Running Partners.  What makes this history.  South Fulton Running Partners is the oldest Black running group in the United States! It was such a great experience to be apart of history.  I had no knowledge of the other running groups in Metro Atlanta.  There were 200+ Black runners in attendance and it was more than exciting.

It's always a good feeling to be in the company of others who respect the fact that you are a runner but more importantly who are just as passionate about running as you are. I think what was more important is that they all looked like me.  Well not really but you get my drift.  They were Black like me.  You talking about combatting the stereotypes that "we" don't run.  Haha! This event did that.  We had individuals who had run marathons in all fifty states, the Boston Marathon several times, and so many other accomplishments.  I love how the running community can come together and celebrate what we are so passionate about.

The summit was a platform for Black running groups to gather, network, and run together.  We enjoyed a nice, hilly 4.2 mile route.  Once we returned, we received a medal, photo op, food, and socialized.  Of course, when it's more than two people it is ALWAYS a party.  They were turnt up.  LOL! It was a great experience and I'm happy to have been a part of it. Did I mention it was FREE?! Yep, it was free!

I'm thankful for the SFRP for paving the way 35 years ago! I'm proud to be a runner and especially proud to be a Black Woman that runs!  The groups that were in attendance: South Fulton Running Partners, South DeKalb Striders, Black Girls Run!, Black Men Run, Savannah Pacers, Running Nerds, National Black Marathoners, & Urban Running Group.

My Most Meaningful & Important Race Yet...St. Jude Half Marathon!

St. Jude Half Marathon

Why this the most important race I've registered for yet? Here's OUR story... In June 2008, we buried my niece, Arnevia Triplett.  She was only 22 months old.  As painful and unexpected as it was it didn't compare to the pain I felt a couple years later.  In 2010, my same sister and brother-in-law buried my nephew.  He was only 374 days old! Both my niece and nephew had a rare disease, DiGeorge Syndrome.  At the time that my niece passed, we didn't know this.  Her cause of death was listed as unknown as the doctors could not figure out what the problem was.

A couple years later, my nephew, Devan Triplett was admitted to St. Jude after significant weight loss.  He was tested for everything and all his tests came back negative.  Again, the doctors couldn't pinpoint the issue.  Then a medical student suggested that he get tested for DiGeorge Syndrome since he had all the symptoms.  And what do you know, his illness actually had a name.  It was rare but at least we knew or somewhat knew what we were dealing with.  For 374 days, in and out of the hospital, scare after scare, we had the most precious little boy in our lives.  I thought he was my child.  I spoiled him.  Anytime he was sick, I was hopping on the next flight or driving home to be there.  I prayed constantly for a complete healing. 

Then the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I received the dreaded phone call! My sister simply said, "I need you at home.  My baby died in his sleep this morning." I can't begin to describe the pain, hurt, and I anger I felt.  I lost a piece of me that day.  It sounds cliché but I literally lost a piece of my soul, heart, and my peace of mind.  I was angry with everyone except my sister. I just couldn't fathom what she was feeling at that moment and I still can't.  But I was especially angry with God. I couldn't understand why we prayed so hard to have our prayers unanswered.  Or why an innocent little boy was brought into this this world to suffer and be taken away so soon! I just couldn't get past this one incident.  I know my Mom thought I was loosing my mind and most days I felt like I was as well.  I would call her screaming, crying, angry, upset, and grieving in the worst way possible.  I always stayed strong for my sister but I had some of my worst moments when driving.

I stopped going to church and all but stopped believing.  Then I decided to run outdoors.  It was a totally different experience from the treadmill.  My running didn't begin immediately.  Actually, it was a couple years later.  I needed an outlet.  I was so angry with God and I missed Devan more than I could put into words.  I would run and reflect on everything. I would think about the first moment I laid eyes on him, held him, spoiled him, and just loved on him! I started to grieve in a more "healthy" way! Slowly, I started leaving my anger on the pavement.  I started to feel lighter.  At that point, I knew running was saving me from myself.  So, I kept at it and more things were coming into perspective.  I started praying again and listening to God.  Running was slowly restoring my faith; because I definitely had let it go.  I made a vow to support St. Jude and their efforts as frequently as possible.  I'm forever grateful that my sister and brother-in-law made me the Aunt of the world's most precious little boy.  My Devan! I'm grateful that St. Jude gave us the most amazing 374 days to make memories that will last a lifetime!  I'm thankful and grateful that God knew better than me.  He gave Devan his complete healing.  I didn't understand that Devan had served his purpose in such a short time.

So, this is more than a race for me.  It's a reflection of how far I've come.  How I've learned to grieve in a more healthy way.  Sometimes, when I'm running I think about all the fun we had as a family during his hospital visits or the pain he must have endured for 374 days.  Then I say to myself he was just a baby and he fought for 374 day surely you can make it X time.  I can show him that his Aunt will continue to fight his fight.  Grateful isn't sufficient enough of a word to describe how I feel for those 374 days.  Although I don't say it, each run and race is possible because God saw fit to give us a strong, little boy who changed me in ways unknown to many in such a short time period.

So, this isn't just another race! It's for my memories of my Devan! TeTe Pooka loves and misses you & your sister! St. Jude thank you for 374 days.  Sister & brother-in-law thank you for an amazingly, strong nephew & niece! God thank you for knowing better than me!