Dedication

Today's gift is dedication.

I can honestly say when it comes to physical therapy, my daughter is dedicated to her therapy sessions. She does not want to disappoint her therapists and wants them to believe in her.

There are some days, when she does not want to participate in therapy, but she still pushes forward. And other days when the session has to end. If she ever ends a session early she always makes up for it in the next one.

She knows we promised her we would do anything for her and in this anything is bi-weekly physical therapy sessions. Our promise to her, encourages her dedication to us and her therapists.

Today, she was a rock star! I forgot something at home so I left her there for 7 minutes (yes, we live very close to the therapy center). They were telling me how awesome she was on the treadmill and when I got back she started walking all off. I know she liked the attention from them without me around, so I went around the corner. Sure enough she started walking "awesome" again!

Clearly she wanted to do things without me watching today....so I took a step back. From my "view" I coud still see her though without being right on top of her. And what I saw was a little girl extremely dedicated to herself!

Everything they asked her to do today, she not only did it, but did it with strength and determination...and she was all giggles! She loved showing them how she would try anything they asked of her today. She showed them she was there to "work". She showed them she was dedicated to helping herself beat Rett Syndrome.

Seeing her dedication today helped me today as well. You may or may not recall, but last year I ran my first half marathon on a team for Girl Power 2 Cure, for Rett Syndrome. Well, I'm doing it again in February! Even though I know what to expect I'm still nervous and excited.

I don't know what the weather is where you are, but today here it was a high of 47 and rainy! It was also one of the days I planned to run today as part of my training. I haven't run in over a week as I was sick, so I am already behind. I could have...and I tried....to come up with why I could not run today, but then I thought of my inspiration for the run. If she is dedicated to her therapy, even on days when she would rather not go, I have to be dedicated to my training.

If she can do it, I can too! The cold temperatures and rain are nothing compared to what my daughter lives with....daily. These two things are just extra challenges for me to deal with in my dedication to my training.

My daughter has helped me understand the true meaning of being dedicated to something. You give it your all, even when you want to throw in the towel. You do it the best that you can. You try instead of saying you can not. You do not make excuses.

Whenever I second guess myself, I just ask myself how my daughter would handle this situation.

Here are two quotes for today....

Some people dream of success, while others wake up and work hard at it- Author Unknown

If you really want to do something, you'll find a way; if you don't, you'll find an excuse-  Jim Rohn