Find the light during a marathon

Are you tired?

Hey neighbors,

Happy (checks calendar because life is flying by right now) May! Can you believe it? I can’t, and where in the world did April go? The Smith household is full of activities with kiddo-after-school things, travel, and hoping I can keep dodging the NIH funding cuts. That, on top of the *state of the world and politics* makes things weird and hard and loud and tiresome, don’t they? It feels like, to me, the last leg of a marathon. Any runners out there? I have done one marathon (at 10 months postpartum while breastfeeding- 0/10 would recommend) and the start of the race was full of adrenaline. Mile 10-18 were a bit ‘meh’ and ‘whatever’. Then ‘The Wall’ hit around Mile 20. What do you then? ‘The Wall’ is a bit how I feel right now. You know you have to keep going, you know you have it in you (mostly) to keep going, but, oh boy, do you just want to get ice cream instead. ha! I know I just made a lot of jokes - but, I have heard from so many of you that you are simply tired right now. And, not physically tired. More of an all-around-tired. I get that, neighbors! And, me too. This journey is going to be long over the next several years, and I want to come out stronger. Not perfect or unscathed. But stronger and more neighborly. Maybe this post can help us figure out how to put one foot in front of the other and keep going on the marathon of *all the things* if you feel like you’ve hit a wall. Here’s what I’m doing right now to keep going, step-by-step, in the hope that it encourages you too.

****These paid posts are always more personal than my regular science ones, like the Neighbor Tuesday posts. If you’re wondering why, here’s an explanation. Not all of you will want the personal musings and I totally understand that. I also include why I give a preview of these posts to everyone. Not as a bait-and-switch! Believe me, that’s about as opposite of me as you can get. It’s simply to let you all know what content is in the paid posts in case it’s something you’re interested in. The science posts are always free!***