"It always seems impossible," said Nelson Mandela, "until it's done."
Today is the 121st Boston Marathon, the oldest marathon in the world, inspired by the first marathon competition in the 1896 Olympic Games. It now attracts about 30,000 runners, but the first time it attracted just 18. The one thing they all had in common? They were men.
“I know that only by owning who and what you are can you start to step into the fullness of life," said Oprah Winfrey. "Every year should be teaching us all something valuable."
I turn 39 today. And I know I'm supposed to feel old, because it's the last year of my 30s.
But strangely I feel younger than ever, probably based on the work I'm doing, based on how authentic I've been allowing myself to be.
Born on March 30, 1978, I'm exactly 30 years younger than my father-in-law, Bob. My cousin's husband Lee shares my exact birthday and year. And I'm exactly 30 years older than my only niece, Savannah, who today turns 9. This is notable when you remember that I'm the only girl of five in my immediate family and Savannah is the only girl of five amongst her cousins.
"Do not go where the path may lead," Ralph Waldo Emerson said. "Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
The first time I reached the end of the Santa Monica Pier, I stared out into the Pacific Ocean and started crying.
A few days earlier, Steven and I had arrived at LAX and waited to be picked up by Kelly and her husband, John, who'd moved out to L.A. the year before. It wasn't our first flight together. In our nine years of dating, we'd flown to New Mexico once and Florida to see my parents a few times and Laughlin, Nevada, one time, for Kelly and John's wedding. But for the most part, our idea of an exciting trip was the Jersey shore.
Steven had become close friends with both Kelly and John by then—when I threw him a surprise party to celebrate his degree in graphic design in 2007, they were the only guests. And he was just fine with that.
As I'm nearing my final week of training for my half of the Los Angeles Marathon and coming closer than ever before to checking off item 23 on My Father's List, "Run 10 miles straight," I want to acknowledge how hard my relay partner, Kelly Solis, has been working on her half of this.
Every week since we started training in January she's met a new distance goal, and every week I've been more inspired to meet my own because of it. She decided to split the marathon with me after I found my dad's list and said my new goal was running 10 straight, and I will always be amazed by the generosity behind that decision. But the greatest joy for me as I've worked to accomplish my goal has been watching her continually surprise herself while crushing her own.
Here's what her experience has been, in her words.
Read More"As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same," said Marianne Williamson. "As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
"You throw like a girl!" was one of my dad's favorite jokes when I was a kid. He coached my brother and me equally, so it was meant to be ironic. In fact, I was often under the illusion that I wasn't a girl at all.
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"The meaning of life is finding your gift," Pablo Picasso said. "The purpose of life is giving it to the world."
My destination wedding was nothing short of magnificent. It was filled with warmth, joy and excitement, beyond my wildest dreams. It was hard to believe I'd been filled with dread before it for so long.
I was filled with dread because I knew when I walked down the aisle I'd be doing it fatherless.
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