The Good life

Here we are on Sunday morning working our Blogs. M has chosen to break up her posts into a couple of posts as she has been gone for a week. Typically, she is good at publishing a new post every other day or so. I am happy to write when I can.

What is the good life. A question that we all ponder to varying degrees. My life is full of great things, and yet, sometimes I wonder if the activity is taking me in the right the direction. A better question is how do I make sure the activities in which I participate take me the right direction? If the activities of my life bring me closer to M and our 7 kids then it is probably a pretty indication.

Last week our Sr. team participated in the "Ragnar Wasatch Back". The race itself is 188 miles long. It starts in Logan and ended in Park city. The race is run continuously, or participated in around the clock. It is designed to be a 24 hour, round the clock, race.

M and I and three of our kids, J age 18, L age 15, and C and 14, were all on the team. It was a lot of fun/work/change of pace. M and I were in one car with 4 other friends. Three of our kids were in the other car and our Jr. Team (4 of them) were with grandma following the race from granny's truck. Why do we do it!? For fun of course. Each runner takes three turns and end up running between 13 and 18 miles total. This is the first year for Team Smile Adventures and the second year that M and I have participated.

A team is comprised of 12 participants. Then the team in divided into 2 groups of 6 each. While the first car load of people are running the second car is resting and then they switch. This year we used V's truck for the second team car. What an inspiration M had on that one. It was great to have the bed of the truck to work and cheer out of. We were not cramped and for space which I think made everyone a little happier.

I was runner 8. That means that I had one of the easier routes. 3.5 miles around Pine view reservoir in Eden, 7 miles down the back side of east canyon (in the dark), and then 6 miles from Charleston to Wasatch State Park on Saturday morning. It is kind of funny, when I was running, I want to be done. Yet, while one the run it is a great time to clear my mind and change a change of pace. Life gets so full of schedules, obligations, and the base facts of living (i.e. making a living or other obligations) that we forget to move forward in a meaningful way.

I am not a great runner, but I like to participate. I win every race I enter simply by finishing. Earl Nightingale once said that there is not real competition in this world unless we create it for ourselves. Further, a success is a man or woman moving forward toward a worthy ideal or goal. The race therefore, is not against the other teams, but to move forward toward better health, better relationships with family or friends, and feeling better about the effort we put forth to become a success. M is a success because she is constantly moving toward her goals and also re-evaluating and making new goals that will continue to cause her to stretch. I am a success because am making progress toward my goals. The Ragnar is not about finishing first, but finishing and taking home something from the race. Maybe it is finishing a leg faster than the last time; maybe it is about running harder each time; and maybe it is about celebrating the fact I can run and leave with the knowledge that I may be a little big to run a race like that; but when our team runs across the line, we know that together we can accomplish amazing things.

So what is the "Good life?" I have it. I have the knowledge that I can be better. My family works hard to work together and be close. Thanks M and family. I still have goals to achieve, some of which have not even been set. As the new day begins, I get to begin again and create a GOOD LIFE.