Tiaras & Sparkle Skirts: Make Sure to Have Fun!

Two of my friends and I are heading to Orlando tomorrow to run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon on Sunday…with several thousand other Princesses. Part of the fun has been the planning and silliness over the last few months as we've trained and prepared for the work of the weekend. We've made sure to mix those several hours of running on Sunday morning—the work of our trip—with several days of play and pure girlfriend enjoyment.

To train for the run we've had a weekend schedule that increased mileage over the last couple of months. We've put aside the time to do the preparation so we can have fun along the route and finish with energy to spare, enjoying the rest of the day in the Disney parks. Running Disney (I discovered a few years ago) can make the mental stuff of this hard work almost enjoyable. Most of my training runs are on city streets with a goal of putting in the time. For Disney races, however, not only do we run through the parks themselves, but we meet up with Donald and Mickey, Minnie, the Incredibles, Chip and Dale and other characters—all out and cheering the runners along. What a concept: mixing the "work" with the "fun"—something I'll bet most of us don't do nearly often enough!

You can check out photos of the Princess Half (and other) Disney races online, and when you do, notice the sparkle skirts, the tiaras, the fun costumes and—of course—the happy faces…it's Disney, after all. So at least one message every runner will take from that day is "mix it up:" it's great to tackle the challenge and it's ok—no, it's really great—to have fun in the process. "Work" doesn't have to be all "work"…your surroundings and the people and your attitude and your mental game make a huge difference. What you think, you create. What you visualize, you step into. What you practice, you experience.   

So, I'm headed up to pack now. I have my pink sparkle skirt, my camera for posting photos on Facebook, my 'Life is Good' white tee, my pink and green striped socks, my favorite shoes and a few variations to be ready for any weather. My yellow tiara will go in, too (Belle is my favorite princess). I'll put it in my pink ruffled bag with my pink ruffled make up case; with all this, what a Princess weekend I'll have!

So why not take another look at your work, and make sure that you're mixing things up? What's the fun you've put in to balance it? How do you reward yourself for the hard work and great results? And if you don't, then what fun and rewards can you mix in to acknowledge yourself and the difference you make? You don't need to wait for others to do it…be proud of yourself!  Drop a comment below and let us know what you do, or what you're planning…your rewards and your fun. If enough of us do that, we'll have a terrific list of rewards to share!

By the way, stop by on Sunday morning to see the race results. You can find me by name, follow our progress and see our times. There will be online photos and we'll be posting on FB, too, and I expect those may be photos (skirts, tiaras, etc.) that you won't want to miss!

Janine Moon