Sometimes It's About Just Showing Up

Sometimes you just gotta get up and show up. Even when it's early and you don't want to, and you wish you had a magic wand you could wave that would make the whole world just stop spinning.

Such is how I felt around 8 a.m. Saturday morning. You see, a couple of weeks ago, as the organizer for a South Bay girl's Meet-up group, I scheduled a fun outing for some local ladies to go to the DeAnza Flea Market. It seemed like a great idea then! But at 8 a.m. Saturday, when I would have rather slept in, enjoying a quiet house, and nuzzling husband, I instead had to get up.

The thing about Meet-up is you never know how many people are going to show up. The RSVP list was down to just one other member besides me. Hmm... will she show up? I wondered. Secretly I was hoping she would cancel. But after a brief email exchange, she confirmed that she was coming, and she was excited. That sealed the deal. I better get excited too.

I out the door by 9:30 a.m., looking for parking shortly before 10 a.m. and haggling for my first bargain soon after. Someone alert someone: Jody, outside of her house before 10 a.m.! This was huge for a non-morning person such as myself.

Shortly after arriving at the Flea Market, my yawns started to give way to the adrenaline of wondering what good deals I would find. The sun was bright but not yet hot, and it felt good to be out amongst the masses. After my friend and I browsed down an aisle or two, exchanging stories from our week along the way, I quickly came around to feeling glad that I didn't cancel after all.

Sad to say, this is my m.o. at times. I won't have the motivation to do something or even dread the thought of participating, but then I end up mustering my courage or my conviction and do participate, only to be so thankful that I did.

I always think back to when I was a junior in high school, and I was invited to Washington All-Girl's State. I was honored to be asked to this week-long leadership camp for scholastically high-performing high school students, but I didn't want to go. "I'm not going to know anyone." "It's for a whole week." "What if I can't make my way around campus?" These were all things I would whine to my mother. To which she would reply, "You should go. You never know what you'll miss out on if you don't."

Mothers. They are so wise. Of course, I went, and I loved it. By the time camp ended, I didn't want to come home. Imagine if I had canceled?! The friends I wouldn't have made, the things I wouldn't have learned, I never would have been elected State Attorney General!

Getting up and not canceling and stepping up. Sometimes even when you don't want to. That is part of what makes the beat of life march on. In these moments of living, we learn—not only more about where our path is leading but how much we choose the path we're on.

Footnote: In addition to a great morning hanging out with my girlfriend, Saturday's path at the flea market lead me to a great pair of $5 sunglasses, two chick-lit books for a buck, and a wonderfully kitschy Giant's Baseball clock for my hubs. Only at the flea market!