Author: Summer Sorensen
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Crush Excuses: A Story and Challenge
Can you think of an excuse(s) you’re making to prevent you from pursuing something you know you should do? Something that will help with your health or fitness? A move that will advance your career or extend an olive branch to a strained relationship? A problem you need to solve, but you’ve been putting it…
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13th Wedding Anniversary: Perception vs. Reality
October 1, 2023 marked 13 years of marriage to Michael David Sorensen. An amusing story I recall from my 20s is what sets up the context for “13th Wedding Anniversary: Perception vs. Reality.” In this post, I’ll briefly share an amusing story about a flawed perception I gained before marriage, how things have actually turned…
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How to Deal with Stress as a Christian
To stress is to be human. But as Christians, do we deal with it differently than others? Let’s talk about how to deal with stress as a Christian. In the next few paragraphs, I’m going to: Provide a simple yet often overlooked answer Give more context to its power Opine about how we often neglect…
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Loose Lips Sink More Than Ships: The Eternal Consequences of Our Words
How often do you think about the consequences of your words, either for good or bad? If you’re like me, it needs to be more often. “Loose lips sink ships,” we’ve been told. We carelessly let our words fly, without considering how they affect others. That in itself is a weighty subject worth careful examination.…
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Sunshine, Swimming and Summits: Why I Prioritize Outdoor Escapes in the Summer Months
Let’s talk about summer weekend priorities. One of the things I treasure most in this life is warm, sunny weather. One of the other things is being outside in said weather, enjoying my many recreational hobbies: swimming, hiking, cycling, running, kayaking, camping and the like. When you combine those two, that equals the summertime as…
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My Introversion Is In Danger
What would you think if I told you my introversion is in danger? Would you wonder what in the world I meant by that? It is, kind of. And I will. It all started at the beginning of this year. I took on a writing contract unlike any I’d ever done before. With a strong…
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On breaking a certain running dry spell …
We’re all fighting our own battles. One of mine was putting off doing a 5-mile run, to the end of the trail by my house. I’ve done it countless times, but I started slacking this spring. Over the winter, I was putting a lot of gusto into training for the 7-mile trail run I did…
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My Trail Running Story
Here is my trail-running story in all its (non) glory. I’ll recount the most recent event and its lead-up, and end with some rah-rah takeaways for all of us pursuing a goal. March 5, 2023. That day marked a fulfillment of a goal deferred for my budding trail running “career.” It was that, but it…
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Digital vs paper: which is the best way to take notes?
For the last several years, I’ve had this internal debate about digital vs paper: which is the best way to take notes and keep records? For my video-loving friends, you can watch this content instead, here: Digital, of course, means keeping notes on an electronic device such as a phone or computer. Paper is self-explanatory.…
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My Goals as a Story: My 2023 Goal Story
“What the heck is a goal story?” you might be asking. As an example, this post will share my “goal story” with you. If you’d rather watch the video version of this, voila. Otherwise, please keep reading! But first, some context. I was scrolling to the bottom of my Google Drive to find a…
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2022 Year in Review
Do you do an end-of-year review to evaluate how you did against your goals (if you set them)? I do, and I am sharing them with you as a means to be transparent, learn from what transpired, and make an action plan to continue improving in 2023. Without further ado, my 2022 year in review.…
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A Tribute to Introverts on World Introvert Day
As a marketer, I constantly browse sites like National Day Calendar to develop marketing content themes. So imagine my surprise and delight when I, an introvert, learned that January 2nd is “World Introvert Day!” World Introvert Day? What kind of wonderfulness is this? It seemed like the perfect opportunity to write a short tribute to…
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Should is a Four-Letter Word
Here is a bold assertion: should is a four-letter word. Not technically, of course. I am literate and aware that there are six letters in it. Allow me to explain briefly what I mean. In polite society, the “four-letter word” refers to the naughtiest words among those raised with strict rules of conduct. I won’t…
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On The Christmas Spirit for Christians
Finding and feeling the Christmas spirit is something that I struggle with and have written about several times over the years. This year is no different. I find that I get the greatest clarity from my jumbled thoughts when I sit down to write. So this is my way of processing it together with you.…
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6 Ways to Achieve Goals Faster
How do you achieve goals faster and avoid getting derailed? If you find yourself getting derailed from productivity, or your goals when the motivation is gone, keep reading. Or, if you’d rather watch this content as a video, I’ve recorded it here. This can be applied to anything that needs to get done: work, relationships,…
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4 Unusual Things I’m Grateful For
The month of November in the United States is “National Gratitude Month“, and an opportunity ripe for people to rightfully declare the standard things that fill their hearts with gratitude: family, friends, shelter, love, pets, etc, etc. This is not that post. Instead, I will deviate from convention and hail some odd and vulnerable things…
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On The Power of Curiosity
“It’s a Saturday night at a tropical beach in paradise; what are the odds we’ll be able to find a hotel room?” That was the question my husband Mike and I pondered after “stumbling upon” the most magical beach in Queensland, Australia, where we had spent the afternoon swimming in the gentle turquoise waves. This…
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How to Prepare for the Coming Diesel Shortage
This post on how to prepare for the coming diesel shortage is a major deviation from my normal range of topics. I rarely write about current events. But this feels important enough to write about. The US Energy Information Administration announced recently that the United States’ supply of diesel fuel is not only at critically…
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An Organizational Plan To Get Those Neglected Things Done
Do you ever wish you could get your organizational plan dialed in? Or use your time more effectively? I do. I think about it a lot, and I write about it a fair amount too. I devised this organizational plan to get those neglected things done. If you’d rather watch this content, view here: …
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On Competing Against Yourself: A Runner’s Confession
If you’d rather watch this content on YouTube: The subtitle of this article is: Don’t worry about the fast girls. There’s a story behind that and a broader application to non-runners, both of which I’ll share below. As a runner out there for my fitness, I must constantly remind myself that my main competition is…