Running In the Wrong
Place? Different seasons and a few
takeaways!
By Laurie Jackson
4/4/2013
So
I went on a short run today for my morning dose of serotonin and my daily
bread. Today I live in Alaska and
it is empirically spring here! I
had a very well thought out strategy today! I went slightly earlier so I could avoid the thawed out mini
oceans and the muddy mire that threatens to digest my entire shoe, with or
without my foot! This malicious
mud monster enjoys it either way!
As my adrenaline began to pump and life began to course through my body,
I couldn’t help but see the numerous life lessons that awaited me at every
corner!
Number one, when
you are running outdoors, different seasons bring different navigational challenges. This winter, with the help of my good
friends, Dianna and Katie, who encouraged me immensely to overcome the obstacle
of “believing” I would freeze to death if I ran outside at 10 below! I finally did it once just to prove to
myself and my relentless friends that I was sure I would hate it! To my surprise but certainly not
theirs, I realized I had kept myself in a cage the many previous winters and I
was finally free from the fear of 10 below! I loved it! The
sun is crisp and the extra serotonin made winter my friend and not my foe this
year! To my Alaskan friends get
out there, you’ll love it! Spring
is lovely on the other hand. It
was 27 ABOVE zero today! The
navigational challenge of spring is tricky here in Alaska. It’s indeed warmer BUT you MUST keep a
close eye with each step forward.
You cannot deviate from this, as rivets from dried out mud, now frozen,
could cause you to sprain an ankle very easily. There is tons of ice to avoid
that may or may not sink you down two feet under in water. You can never tell how weak or strong
the ice is here in Alaska at this time of year. So the trick is to constantly find a sure place to confidently
put each foot, every single step that you take! This can look and feel like an obstacle course and takes
complete concentration. A positive
attitude would say, “Good! This is developing new muscles and keeping your
brain sharp!” I look like I’m
doing an insanity work out, as I run down the road dodging constant obstacles
of ice, mud and water. This season
will pass and summer running will bring its own rewards and be more meditative,
faster and even warmer without these particular obstacles, but for now, I’m
enjoying this season and getting the most out of it!
Secondly, while I
run, I often wear my sunglasses to help with the wind and sun glare. As my face heats up and I am looking
toward the sun, the evaporation causes my glasses to fog up. Remember, I just
said that in the spring you couldn’t take your eyes off your feet for even one
second! So I reach up and quickly
remove the eyewear, so I can have a clear perspective. This parallel can go really deep, but
lets just say that sometimes in life we have to look at things
differently. When you’re facing
the sun, it’s nice and warm on your face but when you are running and your run
is challenging you, this may cause you to HAVE to remove your former
perspective. Do you get
this?! I’m not going any further
here with this. It can be
difficult to take off a former perspective on things. Especially when my sunglasses cover up my smeared mascara, my
unwashed face and it’s inconvenient to take ‘em off right now while I’m running! This will just take a second as the
condensation lifts off almost immediately and I can place them back on really
soon. Hang in there life will soon make more sense.
Thirdly, when I
go out for a run I often observe two types of drivers. Some drivers move their cars out of my
way and even back up just to let me pass by, as if I’m the queen of
England! I always feel so honored
and I give them thumbs up and sometimes even two thumbs up! Once in awhile I will get drivers that
can’t stand that pedestrians have the ride away, or in this case the run
away. I am generally careful with
traffic patterns and because I am a driver myself, I can think like a
driver. If I see that they can’t
take the turn out because of on coming traffic I will go ahead and use that
moment to cross by. It’s simple,
kind and rational. But to a driver
who hates you for no reason they will either flip you off for thinking you are
a royal heir to the thrown or spin out just to make sure you know how mad they
are at you. I usually say a little
prayer for them because I know what it is like to be angry and sad inside. For the most part I typically see the
drivers that insist on pulling the royal carpet out for me as I pass by! I always feel great on my runs so they
get the reward of thumbs up for what it’s worth.
Finally, in the
spring in Alaska sometimes you have to run in the wrong place or rather an
unlikely or unfortunate place.
Like Moses parting the Red Sea, or Gandolf and or like Jim Carrey, in
his old 80’s movie called the Truman show, where he completely stopped the
traffic, as he was figuring out that something weird was happening. If you live in Alaska, you know that I
am not exaggerating when I say that in the springtime we have some semi
flooding going on. So for a
runner, that refuses to be confined to the treadmill, you have to break the
rules. You will simply have no
other option. There is only one
place I can go and that is in the middle of the road. I’m not talking about a highway, just the back roads. This
will just take a second if the cars would just wait one minute I’ll run even
faster through and then they can have their turn. Today I did just this.
The Red Sea was parted right down the middle. On either side was, no exaggeration, about 3 feet of water
and a thin line in between where an avid runner could quickly sneak
through. Now, these back roads are
not that busy, so there is always a moment that I can squeeze through. Today I went for a run close to or around
the school drop off time. I didn’t
want to cool down too much longer, when I motioned with my hand to an oncoming
car that I was going to take my turn and run through. They seemed to be obliged. Did they have a choice? Nope, I took my royal self, crown and all, in between the
two gulfs of water. I ran faster
and harder to be fair and then motioned some nice gestures, with a smile as I
pointed to the water flow to be sure they understood my reason for running in
the middle of the street. The
take-away here is something that I’ve been going through the last few
years. Sometimes life forces you to
do things that SEEM like you’re on the wrong path. But with the right perspective and understanding you can see
that sometimes you have to run between the two gulfs of water and stop a small
amount of traffic, just for a moment to accomplish what you need to
accomplish. It’s the journey of
life and it brings lots of rewards, challenges, and different navigational
directives, but the run is worth it and makes for a much better day in the
“long Run of life!”
1) In certain
seasons of life you will need to navigate differently and face many
obscure trials and obstacles that are unknown to you. A friend of mine is
Inspiring me every day as she is going through a very difficult trial. A verse
She posted was this
one: Joshua 1:5 God tells us that he will always be with us
And
will never leave us even in the very difficult seasons of our lives. Thank
You Nancy for
showing us all what Love and Faith look like!
2) Take off
your glasses and look at things differently! Sometimes life will force
us to remove our former perspective. Things will fog up! The very simple
answer is to look at things differently
and take off your previous perspective!
your obstacles may put you in a vulnerable
place but you will see clearly and
be able to finish your personal run of
life.
3) You
will have negative and positive people in your life at all times. Your haters and your helpers in
life. How to deal with your
haters. Forgive them! They really
don’t understand what they are doing.
Cling to your helpers for dear life! Give ‘em a thumbs up, no wait, two
thumbs up on your run and thank them profusely!
4) Finally,
sometimes what looks like you are going the wrong direction to some onlookers
may actually be the only way to go and in fact, the right way to go in that
particular season for your own personal run in life! Isaiah 40:41
