The One-Year Promise: Challenge Issued.
It’s now been almost a week so I’m finally ready to comment
on the end of “How I Met Your Mother” (or HIMYM for short). If you haven’t yet
seen the finale, please stop reading now or you will learn things you don’t
want to know. As the guests who watched the finale with me can attest, I was
distraught. First, the wedding we waited for all season ended in divorce less
than 3 years later. Second, my “this can’t possibly happen” fear that the
mother would in fact be dead by 2030 turned out to be 100% accurate. And last
but not least, Ted and Robin, despite 9 seasons of trying to convince myself
that they aren’t right for one another, in fact really are and they end up together
in the end. Talk about a whirlwind. Now the real reason the show left me a little lost was that
for 5 seasons now (no I wasn’t a loyal follower from day 1) I always thought
that the overarching message of the show was that even when the universe seems
to be sending every possible sign that someone or something is right for you,
that if you’re patient and wait, there is something so much better waiting for
you. In the end it turns out the message is…well, the universe always wins. And
while for a day or two, I found that message troublesome, I have now come to
see it as comforting. There’s a plan, and despite our blunders, mistakes,
missteps, or efforts to thwart that plan, it’s inevitable. So now I’m back
onboard my HIMYM fan train. And I found out this weekend that the first 8
seasons are available on Amazon Prime. Good bye, productivity and sleep :-)
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| My farewell to HIMYM spread... |
Now onto my next thought. Among other things, HIMYM provided
some valuable (and other not-so-valuable) life lessons. Though they are created
by and applicable to fictional characters, these lessons can be very real. Next
thought: there will come a day when I will have a conversation with my own
future children about the development of my food issues. I pray fairly often
that these yet-to-be children will have immune systems with slightly better
discernment skills than my own…so my hope is that one day they’ll be chomping
on an Oreo or devouring a slice of pizza as I explain my memories of such
delicious foods. I’ll call my story “How I Embraced my Food Issues” (HIEMFI for
short). I’ll have my own life lessons to share which like the ones from HIMYM
can apply across a variety of situations and circumstances. For example:
Life Lesson #1:
(HIMYM) The Olive Theory: According to Lily
and Marshall, if one person in a relationship likes olives and the other person
doesn’t, then they have a perfect balance and are meant to be together.
(HIEMFI) The Cheese Theory: According to
Katie, if one person in a relationship has a casein allergy and thus cannot eat
dairy, and the other person loves cheese enough to consume the items off both
plates at social gatherings, the relationship is bound for success. If not, the
ensuing social awkwardness will likely take its toll.
Life Lesson #2:
(HIMYM) The Front Porch Test- According to Lily, the most important people in
your life are the ones you can picture sitting on a porch with in 50 years;
hence all potential significant others in a group are subject to this test.
Life Lesson #3:
(HIMYM) The Lemon Law- According to Barney,
“from the moment a date begins, you have 5 minutes to decide whether you’re
going to commit to an entire evening and if you don’t, it’s no hard feelings, just
good night, thanks for playing”
(HIEMFI) The Scope Scoot- According to Katie,
the first time you tell someone about the Scope issue related to your foodallergies, they have a free pass to scoot. There is absolutely no
judgment…because let’s be honest, it’s a lot to ask of a person. And if you
find someone who doesn’t scoot, well marry them because they’re too wonderful
to let get away!! (Just kidding…kind of)
There are so many other life lessons from both HIMYM and
from my own story but for today I’d like to focus on one. The One Year promise.
To set the scene, I recommend watching this clip from Season 9.
You should never underestimate the power of one year. This
resonated in a special way for me this past week and weekend. One year ago last Monday was Easter Sunday. 1 year ago I made it through ¾ of Easter Sunday mass with my
family before the tightness in my chest proved too much. As hives broke out on
my arms, I was forced to head back to Baltimore and spend a few hours in Urgent
Care. I ate Easter dinner from Boston Market with the Saint in Shorts and aT-Shirt before promptly curling up in a ball on the couch because the mashed
potatoes I ate had butter, which I didn’t know at the time was making
everything worse. I ended up in the ER two days later after eating some cheese
that sent my hives and my breathing into full-fledged crisis mode. And yet that
following Saturday, I was determined to complete a 5K I had signed up for weeks
earlier.
