People Are What Matters

To steal a line from my favorite show of all time Grey's Anatomy, "People are what matters."

Judge me all you want for loving that show, I don't really care. Meredith Grey is a character I dind myself relating to at times and I love it. As lame as it may be, there are so many important lessons that I have learned from Grey's and this is one of them.

"People are what matters."

I have some pretty great people in my life.

All of a sudden though, I feel like everyone is doing their own amazing thing, and I am once again getting left behind.

Sitting on the sidelines.

Cheering them on.

Waiting for my turn to be put in the game.

SO happy for them, but tired of being left alone.

But here's another thing I have learned...it's not whether you win or loose it's how you play the game. Which isn't always the truth but it is most of the time.

"Life is not a spectator sport. Win, lose or draw, the game is in progress, whether we want it to be, or not. So, go ahead, argue with the refs, change the rules… cheat a little, take a break… and tend to your wounds. But play. Play. Play hard. Play fast. Play loose and free. Play as if there’s no tomorrow.

Okay, so it’s not whether you win or lose… it’s how you play the game. Right?"

I LOVE THIS! Life is not a spectator sport! Holy how true this is!

This weekend I went on a 21 mile backpacking trip in Southern Utah with some of my people. It was a challenge if I have ever faced one, and more than just physically. While I was working tirelessly to reach the end of the trail, I also battled my own mind...and this feeling of being left behind by those most important to me was not only an emotional reality but at times a physical one as well.

I have been sick for the past few weeks and the second day of hiking took its tole on my body. As I hiked I found myself alone for a few seconds on the trail. My body ached and my mind was racing and for a split second the only desire I had was to sit down and rest. And then I had the thought pop into my mind that "I am all in. I play hard. I push my body to its limits constantly and sometimes it doesn't like me for it, but the reward at the end will be worth it!" As my mom always tells me, "I can do hard things." I kept going on the trail and while my thoughts were still all over the place and I still faced challenges throughout the trip, I knew without a doubt when I was finished, that I had given it my all and accomplished something hard.