This post is brought to you by the letter "A"

For me, the letter A currently brings to mind many words: Ambitious, Adventurous, Amazing, and Avoidance.

Last night brought the opportunity to run in 55 degree weather. I have recently been avoiding running certain routes I love because I was afraid of running into certain people who live in my neighborhood. Last night as I laced up my sneakers, I realized that I could no longer avoid running this route. Why should I skip doing something I love out of fear? Was my avoidance doing anything to help me? Why was choosing to let fear rule my life?

On my run, I thought about all of the "A" words in my world. I thought about all of the things I have been avoiding (starting my fundraising, taking control of my future, cleaning my room, confronting those that have hurt me). I thought about my ambition, my drive and my determination to run another marathon, to make my life better, to deal with my future head on. I thought about the adventures that I want to undertake for me and not for anyone else. I thought about how amazing it is to be able to think about doing all these things, but how amazing it will be when I am able to truly accomplish them all.

In my last mile, I was no longer thinking about my avoidance or the letter A. I was thinking about how amazing it was to run 4 miles in the middle of January in shorts. I was thinking about how it felt to be out there moving, listening to my breathing, and accidentally running through puddles.

So long letter A, thanks for a great 4 mile run. Now onto letter B.....