Inspiration

Inspiration comes in many packages. I often find little nuggets of wisdom amongst the pages of Runner's World magazine. (Right now, this is probably my favorite magazine. It's not just a pile of ads and all of the articles are useful!) I received the newest issue of RW earlier this week, but saved it for my flight to Pittsburgh. I found some wonderful exercises, some great advice that I could pass on to fellow runners with some injuries, but what really moved me were the articles about 9/11. Now, yes, articles concerning 9/11 are always heartfelt and moving. They really make you appreciate life in a whole new way. I was "lucky" and on that day I didn't actually KNOW anyone who was lost. I was in college at the time and didn't quite understand the enormity of the situation. I didn't live in NYC and see the horrors of that day firsthand. But as the years have passed, I've seen what life has become for those of us who lived through it and see what the future could bring because of it. I'm not in the military, but know that far too many people have given their lives to fight for our freedom. I can't honestly comprehend what that kind of sacrifice is, but I do my best to appreciate it.

In RW, they have a section of articles about how people used running to cope with such an unimaginable tragedy. The woman who lived a few blocks from the towers and literally ran for her life, being thrown onto a ferry to NJ, the man who lost his Army serviceman cousin in the efforts following 9/11, the woman who felt she needed to do something and joined the Army herself, the former New Yorker who returned to run the NYC Marathon in 2001, the firefighter in Denver who along with 342 other firemen do the Denver Metro Firefighter's 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, and finally a Flight 93 widow. Incredibly moving stories, and as I was reading them, there I was...fighting back tears on the plane. For these folks, running is a sort of solace, they feel closer to their lost loved ones, or it's a form of therapy for them.

I can only relate to it being a form of therapy, but for my seemingly mundane problems. I used to think of exercise as pure torture. I avoided it like the plague and forced my body to endure years of stress for no reason other than pure laziness. I have turned a corner and not only enjoy it, but look forward to it, and even as I am "suffering", at times, I've started to appreciate what my body can actually do, not what it can't do. And after reading those articles and being reminded of what a real tragedy is, be it manmade or a natural disaster, I am extremely lucky. Sure, I might have a job that I'm not happy with, and sure, there's things that I'd like to change about myself, but overall, life is good.

Life is good.

RW and Women's Health and all of those health magazines are always touting the benefits of having a mantra to keep you going when the going gets tough. Maybe mine should be "life is good". I have to continually remind myself that even though things might not be what I want them to be RIGHT NOW, I have a lot of goodness in my life, in the form of friends, family, music, etc. I should feel lucky to have the time to better myself. I have a lot of support and have people who are my cheerleaders. I am lucky.

Sometimes a little perspective is all that is needed to right the ship...