Lessons from my father...

I truly hope you are enjoying the warm temperatures and sunny days now that they have arrived.  No matter where you are, be sure to get some sun and exhale a bit.  We need that right now! :) 

This weekend is Father’s Day and I thought I’d share some motivation and tips from an unexpected story.

If you’ve read my book Naked and Unashamed: 10 Money Conversations Every Couple Must Have, you may have read this story already. But it’s been on my heart lately to share with my newsletter subscribers so I hope you keep reading.

My father has inspired me to become a runner.  He began his running career around the age of 35.  When I was less than 10 years old I watched him finish a full marathon! That is 26.2 miles and tons of training hours.  I’m always amazed at people who commit to marathon running and all that it puts your body through.

But he did it and guess what…?  My dad is legally blind.  Yep my dad has a degenerative eye disease and was unable to run those marathons by himself because of his vision. It takes determination, stamina, and consistency to finish anything you put your mind to. My dad did one of the hardest things for many people without anything close to 20/20 vision.  If there were one thing I’ve learned from my father is to be resilient.  Here’s the definition:

RE-SIL-IENCE: the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness

My father certainly exhibits resilience when he runs.  Over the years, he’s fallen, been hit (yep by a car!), run into people and so much more.  But he always gets up and keeps going.  Nowadays he runs on his in-home treadmill at the young age of 78 because he has still not given up on his body and the belief that he can do it.

When I turned 35 I began running.  It was one of those things where I needed to move more and a friend invited me to run with her.  We began with one mile, then we went 2, and then 3.  By the time we hit 3 miles, she asked me if I wanted to run a half marathon.

I told her she was crazy, of course! But I thought about it more and considered the obstacles my father had with limited vision.  Then I said, if he can do 26.2 miles, surely I can do 13.1!  So I trained and finished my 1st race 6 months later.  Now I’ve run 10 half marathons.  My body enjoys running and responds well to it so I haven’t stopped. 

What I’ve learned is that running is a mental game. Your body will do what you believe it can.  This principle applies to your finances too. It is a mental game.  If you believe you can get out of debt, save for emergencies, or stay out of credit card debt you can.  If you fall down on your journey, get up and keep moving forward.  If you make a mistake with your money, give yourself grace.  If you feel like quitting, remember my daddy.  If he can do it with all of his obstacles, so can you!  Tap into your own personal resilience.  Find out what you are truly capable of and push yourself to limits you thought you couldn’t reach.  I believe in you.  I know you can do it.  Now get to work and finish your financial race!