It’s a new year, friends. So we have 365 days to write our 2017 story. I closed out 2016 with a hot yoga flow class, and started it with a 10 mile run. Well, at least that was my intention.

Yoga

December 30th, I’m finishing up a hot yoga flow class. I asked one of the students, who also works for my studio, if they were taking the New Year’s Eve yoga class. I was under the impression it was a flow class, much to my demise, it was actually a yoga sculpt class. Fun fact, lifting weights is like my jam… However, lifting weights while taking yoga, not so much my jam. More like my mushrooms on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

I filled my girlfriend in on the changes, and we went anyway. And much to my surprise, I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I was going to. It ended up being the perfect way to ‘round out the night. And I was able to scream “Happy New Year,” in my yoga studio, which is kind of my favorite place to be these days.

Run

New Year’s morning, I woke up to what had to have been the coldest day of the week. So, the idea of throwing my hair in a messy bun, walking out the door, and going for a trail run was not really my idea of the perfect day. Above mentioned friend was the one who encouraged me to do the run, it was nice to have somebody I was meeting, so I had to go. She had asked me early on if I wanted to do a 10K or the 10 mile run, of course I chose the latter, and of course I literally haven’t run in months.

As of late the rain has brought sort of a sense of peace to me. So, as it started to sprinkle about a mile in, I felt calm. My running pal started singing, “here comes the sun,” a song that always reminds me of my mother. So it really solidified what we were doing.

At about mile four the volunteers didn’t tell us which way to go, so we went the wrong way. This happened one additional time on our run, so by the time we finished we ended up completing 12.5 miles total.

Life isn’t about the destination, it’s the whole damn map.

This has resonated with me lately. I feel it when it comes to my personal life, career, fitness, everything. Some, ok most, days I question the path I’m on, and sometimes I make the wrong turns, but I always end up exactly where I need to be.

Let’s look at that in just simple goals. When I first decided I needed to “get in shape” I knew I was never going to touch a weight, fast forward twelve years from my cardio bunny days, having a deadlift over 300 pounds is one of my favorite accomplishments.

Let’s pause in the middle of that timeframe. I had gotten back into yoga, and had recently completed a thirty day yoga challenge. I was craving variety, when I decided to ask my significant other at the time if I could go lift with him at the gym. When I touched my first weight, it was over, I had found love. For a  long time I was following a bodybuilder routine, and talked so much shit about CrossFit. Then one day the games were on while I was at the gym, and I wanted to be just as badass as the girls on screen. Long story short, I occasionally get referred to as CrossFit Barbie. We are constantly evolving and reinventing ourselves, why shouldn’t we expect our goals to do just the same?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from this is that we shouldn’t say negative things about that which we have no idea about. And we should never think certain people’s goals are silly. I remember the days of saying, “If I could just do one dip.” Which evolved to, “If I could just bench over 100 pounds.” Which has evolved into so many different goals, some of which I’ve murdered, some of which have murdered me. When people tell me their goals, and they say they’re “silly,” I let them know that I couldn’t do a single push-up when I first started CrossFit, and suddenly their goals seem less silly to them.

This crossroad is a place I’ve been stuck in lately. Do I continue to be a cardio bunny? Or do I become CrossFit Barbie? Obviously I’m speaking metaphorically, we all know I choose deadlifts over running. And, I think you’ll notice that when you take a look at my resolutions for the year, they’re kind of all over the place. Because I feel like I’m in a place in life where I have to try all the flavors of ice cream to decide what I really want. And somehow I have to learn to be okay with the unknown.

I’ve listed my goals below, but I’m interested what yours are, and how I can help you achieve them!

2017 Goals

To floss, everyday (my forever resolution)

Spartan Trifecta

Zero alcohol *kombucha doesn’t count

30 yoga classes in 30 days

Travel to a foreign country

Grow #LLSP and Live/Love for a Living

Register for yoga alliance

Pick back up where I left off with NASM

Get a muscle up FFS

Therapy ALL of it

Run a marathon (or greater)

Learn to say no

Stop saying “I’m sorry” all the time

Log 1000 miles for the year run/ruck/hike

Everyday write one thing I’m thankful for in my planner