Never Underestimate a Barn Kitten

When I was about eight years old, one of my favourite pastimes was heading out to the barn on our family farm and looking for the barn kittens. One kitten in particular stands out in my mind. This kitten wasn't very big and looked "soooo cute" so I decided I would try to pick it up and hold it. I had grand visions of carrying around this little ball of fur as my personal companion.

Yeah...that was until that kitten threw a big hissing fit, complete with teeth showing and eyes glaring. That kitten had no desire to be picked up, cuddled, or carried. I soon dubbed the angry kitten as Curly Tongue Spitter. The name says it all. I had completely underestimated what that small ball of fur was capable of.

I think we can underestimate ourselves too. We can think of all the very good reasons why something may not be possible. We talk ourselves out of starting something new, reaching for a higher goal, or tackling a big obstacle.

Well, I've decided that for the Tough Mudder Challenge  (I'm doing this to raise funds for Tough as Her) I'm not going to stop before I've started or let my age or current level of fitness stand in my way. No, I'm not going to throw a hissing fit, but I am going to get down to the business of serious training. There's no turning back now, I've paid the fee and it's non-refundable.

How have you underestimated yourself?  What do you want to do about that?

This Resolution started on November 1

For the first time in a long time I didn't make a New Year's Resolution. That's because I made a really big one on November 1, 2013.


I am part of a fantastic board of directors for World Relief Canada. We're passionate about ending world poverty. On that Friday the board heard updates on how things were going within our charity. Finances. Programs. Fundraising.


Our director of Philanthropy, Eric Frans, had just updated us on his experience doing Tough Mudder and the money that he had raised for women and children in developing countries. His vision was to expand the participation in 2014 and have teams participating across Canada.


Inspiring!


When I said I thought we should put in a board team...I thought Eric's jaw was going to hit the floor. Tough Mudder is a gruelling course, both physically and mentally. To be truthful, I had not idea how hard it really was. That's probably a good thing. I'm not in my twenties...or anything really close to that and I'm not really fit either. I'm just thankful Eric didn't laugh out loud.


I'm not the kind of person who needs to complete a miraculous feat just to say that I did it. That doesn't motivate me at all. Those who know me well would say I'm reserved. As I thought about the incredible obstacles that these women and children face everyday, I knew that I had to step up to the plate...and possibly go down swinging.


So now I'm going public. The campaign is called Tough as Her. Quite frankly, I don't think I'm as tough as her. I've got a lot of work to do. But this time being passionate means more than just making a donation.