I Know Cool People (said in the tone of "I See Dead People")

Tuesday, August 25, 2009...

Last night I met a friend for coffee. After catching up, the conversation came around to a statement my friend made about knowing more fun people.

After I busted her chops about knowing me, I understood where she was coming from. She's in a rut and needs to just branch out. She's grown over the years I've known her, but the core group of friends she's hung out with for years, really hasn't.

Personally, I made changes several years back over the people I hang with. I don't know if it was turning 40 or the fact that I had a bad health scare at 39, but I just knew I had to make changes in regards to the people I choose to be close with.

This morning I was thinking about my conversation with my friend last night and it made me realize I know some really cool people that don't broadcast it.

Last week, I learned that my friend Sharon and her kids help a neighbor with her veggie garden. The woman has two enormous gardens and one was designed with the sole purpose of growing veggies for the local food bank. She is teaching her kids how to give back to the community and I can tell how much she's enjoying doing it too. Kudos to her!

Last night, I was talking with my oldest sister, she lurks around my blog, but is not the one that posts. She's 60 and is a great example that life over 40, 50 or 60 does not mean you pack it in.

Last year, she participated in 2 triathlons, this year 5 to date. She has two more scheduled and her next being in the nation's capital.

Her enthusiasm has rubbed off onto others. Her husband, recovering from knee surgery, asked his doctor recently if he could train for one. My other sister, YogaGirl, and I have agreed to do one with her as part of a relay team (YogaGirl swims, oldest sister bikes and I run).

I think people that can instill change quietly upon others are cool. She hasn't forced her husband or my sister and I to want to participate in a tri, it is her enthusiasm that has created an infectious attitude to want to try.

I hope my friend creates a life with people that she finds 'cool'. I have many more cool people in my life, but these are the ones that have been weighing on my mind.