Just Do It!

I am a planner, and a list maker. When I decided to do something I have to take time to think about it and mull it over and work up to it and research it and practice and theorize. . .

It takes me a while to actually get to the doing it part. But you can be sure that when (and if) I get there, I will be ready. And usually I get the job done--well. At least I like to think so. The disadvantage is that I could probably have just done it earlier and done nearly as well and been done already. Not to mention all the things that don't get done because I lost interest or the opportunity passed before I got around to it.

But not Rob.

Sure when it comes to money related issues there is no one better at putting off and pondering and considering and delaying me and himself until we no longer want the thing, or it is no longer available. But when it comes to getting things done, he's your man. While I am making lists of things to do he is just doing.

So it should have come as no surprise when one month ago Rob signed up for a four mile run, before he ever started running.

For the past month he has been pushing himself, and me, and running more than is probably healthy. If he gets sick or tired or achy he just runs harder and farther to prove something. When I would lie down and cry because my knees were killing me (okay, I never actually laid down or cried, but I wasn't too good to take a break or walk a while) he would push forward and go an extra half mile that day just to show his achy self who was boss.

And while I can run three consecutive miles without dying or crying, Rob can run closer to five. And while a little competition and the knowledge that people will see his time pushes him to try harder, I need only a promise of a shopping trip or the threat of having to wear a swim suit to whip me into shape. So he signed up and I just turned up to watch him run.

After a month of training, very little of which was on hills, and waking up ill, he still ran respectably on a very hilly course, finishing in the top third. And the girls and I were there to cheer him on as he crossed the finish line.

Are you a planner or a doer?