We can do hard things

Olivia was dreading the Friday before Spring Break. All of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders were to run in a 5K fundraiser race. She was not excited. Olivia is actually a pretty good runner. They run a mile regularly at school. I remember the first time she ran. She told me about it when she got home from school. She ran it in 9 minutes and something seconds. She has gotten faster and is now under 9 minutes on her times. We were so shocked when she said that she was coming in the top 5 girls in her grade each time. She doesn't usually go for this kind of thing. The 5K was another story and I am so proud of her for finishing. I went to watch her run. The first mile she did great. All smiles. During the 3rd 1/2 mile lap she saw me on the sidelines and wrapped her arms around me feeling very discouraged. She wasn't even half way done and was so tired. She walked most of the rest with a little jogging in between and she finished!

We have a family motto that says, "We are the Birons. We can do hard things and we don't do ugly!" We came up with this motto because life is hard. Things happen and we have to deal with them and make the most of everything. "We don't do ugly" comes from my sweet grandma who always has a postive attitude. She would always say this to us when she would compliment how beautiful for handsome we were. I used to worry about my kids. I don't anymore. Sometimes when things get hard for them I say to myself. They are learning. They are becoming stronger. She was so happy when she finished and we were so proud that she did something that was hard for her. She has vowed not to run another 5K until next year when she has to do the same run again.