First of all, I should start out by explaining that I often have grandiose ideas that sometimes fizzle out after I've had time to think about them or discuss them logically with Preston (A.K.A The Dream Crusher).
My most recent plan was inspired by photos of animals affected by the oil spill, either covered in oil or dead on the beach. The first thing I wanted to do was drop everything and rush to the beach and save the animals, but because that would involve a major life change and a specific type of education that I don't have, the first thing I did was look for more stuff online. I found other pictures of animals being cleaned and turtles and pelicans being released into cleaner areas not yet affected by the oil. That settled my heart a little bit, but I still wanted to do something.
I felt like a really big, impressive idea was needed to inspire people to feel the same urgent feeling I had when I first saw those pictures online. The pelican trying to spread it's oil covered wings, the seagull stuck on it's back, unable to flip over from the mess of oil around it and the dead sea turtle lying on the beach. These animals are living in oil. They can't do the basic things they need to do to survive. They can't swim or fly, they can't eat. They can't breath.
I can't fly, but I can swim, and I can run and bike. So my first thought was to sign up for a race and ask for pledges. But just one race didn't seem to be enough. It didn't feel as big and impressive as I wanted it to feel (that's what she said). So I decided to sign up for one race each month for the next year and ask for pledges. And I was going to have shirts printed that supported my cause. My slogan was going to be "Could you do this covered in oil?" And I was going to workout in those shirts and compete in those shirts to raise awareness. And, and...
Now that's a big idea.
I looked for races and scheduled them according to my plan, 1 per month. I even went as far as to sign up for two half marathons, which is when the giant, ugly dollar sign attached to my big idea tapped me on the shoulder and shook it's finger at me. My plan was expensive, and even though most races support causes monetarily, they were not the cause that inspired me to act. I would be throwing my own money at other issues while asking my friends and family to donate to the issue that inspired me.
So my plan, as of now, is to create my own athletic goals to accomplish, 1 per month, instead of competing in the organized events. I'm going to donate the money that I would have spent on registration fees to a.) The National Wildlife Federation or b.) the local animal shelter(an option that Preston suggested after our logical conversation). I've already signed up and paid for the two half marathons, and that's okay. I will indulge in those. I haven't decided if I'm going to asked for pledges yet, or make shirts. But I think this is still a pretty big idea. A doable idea with a prettier dollar sign.
