They say that happiness is contagious, that good energy spreads like the best virus possible, and being around people who are happy and positive is highly likely to rub off on others. I firmly believe this. Having just spent a weekend with a group of girls, most of whom I hardly know and some of whom I met for the first time, I truly believe that happiness, positive energy, and active lifestyles are absolutely contagious and I hope to help spread it around even more. Each girl (and really, we’re all women young at heart) was awesome and I could easily spend every weekend with that same group.

At one point we were all sitting around a dinner table and from one end of the table to the other the conversation was centered on being active. We were talking about marathons, training, running for the first time, triathlons, wetsuits, eating well, getting through life’s milestones in healthy ways, trying new things, and rewarding ourselves with travel, good friends, chocolate, and a nice glass of wine. True to how this blog began, everyone has hit their various hurdles and figured out how to move on, and it was inspiring to hear others talk about what they’ve achieved.

There is no better way to stay motivated than to hear the excitement in someone else’s voice as they talk about going for a run, or a swim, or a walk, or completing an enormous project all on their own. We were all together to celebrate my sister-in-law’s bachelorette weekend and in between the celebrating we were kayking, biking, picnicing, baking, and playing games. I also think we were extremely tuned into each other because we recognized that in a group of people relatively new to each other there was a huge opportunity to learn new things and absorb the “active lifestyle virus” from the diverse group of girls.

I know I feel infected and I’m grateful to have caught this bug!