“One person's craziness is another person's reality.” ― Tim Burton

Spartan Shape-Up, Day 621:

Today, we're having a lesson in Perspective, BlogLand.

Simply put, it's all in how you look at things. Sometimes, I've learned, you may be looking so hard for what you are "supposed" to see, or wanting to see, that you miss all of the opportunities that are standing right in front of you.

Tonight, I find myself typing away in the living room of a very comfortable loft apartment, above the Pittsfield General Store. I'll be sharing my space with several other Spartans in need of housing in the temporary or semi-permanent sort of accommodations. While I was driving over here from the office, I was lamenting that I would start spending the majority of the work week away an hour and a half away from home, that I couldn't start up my gym membership again, that I was having trouble getting back on the workout train, that everything was not working out exactly as *I* had planned.

And then.... thanks to a few words from some friends, I had some realizations. Yes. I was spending the week away from home.... but I was here, in Pittsfield, VT, right above the General Store - the Birthplace of Spartan Race. There are Spartans all around me (I hear Joe, Spartan Race founder, is rattling around his land about a mile down the road, even...), that are living, eating and breathing the lifestyle. I am sitting at the apex of a huge amount of trails, that lead up, down and around mountains. Elite athletes train here - there is NO reason at all, that I can't. I don't NEED a gym membership. I have a Spartanized Pittsfield. One of my co-habiters just informed me that he does 300 burpees every morning, around 5am. Fitness is around me. Opportunity is around me.

Yes, I do miss *my* house and I miss my friends and family, when I am down here. However, maybe the time here is Life's way of forcing me to get back on the training wagon. What else am I going to do, when I am surrounded by it and not distracted by anything else? I do miss my Man, but thanks to the wonders of the internet, we can Skype.... and he travels too, so we're both living a crazy, mobile lifestyle.

So, what I'm trying to say here, BlogLand is when you're not feeling great about your station in life, try viewing it from someone else's eyes. You'd be surprised at what you might see.

In other news, I've been running. It's not pretty and it's not fast and it's not great.... but I'm still running. You have to start (back) some where. At least I'm lacing my sneakers and getting out the door. It's progress in the right direction.

Next week, I'll be racing my first Spartan Race of the season - Citifield. Interestingly, I'll have a little different perspective on this race, too, as I'll be racing... but also working as a Spartan Employee.

So, today's assignment, BlogLand is to reassess the difficulties in your life right now. How might you see them differently? How would someone else look at your life?