Today was a day of completely random thoughts. I guess they aren't really random when I think about it. Something triggers them, right?
I was really busy today. In between bouts of busy-ness, I had small periods of downtime, getting from one place to another. That tends to be some of my best thinking time.
Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for what I have. I know my post about work made it sound like we were struggling financially. We're not. That post was about efficiency not finances.
As I was saying, not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for having this business. It has allowed us to do things that we'd never have been able to do. We're fortunate that our oldest son (Jordan) received a full ride scholarship. We have another son getting ready to go to college. We are fortunate that we can send them to college. If I had stayed working in corporate America and Mike remained a stay at home dad, there would be no way we could afford it. Mike stayed home NOT because I was making a ton of money although I was making significantly more than many Americans). He stayed home because we agreed that one parent needed to be home with the kids when they were little.
I don't know if any of you stay up on college expenses and funding it, but over the past years, student loans have been cut. It is very hard to pay for college. There are kids in our neighborhood who graduated at the top of their class who are unable to afford to go to college. I paid for my own college and got a bachelor degree and two master's degrees. I'll be paying for that student loan debt for the rest of my life (or so it seems). I feel very fortunate that my kids will be able to start out in a much better situation than I did.
The other piece to this is that I love what I do. I never had any dreams to be an entrepreneur when I was younger. I never ever could have imagined that I'd end up doing what I do. Life is funny like that. In other jobs, I always felt underutilized. Here, I get to use my strengths. I never got to do that before (in my old jobs). On a daily basis, I get to talk to customers. I get to hear what they like and what they don't like.
I was thinking about all that when I read about the Captain and tenille breaking up. Now, you can laugh. You can say that it's not important. But it is important, not from the viewpoint that yet another celebrity marriage failed. It was important because a 39 year marriage failed. This hit me maybe more than many of my friends because very few of my friends have been married as long as Mike and I have been. Mike is younger than me. This year, we will be together 22 years. That is MORE THAN HALF HIS LIFE. I think about the break up of a marriage that lasted 39 years, and it leaves me with a really sick feeling because I don't know what I would do if something happened to Mike and I. We have so much time together.
I think it hit a nerve with me because a good marriage, a really good one allows both people to become who they need to be. We have done that for each other. When you get together at a very young age, you haven't grown up yet. We have given each other the space to do just that while still staying in love. Mike and I are so opposite, and I think that's why it's worked as long as it has. I like friends who are like me, who share my interests. But to keep things interesting at home, I need someone who is different than me. Mike keeps me balanced.
Of course, that thought led me on to relationships in general, friendships, work, family etc. For the past few months, I had some friend issues. You all know about the Coach break up, but there were other things going on too: friendships that really never developed that I learned pretty quickly were going to take more work than they were worth. It's been kind of hard.
But then, I've been very lucky to get to know other people much better. It's nice to not have that baggage. If I'm having a bad day, I don't have to pretend like my day is full of sunshine and pixie dust. Or if I'm really busy (like today), no one takes offense if they don't hear from me all day long. As much flexibility as I have with my schedule, I still run a company and for the 100th time NO I CAN'T MAKE MID DAY YOGA AND LUNCH AFTERWARD. (Besides the fact that....if coach says "No, you shouldn't be taking those extra classes", I'm going to listen. I'm her bitch like that).
My day normally starts at 6am (when it is super quiet, and I can get a lot done). My day usually ends around 7pm. So, yeah, I take time in the middle of the day to do my training. Again, I'm very fortunate in that I *do* have that flexibility. Once in awhile, I have to scrunch together workouts (like today), but most of the time, I have it pretty easy. I think about my friends who work odd shifts and/or long shifts or just the normal M-F 8-5pm thing, and I just don't even know how they do it. They are MUCH stronger and dedicated people than I am. In my old job, I used to get up early and run/workout, but hell.....I wasn't a triathlete back then. Getting up to run is a piece of cake.
I don't know what really made me think of all this. I hope you all have a very enjoyable and restful weekend.
And wish My Man a happy 42nd birthday this weekend. :)
