Running has taken me in, and continues to comfort, heal and challenge me in all kinds of magical ways. I am not a ‘good runner’ because I am me. I am a good ‘me’ because I am a runner.
Parents walk a fine line between discipline and grace – values have to hold even when circumstances change or call for compromise or compassion. It’s the ultimate challenge to be both firm and fluid, soft and strong, yielding yet rock solid.
I never imagined that divorce would be part of my life history or my family’s legacy. When people say that divorce can be more painful than death, I understand why. But like any great trial, God uses everything for good, if we allow Him to heal us.
We can thank God for everything good, and all the rest we don’t comprehend yet.
Thank God for running. It is the ultimate detox for me, whether my poison is bubbles, a foul mood, or a bad attitude. If I combat inertia, get out, and get moving, eventually every kind of toxin works its way out.
Life is too sweet and too short to express our affection with just our thumbs. Touch is meant for more than a keyboard.
Disappointment is a sticky one, because no one can steal contentment, joy, gratitude, or peace – we have to give it away...
I love the big fresh starts, the clean slates like birthdays and new years, but I also really like the idea that we can get up every morning and start over.
The best thing to do when you find yourself in a hurting or vulnerable place is to surround yourself with the strongest, finest, most positive people you know.
Typically creative people are usually not clock-slaves or list-makers, so the idea of enforcing goals and deadlines can be somewhat daunting.
Take care of yourself. Eat well, rest, train hard and smart, make time to think and breathe. Be intentional with your time.
I think I run my strongest when I run with joy, with gratitude, with focus, with grace.
Whatever you may be missing right now – a person, a place, a feeling, maybe you are injured and missing running – whatever it is, have peace and take heart – remember that any goodbye makes room for a hello.
I love the thought of not knowing how things will turn out but the willingness to invest anyway.
Sweat has the power to end a pity party in such a way that even the hostess is happy.
I avoid the carwash when I think it might rain anytime in the near future, which means I drive around the majority of the time in a pollen and bird poop covered car. This presents a stand off between Neat Freakshow and Practical Pennypincher, and Neat Freak usually triumphs. And then it rains.
We either live with intention or exist by default.
Perhaps love’s greatest gift – that it is indeed unconditional – is also its greatest curse.
That’s what our training is for, we practice not panicking, we practice breathing, we practice looking directly at the thing that scares us until we stop flinching, we practice overriding our Can’t.
To me, there is no greater way to achieve clarity than to run alone, or share miles with a trusted friend.
Running is a grownup’s lost link to playing outside.