OVERCOMER: Sarah Hood

I love that this friend fought to the end to make sure she was part of this journey. We are not super close, but when we get together as part of the blogger chicks or our “special interests” groups, I find the late night parking lot chats after we shut down a place more than entertaining. She is a fierce Marketing Maven. Her personal collection could rival any hair products aisle. She is a speedy gal, who finds greatest joy when the wind is flying through her hair on one of her running excursions. And, with any luck I’ll be able to tap into her dreams of cheese fry heaven over the next 12 months (we are all taking on quests…ours both happen to involved food). She is funny, she has an awesome laugh and knows how to celebrate the great moments of life.

The Sarah M. Hood –

1 word of the thing you’ve “overcome” – Low Expectations

Your “turning point” (if you’ve had one!): I know what you’re thinking. How hard is it to overcome low expectations? Isn’t that the whole point of setting low expectations? Under-promise and over-deliver, right? In my case, these expectations were mine. Of my health and wellness. And abilities. I spent a lifetime thinking things like, “I’m not an athlete” and saying things like, “I don’t run.” And I’m not exaggerating. I wasn’t an “I don’t run but I DO play softball and golf and dabble in volleyball” kinda girl. I didn’t do any of it. I had resigned myself to these expectations.
I didn’t consider myself a thrill-seeker or a particularly outgoing, grab-life-by-the-horns kinda gal. But in 2007, things started happening that shook me up a little. My brother Tom — the grab-life-by-the-horns kinda person I was not – was killed in action in Iraq, which rocked me and my family to the
core. And I became a Mama, which has changed me in ways I can’t even put into words. This intersection of life and death really put me in motion. And I remember having these swirling, overwhelming thoughts about how precious and fleeting and uncertain life is — and how important it is to really LIVE. I owed it to Tom to try harder, to push further, and to try some things beyond my initial expectations of myself.
I ran a mile.
I ran A MILE and I remember feeling like I slayed a giant. I ran a mile, then I ran another one. And then another. And before long I’d strung enough miles together that I was training for and running marathons. WHAT. “I’m not an athlete.” “I don’t run.” Remember? But I found strength and inspiration in my brother’s NEVER QUIT attitude, and I realized that running a mile — was possible. Running a marathon – was possible. You just have to start. And never quit.

5 word life mantra – No day but today.
Quote you live by (and maybe who said it…yes, your grandma
counts!) –It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.– Lester Burnham, American Beauty