See...I see shining as being the person who pushes on when it is so easy to stop and say maybe tomorrow. It's not about doing everything perfectly it's about doing your best with the hand life has dealt you that day and realizing that it is more than most people will ever do.

I ran a 5k at my conference last week and was inspired by the shirt that proclaimed..."no matter how slow you are you're faster than all the people sitting on the couch!".
When I hit the 3k turn around mark I thought about heading back to our hotel to assure that I'd have plenty of time to shower and get dressed for the day before sessions ensued but that shirt and my desire to shine pushed me ahead.

thanks, both of you.... I needed that inspiration after yesterday... today I am just tired of all the shoving uphill to get to where I am going.... school is fine; rather it is all the other stuff saying "You can't get anywhere anyway so you might as well quit" or "they dont care how hard you are working so why bother" ... you know the voices... sigh.,.,.. so YES, i am a lot further than those who are still not DOING anything to GO anywhere.

I think perfectionism and excellence get a bum rap. On paper (or in this case via text on a blog) the emotions and feelings put in to humanize the event downplay the actual circumstance.

I like to think that most of us want to do things... anything, from cleaning the house to raising our children to the best of our ability.

I still think it's a matter of perception and has a lot to do with left and right brained people, creative and analytical thinkers, free spirit and scholars, when it comes to... the glass being half full or (all) situations being black and white....it depends! :)

Congratulations to you (as well Heather) on getting out there and running! That is really awesome!!! Just you wait until you get excited about buying something.... and then your 'children' realize its the wrong (size) thing, flavor etc.... and make a huge deal out of it!

Sometimes those voices in our head need to get a new job! :0)

I love thoughtful comments, especially when left so early in the morning.

I take it to mean that, on some level, we can all relate to the voice in the head.