This weekend, I ran the “Run or Dye” 5k in Minot, ND with one of my best friends, and it was actually a lot of fun!

I feel like the more things like this that are posted about on Facebook, Twitter, etc., the more annoyed people get with them, which gives them this negative connotation. At least, that is my experience with matters such as this. I’m glad I went though, the registration fees went toward flood relief in Minot, which is still needed more than most people realize and I met some very fun-loving and festive people. Sure, I got some colored cornstarch up my left nostril and in my mouth, but it was totally worth it.  The enormous waffle that I drowned in peanut butter and syrup also tasted that much better after running 3.1 miles.

MMmmmm. And pretty soon, we won’t even be able to run outside!

If there is one thing I’ve learned this past week–which, as short as our lives are, I hope I’ve learned at least something in seven days’ time–it’s that we get to make our own opinions about events and we owe it to ourselves to give stigmatized matters a chance before we let the overwhelming annoyance of social media ruin potentially worthwhile life experiences. It goes both ways, too. Don’t get your shoes full of dye just so you can post pictures of them. So often, we do things just so that later on we can check them off a list and tell people we’ve already conquered that task, and then we miss out on the actual experience because we are so worried about making it look like we had a good time to others afterward.

I guess what I’m trying to say is,  sometimes we need to slow down and just enjoy every bite of a peanut butter and syrup covered waffle. Just give it a chance, you never know!