Saturday, October 24, 2009

It comes in 3's


What a good day!  I am feeling richly blessed and incredibly thankful for so many things, but especially for my body and my health.   My mind is full tonight.  Full of thoughts.  Full of gratitude.  Full of reflection.  Where to start...

In my running life, Saturdays are affectionately referred to as my "long days."  Today was my longest yet.  12 miles.  1 hour, 47 minutes, 55 seconds.   And today was the first day ever that I ran with an iPod.  Strange, I know, since just about everyone in the running world seems to run to music these days.  But I have always loved the silence on the run.  

Time to think. 
Time to reflect.  
Time to free my mind of the world.

But last Saturday as I ran 11, I have to admit that my mind started focusing more on just getting down this street, or just making it to that sign, and the passage of miles was my primary focus.  No longer did I think of life things, kids, to-do's, etc.  Just running.  And it seemed like it took forever.  So this week, I told Barrett that I was thinking of running to music.  She gladly lent me her iPod Nano, and even whipped up a "Mom's Running Mix" for my playlist.  She did a great job.  It kept me rockin the whole run!  Thanks, Barrett.

But anyway, I digress.  While I was on my run, at about mile 8, I rounded the corner just south of the Royal Palms golf course, passing the active senior living complex adjacent to the course.  As I ran by, I saw a very overweight man, maybe in his early 60's or so, sitting on his patio in his dirtied wife beater tank and shorts, smoking smoking smoking away.  I winced as his smoke invaded my air and I sucked in a whiff of the nasty smoke.   The irony struck me vividly as I pressed on, running in strong cadence with lungs full of air, heart rate steady at 150, energized to tread through my final 4 miles.  Oh, how thankful I was to have this body...

Not 2 minutes later, I rounded another corner, heading south on one of the streets just west of MacArthur.  Another older man, this one very fit and well dressed, was doing his best to get down his driveway into his car on crutches.  His left pant leg was cut off at the thigh revealing his missing left leg.  Perhaps a war injury.  Maybe a car accident.  At any rate, the irony again hit me hard as I ran by, powered by my two strong legs.   This time, my eyes teared up and I so wished that that man could feel what I was feeling just then - that runner's "high" that you read about.  Like some force that propels from within the desire to just keep running.  It's like I was on auto pilot.   It was so real and so powerful.  Again, I was immensely grateful for my health.

Then tonight at our adult session of stake conference I had the third very real affirmation that I am so blessed.    As if I didn't know.  The conference was so amazing.  Such great talks.  Such a strong spirit.  Oh, it was just what I needed to hear.  During the rest hymn, we stood and sang.  Two rows in front of us was a young man, probably in his late 20's or early 30's, who was sitting in a wheel chair.  As the hymn started, the other man who apparently accompanied him to the conference, grabbed the arm of his friend, lifting him out of his wheelchair so that he, too, could stand and worship in song.   As he shakily rose to his feet, the man's left arm flared wildly as if he were trying to grasp for an anchor.  Clearly, his weak legs were not accustomed to standing much.  As I watched the friend buoy him up during the song, the emotion swept through me something fierce.  I am even crying again now as I type this remembering how I felt a couple of hours ago.  I couldn't even get through the song.  I think the emotion was a mix of gratitude for the life I have, compassion for the man enduring such a trial, and appreciation for the service his friend was rendering him.  

3 times in one day.  

3 lighting bolts reminding me to be grateful.  

3 opportunities to remember how lucky I am to be strong and healthy.


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