Showing Up

If you were one of the many readers who responded to last week's words, where I shared  24 things for 2024, thank you for letting me know that my words about navigating life’s challenges were valuable to you.

I especially thank you if you sent me a vegan chocolate cake recipe; I received a few! I have printed them out and will bake them all during the year. 😊 

I am excited to share that I am writing my fourth book (to be published by Penguin Random House in 2025) and have been writing this book since June 2023. I love writing. There is a part of me that still can’t believe that this is something I get to do in the world.  

And yet there are days when my writing does not flow, and all I think and feel is, “Arhhhh….”

On Monday morning, I sat down at my laptop with such an excited energy. It was the first day of the week (I love Mondays), and I got to write. But within a few sentences, I knew it would be a slog. 

There was no flow, and I was unable to construct coherent sentences. 

I did some physical stretches in my chair. I looked around to see if the indoor plants needed watering (which would take up half of my writing time), and I considered doing some laundry. Probably my laundry, but I’d have done the neighbours if it would allow me to get out of the slog of trying to coax words from my heart and brain.

But, many years ago, when I wrote my first book, ‘Raw Beauty’, I committed myself. “Decide how long you will write for and then write for that long. Do not overthink it. Write.”

I have the same commitment to running. Decide how far or long you will run for, and run.  Do not overthink it.

Something that has occurred to me many times during these pursuits is the duality of doing something while simultaneously talking myself out of doing it while I’m actually doing it.

I have been writing professionally for ten years now and running endurance for a little longer, so  I know that this way of being, trying to get out of something while you’re doing it, is part of the process.  

There is a fine line between stopping because ‘I’m not feeling it’ and stopping because you are unwell. A line between pushing through when you know burnout is around the corner and understanding that, in this instance, continuing will grant its own reward.  

The reward of showing up. 

The line has to be defined by each of us. 

I can not tell you how often a client has arrived at their coaching session, and when I ask, “What would you like to focus on today?” they reply with, “Actually, I’m not sure.” More often than not, those are some of the most profound and transformative sessions.  

The best marathon time I ran was the marathon where I was considering not turning up to the start line.  

At the end of my writing session on Monday, I found a sentence that made me grin. The sentence that had made the fifty-nine minutes beforehand worth the slog, worth showing up for.  

Not every day is going to bring forth your best effort. Not every day will be your best run or create your best outcome, but sometimes the best outcome is just showing up.

This is enough. 

It has to be enough because sometimes showing up is all we have. 

What are you showing up for?

As always, I would love to hear your insights, thoughts or musings. 

Wishing you a weekend of showing up for the things that matter most to you.