Unwanted Gifts Are Sometimes Necessary

One of the very positive things the pandemic has "given" me is a lot of time to sit and think. Those who know me might well believe that for me this is not a positive as I already think too much. Thinking instead of feeling and doing.

Sometimes, if we allow it, sitting and waiting is like running a marathon. What???

Seemingly eons ago, when my older two children were my only children, the city of Columbia, MO, hosted a 10K marathon. I decided I wanted a t-shirt, so, for no better reason than that, I started training. I had not done any serious running since high school, and I was not in shape.

Using the car, I measured off a couple of routes from our home in the southern part of Columbia and started to run (jog, really) those routes. Each was around 2.5 to 5K as I recall.

Both of them kicked my ass, but over a few weeks, I could see progress. But... the race was coming up and I had not yet run anywhere close to 10K.

On the day of the race, I started out fine and knew I needed to pace myself. Still, when I hit the 5 or 6K mark (5K was the most I had ever finished), I was totally exhausted. And the hardest part of the run was yet to come. Those who know Columbia know Stadium Blvd. The race's route took us up the hill from the MKT trail to Farout Field.

When I started up that hill, I wanted nothing more than to quit. But, after a few steps, I hit what many runners know as "the wall". I had heard of it but had never experienced it. I had never experienced it because I had never pushed myself. I had always given up. This day I did not give up even though I had desperately wanted to.

So, what is "the wall"? As best I can describe it, it is a sensation of surrendering to the moment. You have no thought of anything - and I do mean ANYTHING - other than putting one foot in front of the other. No thirst, no pain, no thoughts of other places you'd rather be. Nothing more than moving one foot and then the other foot constantly forward.

Truth be told, the pace of my "running" at that point was probably slower than I normally walk. I know that I was one of the last to finish, but I DID NOT CARE. At that point, I had done what I did not think I could do. I got my souvenir t-shirt, but what I had EARNED and LEARNED was much more important.

This pandemic and the quarantine that we are all suffering through, in one way or another, will pass. Put one foot in front of the other, even if it is only to walk from your living room to the kitchen or bedroom. Keep moving. Keep breathing. Keep loving all the people in your life and hold them in your heart. Look at your life and the world around you.

What can you do to make your life and the world better? How can you begin? You begin by daily practice to develop the habits - exercise, food, clear and positive thoughts - that will get you to places you never believed you could reach. One foot in front of the other.