I have been captivated by the adventures of a young lady that has recorded what I considered adventures of a lifetime. Her name is Jessica, but her trail name is Dixie. She is from Alabama, and you can tell when you listen to her. From what I have gathered, she was working in Colorado at some point and decided that she wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail; she recorded every bit of it for the world to see. The Appalachian Trail (also know as the AT) is a 2200 mile trail that runs from Georgia to Maine.
Then she embarked in the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), running from the Mexican border in southern California to the border with Canada in Washington State for a total of 2650 miles.
She finally did the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), which runs for 3100 miles from the border with Mexico in New Mexico to the border with Canada in Montana.
Completing all three earned her the thru-hiker triple crown. For many of us that may never be able to do this type of hiking, it has earned her our gratitude and love for her dedication and hard work, not just to hike that many miles (about 8000 trail miles), but to record it and offer her experiences for free so that we can all enjoy the journey and destinations. Along the way she brings amazing photography and video, humorous and interesting commentary, and a warm reflection on the nature of humans, on having and achieving goals, on being scared and being mesmerized … in short, reflections on the beauty of being alive and doing what you love to do.
Today is day five of this writing challenge. It is also Labor Day in the United States. As usual, Labor Day falls on a Monday, the first Monday in September. Monday, which to many is the most hated day of the week, the day when they return to work, that horrible four-letter word.
But not this Monday. This Monday, in the United States, is about celebrating Labor by not laboring.
For many of us, it also means that Tuesday will be congested with all the things we needed to do on Monday but we did not do on Monday because we were off on Monday and now we need to do Monday and Tuesday work all on Tuesday.
How do you squeeze 16 hours worth of work into eight hours? You work 12 hours on Tuesday and 12 hours on Wednesday, of course! By the time Thursday comes, no wonder we are looking forward to Friday so that we can start the weekend!
In addition to Labor Day, today we celebrate U.S. Bowling League Day. I have been an avid bowler for 44 years (still looking for my first 300 game). I am also the Secretary/Treasurer for a bowling league (currently dormant) and have served as President and Vice-President of several leagues over the years. I am a lifetime member of the United States Bowling Congress (USBC), perhaps the only one in Columbia and one of few in South Carolina. I love bowling!
HEALTH & FITNESS
Although I went to bed very late last night (it was actually very early this morning, 1:30 AM to be exact), I managed to get up, take care of chores (feed dog and cats, clean litter boxes, etc.) and went for a 2.2 mile jog. I recently discovered the NHS Couch-to-5K podcast series and have been using it over the last few weeks. I just finished Week 2 and started on Week 3. I am thoroughly enjoying the music and the personal trainer (Laura) that guides you through the walking and jogging lapses. I recommend it as an alternative to Steve Boyett's amazing C25K series on Podrunner.
I have never been a very fast runner; at the height of my fitness in 2009 I was able to approach a 9-minute mile during several 5K races. I am currently averaging an 18-minute mile using the C25K program. Considering I still have some pain on my right knee, I think I am doing quite well.
Today, I also started the Darebee "90 Day of Action" (PDF here).
GOALS, DREAMS, HABITS, RITUALS
My friend Warren Doyle has hiked the Appalachian Trail 18 times over the decades. More importantly, he has helped dozens of people achieve their dream of conquering the 2200 miles that run from Georgia to Maine and, in the process, conquering themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I recently came across this documentary of one brave, admirable young lady that hiked the AT and documented it for all to see.
PERSONAL GROWTH
FINANCES
The "EveryDollar" app continues to impress me. It is extremely easy to use and, with that, easy to track expenses on the go.
PODCASTS / VIDEOS
I recently added a podcast to my collection of resources, and today was the first time I listened to "The Life Coach School." Full disclosure: as with many podcasts, this one is used as a soft-selling tool for the author's training classes and seminars. This one, however, seems to bring reasonable value to the listener. The latest podcast is titled "Who are you becoming?" and it makes some excellent points on how we can manage our paradigms to make progress and become who we want to become. We are all in transition and the trick to success is to manage the transition process. A key point of the episode is that we need to consider our capabilities not on what we have accomplished but on what we want to become. The author points that if we based on future solely on our accomplishments then we would never have learned to walk because, of course, we did not know how to walk (past accomplishment) and therefore we had no experience in such to help us become a walker. This is, obviously, an over-simplification of the matter, but worthwhile considering nonetheless.
TECHNOLOGY
One of the best computer-related websites available is Bleeping Computer; they have a vast knowledge base and are often the first to report on problems and dangers with our dear computers (including the smart phones we use all the time).
IOU
I mentioned I would share tips from Sunday's UU service today. Today is, however, quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be a very busy day and the UU service content may have to wait until Wednesday.
