Small Wins!

Life is a marathon. It isn't a sprint. Each day, month, and year is full of miles and miles.

Whether you are a Mom or Dad, if you work full-time or manage a household, or whatever you do in life - your days are made up of increments of time and activities. Personally, I am a mom, wife, athlete and I work a full-time job (oh yeah, and I am 1,000,000 weeks pregnant). In an effort to be the best version of me, I have been taking time to notice the days as they go by and trying to reflect on each one so that I learn something new and try not to make the same mistakes twice.

In my observations, I have been thinking about the daily wins and losses...Worked out and showered before waking toddler. High five for me and win #1 for the day. Kid ate breakfast. Another high five. That would be win #2 for the day. Got kid, self, and husband out the door on time. That is like a hat trick. Cheers all around please. Forgot to bring coffee to work. Bummer. That is a big loss. But, didn't get killed driving to work on Alcoa Highway. Total win. The list goes on and on. The day is broken into small battles, races, games, or whatever you choose to use as your analogy. Each little part results in a win or a loss.

I am not huge on self promotion. Once in awhile, I will post on FB a great workout or race accomplishment and sometimes I will post my articles when I write for the paper. I would rather post a pic of my adorable child or talk about something my fab husband has done.

But, last week, my wins outnumbered my losses in a big way.

Not only did I work my full-time job but I worked every night on my community volunteer activities. And not just a little bit. I got a lot done and that was really cool. There are some great events happening this spring and I was worried about my participation and availability but after last week, I am feeling good about them.

Not only did I get my job work done and my community work done BUT I had dinner for every night of the week for my family and my kid was never neglected or left asking when mommy would play with him because I was there for that too.

I worked out 5 out of 7 days and the only reason it wasn't more is because I popped a rib out of place and was too sore the day after getting it fixed to workout early. I had coffee with a friend and got to discuss some fabulous ideas for our community and ways to increase outdoor activity (which we all know if my fave). I got a birthday present for a weekend birthday party and its presentation was actually pretty (as opposed to my usual terrible wrapping jobs). And, we got to enjoy visiting with those friends for a great deal of time yesterday.

These are daily life activities but I got them done and completed without fighting, crying, or any other angst that might go along with daily life when one is busy.

It wasn't all great. The toddler threw a huge tantrum on Wednesday when I picked him up that resulted in us taking away a few of his favorite things. That is never good for any of us. On two nights, he lost stars (from his weekly star chart) for not eating dinner. I had to spend over an hour of my workday on Thursday getting my back fixed when said rib popped out of place. The only reason I went that day was because I couldn't turn my head which made driving/merging in traffic a bit difficult.

I have no idea what will happen this week. I may not get a single item accomplished. I suppose that would even out last week's triumphs. That is life. We go mile after mile after mile and sometimes we win the race and sometimes we lose.

I am celebrating and discussing because when things click into place then they are worth mentioning. I didn't cure cancer last week. I didn't save anyone's life. I didn't win a race.

I did work to provide for my family. I did volunteer work to help upcoming events that will affect our community. I played with my kid, read to him, and taught him the value of hard work and hopefully good manners. I worked out for myself and baby Altman #2 who will be here this summer. I supported my husband in his job, his training, and in our life.

Speaking of my husband, I don't (and couldn't) do this alone. Jason is incredible and has helped keep our life moving along. We have to do this together or else we would still be standing at our start line wondering where everyone went. We have always provided a great deal of balance for one another and the spring is always a time of great stress for our household. But, we do it together and it works - it isn't always pretty but heck that is no big deal.

Our life isn't charmed and it isn't easy. We were lucky to find one another many years ago. We recognize that we were/are lucky and we make it point to work with one another at all times. We work our behinds off every day of the week, of the month, and of each year to have our life. We may never get to retire and that is okay by me. We do have fun but we do have days where we wish we could have a restart. We celebrate the victories because they mean a lot in the grand scheme of our marathon life together.

For now, I am going to bed. 5:45 am is coming early and I have a long day ahead and three weeks ahead of me. I have a lot on my plate between now and the time Baby #2 is born (and beyond then really). Some days my wins will outnumber my losses and other days, I will bring up the rear and just hope to finish.

See you on the roads....