Friday Fun Flier XXIII
Some very big news :)
Guys, I’ve got some big news! A month from now, starting in August, I’m going to begin writing exclusive content on The Well-Lived Life. As I’m stepping away from teaching and starting my life as a writer, this will be one of the primary ways I support myself!
If you’re unfamiliar with how Substack works, writers can lock a certain amount of content behind a paywall, and ask for subscription-based support from their readers.
I have a few ideas for what that content will be, but I want to hear from you as well! I made a quick 2-question survey:
The Well-Lived Life Google Form
I’m beyond excited! This is a big day in the life of a creator, and I’ve been dreaming of the chance to create a little corner of the internet for myself and some friends ever since I started The Well-Lived Life in January.
Until now, I’ve written across Medium and Substack, using The Well-Lived Life to send out my best stories. Starting in August, anything I write for subscribers will truly be exclusive. We’re talking posts and content that you can’t find anywhere else, ladies and gentlemen!
You will still get the Friday Fun Flier and two posts a week, but I’m planning on switching the format up a bit (see survey).
It’s going to cost $4 a month or $40 a year, and I have a few pledges to make because I want you to know exactly where your money will go.
I’m not religious, but I like the idea of a tithe. So 10% of whatever I make from this newsletter each month will be donated to charity or used to help someone in my community.
Eventually (if you’d like to see this) I’d like to pay it forward by paying readers for fortnightly guest posts on what a Well-Lived Life is/beautiful personal stories they’d like to tell about living well. This is dependent on subscription income, but I’m thinking $30-$40/post.
There will always be an option (if people feel that they truly can’t afford the subscription) to have membership donated. If someone feels that my writing has helped them and they want to be a full member, money will not stop them.
I want this newsletter to be supported by the community. I don’t want to rely on scammy affiliate marketing or on how good I am at slinging products for other people. I want to write with integrity.
So friends, if you feel that in the last 7 months I’ve helped you grow, turned you on to something that improved your life, or made you laugh, this is how you can give back. More to come as we get closer to August!
I did something I’m SO proud of on Monday:
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been using Zombies, Run to build a running habit. On Saturday, I ran 10k because the app challenged me to a mission.
On Monday, the app challenged me to run 20k. It said that I didn’t have to run it all in one go, I could run in pieces and come back the next day.
Now, I’ve never run 20k at once. I’ve never even run 11k. But as I sat there, reading the text of my zombie mission, I thought to myself: what if I could run 20k?
I got on Google maps, and as it turned out, 20k was the exact distance from my home in Glenwood Springs to the City Market in Carbondale, the next town up the valley.
So I thought: what the hell? I grabbed some bus far for the ride back, rolled some energy chews in salt, filled two water bottles, and started running, with the goal of finishing in under two hours. Here are the results:
I doubled my previously farthest-run distance! And stayed on pace. Zombies for the win!
This is all part of a larger project: Getting back into my body to help myself recover from the crazy year we all just had. More to come as I explore further.
Why not double your most ambitious goal and see how far you can get? Think of something that seems absurdly beyond your reach. Then try it. The worst you can do is fail, but if you succeed, you’ll boost your own courage and sense of what’s possible.
A great podcast I listened to on the run:
Revisionist History is BACK! Malcolm Gladwell just released the first episode of season six, and it is wonderful. It’s called I Love You Waymo, it’s about self-driving cars, and it paints a picture of a future that I want to live in.
I don’t want to spoil too much, but let me just say: we get the streets back, baby! I feel more optimistic than I have in a while.
And now, the feel-good news story of the week!
An 81-year old (yes, you read that right), finished her second tough mudder.
Back in March, Mildred Wilson of Sikeston, Missouri jogged across the finish line, smiling from ear to ear. She's more than 80 years old, and this was her second Tough Mudder.
I know this isn’t exactly recent, but since the loose theme of today’s newsletter is “what’s possible,” I thought this would be a great story.
In 2019, right after she turned 80, Wilson's son asked her if she wanted to do one of these famous obstacle races, after he had finished one himself. If you're unfamiliar with the Tough Mudder, participants army crawl through muddy water, run through hanging electric wires that shock them, and climb over nets and other various obstacles.
“I had watched him do the World’s Toughest Mudder in Vegas,” Mildred said, according to local news reports. “He asked me last fall if I would like to do one. I said yes, but, if I do it, I want to be able to really do it. Not just be out there.”
After her doctor gave her the okay, she started training at the local YMCA. She trained so well that after running her first Tough Mudder, she made the remark that it was “a little easier than I expected, except for the wall! I always wanted to try that wall. I realized it wasn’t a piece of cake. It took a whole village to get me up.” This remark was referring to an obstacle called “Everest,” during which participants must ascend a wall using a rope.
In 2019 when she did her first race, her husband cheered her on and watched her through the whole race before passing away in 2020. She dedicated her March 2021 run to him.
If you'd like to challenge yourself to a race, like the 81-year-old woman who has currently run two more Tough Mudders than I have, you can find all their upcoming events here.