Yesterday we all celebrated Christmas in our own special way. Hopefully you all had a day filled with family, friends, gifts, a little bit of arguing, hugging, and laughing. I know I did and I wanted to share with you what happened yesterday that made me smile.
The day started with me waking up and immediately knowing that I was alone. A feeling that I don’t like as I am always the one that wakes up first, kissed my wife gently and sneaks out of the room for some coffee, toast and prep for a workout. Where was Karen and noticed the doors to the bedroom closed. I went out there and she was just laying there on the couch and she told me she couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to bother me so that I could get much needed rest because of the hard training week I had. Gift #1
After breakfast we decided to go for our planned run. I was going to run 8 miles at a 7:45-7:50/mile pace and she was just going to log how many every miles she wanted to. We went to a new place to run. The 380 Greenbelt and it was incredible. The path was crushed gravel that was flat but the scenery was perfect. It is an area that is essentially closed off to life. I started running and past two guys coming in the other direction then all of a sudden I see a white tail dart across the path. That was a deer wasn’t it? A few moments later I come up on another deer. Just standing there staring at me. What do I do? I stand there and stare back. I shuffle some leaves around but the deer doesn’t move. I wait and finally the deer walks away from me and I start running again. I am prepared to spring if the deer comes after me. I pass and a few moments later a much smaller one standing there. I smiled the rest of that leg of the run because of the beauty of nature. Gift #2
Karen and I stop for lunch at an Indian restaurant. First time I have ever had Indian food and it was beyond delicious. The great part about it is that they have a lot of vegetable dishes and I dove right into one. It was hot and tasty on a rather cold day. Best part of this meal was eating it across from my wife and knowing that although 2010 has not been the best year of my life I was sharing a meal with her. Gift #3
I decided to call my Mother and wish her a Merry Christmas. I dialed her cell phone and no answer. I called another number I had stored for her and there was an answer but it wasn’t my mother. I figured it was Bill’s (my mother’s fiance) mom who had come down from Virginia. We spoke for a while and we laughed. I asked to talk to my mother and the woman asked me who I thought I was talking to. I said Bill’s mom and she said no and that her name was Mary. I had the wrong number but my conversation with this stranger was great as we laughed and talked about our families for over 5 minutes. When I hung up the phone I just smiled as what a great moment I just shared and hopefully brought joy to somebody else. Gift #4
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| Jayden’s version of pushups |
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| Bahamundi Men about 2 years ago |
One of his gifts from his Aunt was these socks/slippers. I just laughed the entire time at them and he loved them.
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Congrats. The gift you didn't list was the memories. Those'll last forever.
Merry Christmas.
Wow, wow. So many thoughts. You really do appreciate it all and it has nothing to do with "things" or money. That really comes through.
You are present.
You love those around you.
You have gratitude.
Thanks for sharing.
Awesome post Jason–way to find the gift in everything you did yesterday. Love it!
sounds like you had a wonderful christmas!
I loved this post Jason! I love how you wrote about all the different "gifts" you received. Just awesome!!
I'm glad you had such a wonderful Christmas!
p.s. Indian food is awesome! We don't go out that often, but when we do, Indian food is at the top. They have some delicious veggie dishes!
This was awesome – a joy to read!! I love the reminder of the intangibles that are the true gifts…
So great, jason – you are a special guy and I'm so lucky to have found a friend in you.
The best to you, Karen and the family for the new year!
Life itself is a gift – thank you very much for the reminder! Cheers!
Fantastic poct…your best gift is that you are aware of all the gifts you wrote about…good for you, more people should be that way.
Beautiful post. We'd have to think more about the gifts instead of the troubles. Christmas is the right period to do it.
Happy Holidays!! I enjoy your inspirational look at all things "great and not so great"
Wow, wow and WOW!! What a fantastic Christmas you had – totally made me smile that you talked to some random woman on the phone for 5 minutes about your families! And those slipper/socks are just the cutest thing on the planet – I think I need some!!! :)
I haven't been following you for too long but I know how focused and driven you are and I know 2011 will be a much better year for you! And me!!!! :)
Wow… sounds like a great holiday! :)
:-)
adore this list because it is about all the little moments that make up a day and make it great. love that you chatted with a stranger!
Great post, Jason! Glad you had a good Christmas. The little guy was have been on Cloud 9 running into his room like that!
Dude, you missed a good storm. We got PUMMELED last night!
beautiful! it's always nice to hear/read about the true gifts in life, and to know that there are others out there who aren't just money/material-driven.
glad you had a great christmas! those slippers are awesome. i am all about dorky slippers/socks.
starting a non-profit. i've thought about that in my many "what do i want to do with my life" thoughts… never ballsy enough to get out and do it though. feel free to discuss your experience with that in a post :)