I'm Awesome and an Inspiration!

Okay, my professor said my paper on Civil War memory and Robert Shaw was awesome, actually he said it was 'f*cking awesome' which is even better when said by an 80 year old man who could win a Norman Mailer look-a-like contest.

That alone made this day truly awesome- his words, not mine.

But the day got even better.  I went jogging today to get in my second jog of the week and decided to just do 40 minutes.  Seriously, 50 minutes is a long time for laps.  On Saturdays, when I do 4+ miles which takes somewhere around 60 minutes, the laps just go one for forever.  Anyways, I ran into someone who I've met only once peripherally and she said I was her inspiration.  I'm awesome and so is she.

Also, while jogging some heavier women commented on my general all-around awesomeness.  One even asked me specifically how I got into jogging and I told her all about the 10 minute plans and I hope I plant a seed of interest in her.  She said she regularly walks 6 laps (3.6 miles) and I believe (although I did not tell her this) that if you can comfortably walk 3.6 miles you can try to jog in 1 minute bursts every now and then- if she wants to.

I'm thinking of making t-shirts for exercise and jogging.  One might say "I'm awesome and so are you" and another "If I can jog this so can you."  I really want to challenge this idea of what a physically fit person looks like.  I'm fit.  I'm not the fittest, I'm not even as fit as I want to be but I am fit.  That's one reason I like racing.  I like that it surprises people for them to see me jogging because I don't look like someone who might sign up for a race, especially 10Ks.  But I can, because, as Dr. Jones says, I'm awesome.

I'm leaving you with a video by fat activist Joy Nash.  She released this almost 5 years ago; I saw it then and was floored by the honesty.  I just watched it again for the first time in 5 years and I still think she is hilarious, spot on about some of the ridiculousness people create for themselves and others, and she an incredibly smart woman.