encouragement

tonight, as i sat down to "hit the books," i looked outside and saw the cloudless blue sky, heard the the slight breeze moving through the trees and felt the cooler air outside, a respite from the humid weather in dc. they were all calling my name to go for "just a quick run" before i got down to work.

so i did. and it was fantastic! i ran about 2 1/2 miles, which is what i typically try to do as i'm not a runner and never have been (though i someday aspire to be). what made it awesome you might ask?

1. the weather, which i've already illustrated
2. heidi lent me her ipod which is chock full of good songs- britney, justin and country up the waz! love it.
3. the most unexpected thing- when i was just finishing my run, i started walking to cool down a bit (right next to costco, literally a block from my place) and through my headphones i heard, "you can do it! just a little bit further!" i was so shocked to look up and see another runner, a woman maybe 15 years my senior who saw me start walking and decided to encourage me to keep at it.

i literally was so surprised, i:
1. thanked her for her encouragement
2. obviously jogged the last block
3. just about had tears in my eyes

and thought...

i want that to be me.

i want to be the kind of person who encourages perfect strangers to reach for the skies, to give them a smile or a friendly hello. i always try to smile at passers-by, but in dc most people won't even look at you, so your smile kind of flies off into some great void of lost smiles. but when you think about it, it's amazing how something so small you can do or say can really make someone else's day. it doesn't take much.

i guess i'm going to try to pay it forward.