Yesterday, I finally got to get out and run on an ice and snow-free road for the first time all year. It was also a few degrees above 50 (F) which never hurts. Right around 50 with sun and no wind is what I consider perfect running conditions. It also helps if your body feels good. I did the two-a-day workout again yesterday but took it easy at lunch and saved myself for the run.
Boy, was it worth it.
I had to talk myself into a slower pace than normal because though I want to go all out, I don’t want to ruin all the physical therapy and weight lifting work I’ve done. At least not yet. It was good to soak up some sun and just take in whatever was around me, though. I ran a route I’ve run at least a hundred times before but I noticed some things I hadn’t before, too. The way the sun hit a certain window on the back of a house. The way the trail curved up the hill, the shadows of the tall trees framing the path. It was all very peaceful, like after all this up and down, I’d finally been allowed a calm, comfortable few miles.
The other day, Bre posted about a little ritual she has of reminding herself of what she’s thankful for at the end of the day. I thought of this on my run yesterday and was nearly overwhelmed at the list I could make, and I’m someone who usually is grateful on a daily basis. A friend of mine, in fact, told me just the other day that if someone gave me a box of crap for my birthday, I’d dig through it looking for the Pony. Mostly, that’s true. But on this run yesterday, I was reminded of just how many ponies I really do have.
Sometimes I can get so caught up in things not going as planned or even as hoped. I lose sight of all that I’ve accomplished because I’m already moving on to what’s next. I start acting like things that happen as well as things I make happen are just pieces of a puzzle when, really, I think they are the puzzle. I catch myself in thoughts like will I ever do this or that when really, if I were to look back on the years, I’m already doing what I used to wonder about. It’s not the dreams that aren’t coming true, it’s me constantly changing them that’s the trouble. I think there’s a balance there, though. I will always want better, want more, but I am reminded to take the time to want what I’ve got, too. Maybe, if we take those moments and take an inventory of what we really have, we are better suited for what’s to come. Don’t stop dreaming, of course, but also, stop long enough to realize that those dreams might be right now.