Happier

Every morning during the week Jacob goes to Seminary.  Seminary starts at 6:40 in the morning.  His bus shows up at 7:30 to pick him up from the church and take him to school.

I go for my morning walk at this time so that I can stay close to the church in case there's a problem (none so far).  While I'm on this walk, I see this woman that is crazy skinny out doing her morning run.  She is wearing sunglasses (at 6:45 in the morning) and has the most painful expression on her face.  She is totally not friendly (I've said "hi" a lot of days but she ignores me) and just oozes misery.

What's ironic to me is that I USED to be THAT woman!  I absolutely hated running (I can finally admit that) but was completely addicted to the "high" that came from pushing myself every single day of my crazy life.  I ran and ran and ran for years.  I beat my body up, pushed myself beyond what I ever thought I could and got up and did it again the next day.  I went through massive quantities of running shoes and Advil and spent countless days in absolute crazy pain working through injury after injury.

January this year changed all that.  Yoga changed all that.  I got hurt in yoga (I know . . . . who does that?  Right?).  My ego got the best of me and I pushed myself in a pose that I should have backed off of.  Damn it!  My knee is now a fragile piece of equipment that I just have decided to respect and not mess with.  After lots of ice, herbs and TLC, I can now walk without pain.

I actually look forward to my morning walks.  It's one of the motivating elements that pushes my sorry bum out of bed each morning.  I love the way I feel.  I love how I get to spend time with my thoughts or even practicing my walking meditation.  I love the people I encounter and get to greet.  I love seeing my new friend, the miserable runner, and challenging myself to make her smile.

However, looking at my friend each morning is a firm testimony to me of what I don't miss about being a runner!