Random Thoughts Thursday

Challenges. I like challenges...the kind that get my brain synapses fired up and adrenaline pumping through my veins. The weird thing is, the older I get, the more I like them. What's the number one way to challenge me? Tell me I'm limited in what I can do...especially when it comes to my race, ethnicity, gender, or even size. Tell me I can't do something and I'll work hard to prove you wrong. Sometimes, I'm the one who needs to be proven wrong. One of my favorite scriptures is, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13). I don't take that scripture lightly. If Christ is the one providing the strength, I believe I can do it. So who are you to tell me I can't?

So, with that being said, let me tell you about a challenge I've decided to take up. About a month ago, I began training for a half walkathon. It was going well until I really thought about it. Why should I stop at a half marathon (13.1 miles), when I could go for a full one (26.2 miles)? I love to walk. Seriously. All I need is my iPod and I can walk my behind off (literally, if I do it long enough...not that I want to lose my behind). A 13 mile walk would be a lot of work, but would a challenge? Not so much. A 26 mile walk, on the other hand, is definitely a challenge. So, I've decided to go for the whole shebang. My goal? Participate in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer April 2011. We have two choices: (a) walk 26.2 miles - 13.1 miles on Saturday and 13.1 miles on Sunday; or (b) walk 39.3 miles - 26.2 miles on Saturday and 13.1 miles on Sunday. Guess which option I'm going to try?

Even if the going got so tough that I had to do option a, at least I'd be able to say I tried. I'm now realizing (at the ripe "old" age of 33) that I don't want to go through life wondering "what if" cos I was too darn scared to go for something. When I look back at my teens and 20s, I see that, I chickened out on some things. I also notice that there were a few times that I went for it. I participated in a beauty pageant (during a time when I was working on my body image), a scholarship pageant (I won), and kept working during my first year of teaching, even though it was difficult (peeps were surprised I came back). I also got my first tattoo (my brothers challenged me when they said I wouldn't do it) and climbed to the top of a mountain in Mexico. I'm now looking to challenge myself a little more - go a little further out of my zone. Participate in a 39 mile walkathon. Go skydiving. As an author of kids' books, become one of the few people of color that reaches the same heights as J.K Rowling and Stephanie Meyer. Become a successful entrepreneur in spite of a wavering economy.

Oh, you may not have told me personally that I can't do these things, but, society, as a whole, has. And, with God's help, I plan to prove them wrong! Don't think I can do it? Watch me!