SLow5and!?%sTEad99Y

I needed to change my password for my computer access at work today. It has to be done every quarter or so but today was the final day. I've been getting warnings the past two or three times I logged in. Nice little pop-ups would say, "Why don't you change your password now, you only have two more days until..." That wasn't the exact wording. I guess I clicked past the reminder so quickly I don't remember how they were worded.

Of course, the passwords need to have that crazy combination of letter, numbers and characters to make it hard to break. I gave my last password some thought and wanted to follow the rules without making it impossible to remember. I did what the authorities suggested and found a phrase. It was way back at least three months ago and I while I was being realistic, I also wanting to motivate myself with my running.

The phrase was slow and steady. The password was a union of that phrase with capitals, numbers and symbols interspersed. I've been using it every time I log in and it was a constant reminder not to worry about pace but keep up the discipline. Pretty soon, my fingers didn't stumble over trying to type the complicated combination each day. Pretty soon, I wasn't thinking about how slow I might be running but getting out there and doing it. The password and motivation worked.

Today I had to change my password. Let's just say I couldn't help but use the second half of that phrase. Well, along with a multitude of symbols, capitals, and numbers thrown into the mix.
TT

Looking at life

Too much thinking about life and what it is supposed to mean can make your head hurt. There are some interesting concepts and each can lead you down deep, philosophical thoughts, but  if you keep turning the spectrum of life around it can change in front of your eyes. Each different view will give you another way of looking at it. Don't look back, look ahead, don't be still, keep moving. Each thought has merit but each has a place and where to fit each one in the proper order can lead to some confusion.

There will be times you need to stop and be still, just as there are times reflection on the past will only strengthen and reinforce. There cannot be a constant forward motion without regard to some thoughts on where you might be headed. You do have to trust the path to keep going. You don't always have to move quickly. Don't miss the details along the way just in an effort to move along. The greatest joys are not always what we think will be the biggest and brightest moments. Those moments come when the spectrum of life shines from an angle we least expected and we are present enough to appreciate.

Okay. Geez. You see. Now my head is starting to hurt.
TT

The path ahead

There are so many analogies to describe our lives. A journey, a float down a river, walking blindfolded, climbing a mountain are just a few. I'm sure everyone has felt like this at some point and sometimes we get stuck at one and decide to take up residence instead of moving along. Life isn't about staying still.

We knew this when we were kids. We were always moving, thinking about the next step. There were times when you couldn't wait to get to the next thing. Wait until I get there. But never during that time, did we sit and wait. We didn't stop moving along, taking it on.

Maybe it's a natural progression after some time during our journey, our float, our climbing, we think we have arrived. We think we need to start building camp at a site where we have stopped. We take the resources we've brought along with us and try to use them to stay still. It seems like a great idea at the time. We concentrate on doing it. We put things in order for a stay. We pay no attention to anything except trying to put things in their perfect places. But it's a shallow feeling once camp is set up. There are no perfect places and you've been sitting along the path watching things go by instead of moving along with them. All the excitement of experience is passing us by. We are not meant to sit still.

It doesn't matter where you are on your trail. It can spread so far behind us to places we can no longer see. But we aren't going in that direction. Look ahead and move along the path in front of us. If it's a mountain, take small steps and enjoy the cooler air. Soon enough, you will feel like floating and begin to trust what you cannot always see around the next turn. There will be paths that will straighten out and twist and turn but we will benefit from each well placed step. We might want to set a different pace but we need to go in those directions. We need to move along to the places we would never have traveled if we stayed still. We need to pick up wherever we are right now and look forward.

Take the next step.
TT

But...

I worked through my normal run time this morning. I made this pretty unique arrangement at work where I can log in from home in the wee hours of the morning to work for an hour, go out for a run, then get ready for work and show up at my desk. I get that extra hour so I can still leave at my normal early time (anywhere from 3:00-4:00pm) and still make up all my time for the week.

But this morning I logged in at my normal early time and just kept working. It's probably good to take a rest day from the running and the extra hour of work can't hurt. But now I'm feeling like I want to go run and it's time to show up at work.

But isn't that always the case.
TT

Not major

I need to remind myself of a few minor things. I got a note that the application I was using to store photos has come up on it's two years of free service. It will self-destruct by 10/22/15 so I should probably put all those photos on a USBstick/flash drive before then. It didn't actually say it would self-destruct but that's pretty much what happens. I won't have those shots anymore if I leave it that way.

That means I should probably get a couple of new USBstick/flash drives. Or I could go through the ones I have and get them re-organized. I know I have duplicate information on multiple sticks. That happened when I was changing over Jay's computer and, well, I need to do some spring cleaning in the fall or sooner.

I should make a list. Or at least note it down. Or remind myself. I could set a reminder on my phone or computer or store a list on one or multiple of those USBstick/flash drives of mine.

It's nice to only have minor things to take care of.
TT

Stretch

And it's an early morning Monday with a full week stretched out in front of me. It's almost as if I can see it unfurl in front of me, edges straightening out from their curled coils and falling into place. I'm planning on a three mile run in a few minutes and I'm not sure the neighborhood will be the same since the first day school commences today. It will be one thing to check as I make my way down the road. I'm sure there will something different at some point along the way, maybe this morning and also possibly this week. It could be a new change even if isn't my routine that is different.  And I'm up for that.
TT

Guilty?

It's Sunday morning and I guiltily have been drinking the entire pot of coffee. I've busied myself with paperwork. I've looked over accounts and balances and the early morning has crept past. I am losing my window of opportunity to get outside before the blaze of the day descends. Well, maybe I don't feel all that guilty about the coffee.
TT

So no matter what I 'think' it has no bearing on what I 'can'. So the early morning crept past? So I thought. But I shoved the idea aside and went for a run anyway despite the threat of a blaze. It wasn't, isn't, and only existed in my head. I'm so glad I exercised it out. I was sentenced to four miles down, fifty for the month. Guilty as charged.

Pause

Poor Tessa Today seems to have become Tessa Every Two Weeks. I can say there has been many things going on or pretty much it's been the same and therein lies the lack of reporting. Busy or boring. Whatever reason or excuse you would like works for me at this moment in time.

Give me a bit and who knows, I might come up with something soon.
TT