Freedom ain’t free.
Something needs to be said I think about the joy of running.
The simple pleasure of moving forward and knowing that you are going somewhere – even if that somewhere really is nowhere.
The synchronicity that occurs when mind and body come to realize that they rely on each other to complete the simplest of tasks. One step after another we come to recognize within ourselves the power we have over the present moment, the push and the drive that we possess when faced with the reality of pain and fatigue. Pressure to quit. And overwhelming desire to stop. To rest. To say no more, I am done …
There are lessons to be learned from the fight to move forward.
But I also think that there is a lesson to be learned from understanding why it is that we fight to move forward in the first place – why it is that we run.
I run because I can, or so it is believed.
Nevertheless, the reality is that I run because I feel like I am always being chased.
We run because not only is there something to be said about the act of running itself, but also because there is something even greater to be said about the desire to be free “from” something that is behind us. We run because running away feels strangely the same as running to. The importance lies in becoming aware of our running and knowing that we can never be truly free “from” what we are running from if we never take the time to find out what it is that we are running for and/or where we are actually running to.
Therein lies the key to finding freedom within the feeling.
When the fight to move forward becomes more than just a fight to become better than who we were, to get away from the negative thoughts, actions, and feelings of our past. An escape. We run to escape, but the escape should not become a means to itself when there is more to the feeling than regret, fear, and longing. There is desire. Hope. Vision. What it is that we see before us is the road in front of us. Behind us is the road that we have conquered. Let not the trail we have made drive the paths we choose to take.
Close your eyes and let yourself wander. Wonder.
May your imagination inspire you towards building a better tomorrow.
