{"id":334,"date":"2012-08-31T15:13:40","date_gmt":"2012-08-31T15:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=334"},"modified":"2012-08-31T15:13:40","modified_gmt":"2012-08-31T15:13:40","slug":"day-29-countdown-greatness-you-can-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=334","title":{"rendered":"Greatness &#8211; You CAN do it! ~ 29 days to go"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_339\" style=\"width: 330px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/08\/shoe-reeds-run.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-339\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-339\" title=\"shoe reed's run\" src=\"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/08\/shoe-reeds-run.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/shoe-reeds-run.jpg 320w, http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/shoe-reeds-run-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-339\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo courtesy of Lil&#8217; Sprout Memories (Alyssa Francis)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I recently saw a Nike commercial that features sweet Nathan Sorrell of Ohio.\u00a0 That commercial has been often discussed with all kinds of dissenting and differing opinions.\u00a0 I will admit that when I saw the commercial for the first time, I cried.\u00a0 It was a really emotional moment, because I saw a young man who tried.\u00a0 I saw a young man who didn\u2019t let others define his value or self-worth.\u00a0 In subsequent weeks, I have seen an interview with Nathan and his mom who have walked through a whirlwind of commentaries \u2013 some regarding the ad as genius and others who liken it to child abuse.\u00a0 In the end, Nathan admitted that his critics only fueled his desire to work-out more.\u00a0 Good for you, Nathan<em>! \u00a0<strong>I am sure that run was not easy, but he did it.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2JnYcuRW_qo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>His spirit reminded me of another young man who embraced life fully and who never gave up.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think there was an activity in life that he pursued that he didn\u2019t at least give it a passionate try.\u00a0 Yesterday, I shared that Reed kept on running.\u00a0 I am sure it was hard and I am sure that he was pooped, but he did it.\u00a0 <em><strong>His determination to support a friend kept him going, and he did it.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>It was that perseverance that fueled me to wake up one morning and finish the journey that I had started with the boys in January of 2008.\u00a0 That journey was to complete a triathlon as a team.\u00a0 Well, the plans changed and I worked for one year to get into shape to do it.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 It was time-consuming. My teammates weren\u2019t able to compete; so my work load tripled. I wasn\u2019t going to set any impressive records. Yet, I worked and worked some more.<\/p>\n<p>One of my personal favorite memories from my triathlon was the surprise I got after completing the swimming and biking to see my family and dear friends waiting to cheer me on.\u00a0 Sweet little M had made signs.\u00a0 Many read, \u201cYou can do it!\u201d\u00a0 But the one that caught my heart was written in her best 1<sup>st<\/sup>-grade penmanship said, \u201cCan you do it?\u201d \u00a0I also doubled-over from laughing so hard.\u00a0 In reality, I was thinking the same thing, because after a half-mile swim and 17 miles biking, I wasn\u2019t sure I had 5k of running left in my legs.\u00a0 But with one of my friends (pulling a Reed \u2013 running alongside of me), <em><strong>I just kept going, and I did it.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yes, there are serious and competitive runners at Reed\u2019s Run as it is a certified and sanctioned event.\u00a0 But we have moms and dads with babies in strollers.\u00a0 We have grandmas and grandpas who go for a nice fall walk.\u00a0 We have families that go for an evening stroll.\u00a0 Whether you come to win or come to walk, in the end both extremes cover the same distance.<\/p>\n<p>The best advice I ever got from one of my college professors (who in this case happened to be my dad) was, \u201cThe first key to success is to show up.\u201d \u00a0Thank you to all who have showed up in the past; you are the key to our success. \u00a0If you are considering this year\u2019s run, I promise \u2013 \u201cYou CAN do it!\u201d <em><strong>And who knows you just might, \u201cFind Your Greatness\u201d because just like Nathan, we are all capable of it!\u00a0 I know because your greatness has been a big part of my family&#8217;s healing!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently saw a Nike commercial that features sweet Nathan Sorrell of Ohio.\u00a0 That commercial has been often discussed with all kinds of dissenting and differing opinions.\u00a0 I will admit that when I saw the commercial for the first time, I cried.\u00a0 It was a really emotional moment, because I saw a young man who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[215,435,447,526,666],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}