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| 1 year ago: I may have forced a smile but you'll notice I'm not even standing up straight. My stomach wouldn't let me :-( |
I arrived that morning at the race with that same saint as my
faithful sidekick. We parked as close as possible to the starting line and I
left the car clutching my water bottle in one hand and an inhaler in the
other. We reviewed how many pumps of the inhaler I had been instructed to try before having to
switch to the more potent medication in my cinch bag. We discussed how long to
wait before adding a second dose of that and then when would be the time to seek
more medical treatment elsewhere. Even the walk to the starting line seemed
like a mile. My body was still weak, my stomach was not my friend, and my lungs
were angry at me for unknowingly poisoning myself on a regular basis. We ran
and walked our way through that race, walking up the steep Patterson Park hills
that proved too much for my angry lungs. My hand never stopped clutching my
inhaler and the few moments when my loyal companion disappeared to use the
bathroom were nervewracking enough to make me realize just how dependent I’d become
on others for my own sense of safety and comfort. The goal that day was not
time or even running the whole course; rather it was crossing the finish line
without having to surrender to the myriad health issues which threatened my
success in doing just that. I’m proud to say that I did make it across that
finish line. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty but I did it. And then I went
home and slept for the next 4 hours…and didn’t leave the couch for the rest of
the weekend. And I remember promising myself “Next year you’ll be back. And
next year you’ll run across the finish”.
Well, fast forward a year later. This past weekend the same
run was taking place in the same park. However, I had already committed to
another race before I knew the dates conflicted. Of course, as luck would have
it, this race covered much of the same course…just an hour earlier. This year
as I got ready to leave my apartment, I saw that same inhaler sitting in my
box of now-obsolete medications. I’m not sure if I still have them because I
keep forgetting to find one of those “safely dispose of medication” days or
because that shoebox reminds me on a regular basis just how far I’ve come and
how truly lucky I am to be back where I am now. I shut the closet door on that
inhaler and walked out the door into the Saturday morning sunshine.
I arrived at the race this year on my own. I carried no
cinch bag and aside from the car key tied to my shoe, I had no other
possessions on my person. I laughed with other runners at the starting corral
and when the race began, I ran. I ran up hills and down; I approached that same
hill I was forced to walk up a year ago and I ran to the top. It still wasn’t
easy or pretty…but this time it was the “normal” challenge of burning leg
muscles and a cramp in my side. I finished the race without walking...and finished in the top 20 for my age group. I enjoyed
the post-race festivities and headed home for a quick shower before meeting the
Saint in a Bow Tie for iced coffee and wedding planning discussions (his
wedding of course, not mine). I went to lunch with friends I hadn’t seen in far
too long and I rounded the day out with a fun-filled evening at my school’s
Bull and Oyster Roast. Yes, I took a quick nap in between those events…but
nothing like the incapacitating exhaustion of last year’s race. Then today I
took a day-trip to Scranton, PA to see my sister complete her own goal of
running a half-marathon. As I crossed back over the border into Maryland
tonight, all I could think about was the difference 1 year can make. I made a
promise to myself a year ago and this weekend I kept that promise, and then
some.
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| 1 weekend, 2 races, 2 medals :-) |
So my advice to you today: make yourself a promise. Pick one
thing in your life that you want to keep, fix, change, or eliminate by this
time next year. Whatever it is, commit to it. Promise yourself that come April
6, 2015 you will have kept this promise. Believe in it, work at it, and make it
come true. It’s another one of those life lessons you can apply to the food
allergy world and beyond. You can share your promise with someone or you can
keep it close to your heart. Regardless of what you choose, just remember a
year from now, it can be your reality.
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| Courtesy of Dana Guidera (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/306737424592228274/) |
Now, go out there and get started. I'll be checking in with you in 365
days. Challenge issued :-)
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