Safety First...

About two weeks ago, out of frustration and desperation I wrote a long blog but afterwards decided that a year should not start on a sour note. Therefore, over the last two weeks I wanted to flip my negative feelings into positive learnings.  Now that it is also Kaya’s 4th birthday today, it is impossible to be negative - added bonus!

This morning at Kaya’s preschool, there was a very special celebration of his birthday, which included Derek and me. The celebration started with Kaya collecting flowers from the Preschool’s garden and then decorating his birthday cake with those flowers. Then all his friends joined him in the playroom, sitting in their usual circle. That’s when the teacher told Kaya’s birth story. The story started with an angel seeing the world and wanting to be a part of it. Once the angel spotted a couple in that world, that’s when he was ready to come down. (Side note: both Derek and I had tears in our eyes while all 4-5 year-olds were watching our faces). The angel had to pick 3 special gifts/personal values prior to go down. He picked: superior attention to detail, resilience to pain, ear for music (Kaya’s 3 gifts). He then arrived with a very earthly name “Kaya”, which means “big boulder/rock”. :)

Kaya decorating his cake

Since the day he was born, I called him my little angel - the teacher had no clue. So the story definitely touched both me and Derek deeply. Thinking about that angel and how I want to be in his life as long as I can brought me to my subject line... Safety First...

It is so easy to be at an autopilot mode in life, especially when we have our daily routines. That makes it easy to forget about the daily risks that we take. Being a regular commute biker in San Francisco, I know the dangers and think about them from time to time. However, when things go smooth year in year out, I don’t realize how close the dangers can be. Sometimes it takes a reminder to re-think about those danger. Our year ended with Derek getting hit by a car when he was on his bike - luckily he was ok, other than an injured hand tendon, some scratches and a damaged bike.  Lesson learned was: “always call the police to file a report”. We learned it the hard way so if you are a biker please keep that in mind: You first call the police regardless how nice the other person might seem.  Our year then started with a very minor accident for me. I slipped on the wet train tracks with my bike. All I had was some bruises and a torn rain jacket. Lesson learned: “on a rainy day, avoid the tracks.” The funny thing was that I was thinking about it being dangerous in the rain but yet I still went over them thinking I would be fine.

At the end of the day, life can be risky even when crossing the street. Why not take the extra second or even minute to reduce that risk? I run everywhere, all the time. I think the few minutes I gain might not be worth the added risks that I take. Therefore I will try hard to slow my legs down - especially if I am NOT trying to get home, to my angels!  What do you guys think?

Now on a separate note, what would you like my next blog’s quick workout to focus on :

1. Strong Legs

2. Strong Heart

3. Strong Abs

Let me know in the comments section.

A big Happy Birthday to my son, my little angel...