A Gentler Way

I used to go for a run and strap on my GPS so I could track my distance and time.

It felt like work.

I’d take off running and every minute or so glance down at my GPS to monitor my pace.

My internal voice would shout, “Speed up! This isn’t even exercise! Nine-minute miles?? You’re 33! Get moving!!! You’ll never be ready for that race! Not at this rate!”

I’d push and push and push.

And sometimes, at the end of a long run when I was sweaty and hot and my legs shimmied like Jell-O, I’d think, “Yeah! That felt great!!!” Then I’d tend to my blisters or the chafing under my arms.

I lived a long time behaving like that in almost EVERY aspect of my life.

More, More, MORE!!!

But…

I’m learning a different way.

A gentler way.

And these days when I go for a run, I put on a hat to protect my face from the sun and set out along the same old path with my favorite songs in my ears.

Sometimes I run, and the sweat drips down from my elbows. My lungs burn, and my legs feel strong.

But then, whenever I feel like it, I slow to a walk.

I wave at the other runners when they pass. I use doggie-talk to dogs and stop to let my hand get a little slobbery. I marvel at chubby baby legs sticking out of strollers. And I notice the first weeds poking through the cracks in the brown landscape after winter because, really, they are Spring’s first flowers. Yellow. And purple.

It feels like a gift.

And I’m realizing this is how I want to live the rest of my days.

Listening to my body. Moving her and feeding her and caring for her. Stopping whenever I need a rest. Noticing other people and flowers and blue skies and sunshine and dogs. And just marveling at the world.

These days, I don’t have the need for GPS trackers…

I’m too busy soaking up LIFE.