What Are You Running From?

Running to Me

 

 My mother has taken up yoga. This past week she had gone to an instructor training open house as she is thinking of teaching yoga.  While in this open house there was a group discussion,  she was asked what kind of activities she has been doing.  She stated that she was a runner.  The first thing they asked her was "What are you running from?" She was taken back and said "I am not running from anything I run because it reminds me I am alive."  I got the call as soon as she left that experience and she asked me the same question....

Since I have began running regularly this is a question I am regularly asked, but never in this context. It really made me think.... Why do I run?

This goes back to why I started.  For those of you who have been following my blog you know the base of it all.  Last November I lost my Grandmother who was one of my best friends, following that I had a horrific incident that resulted in me losing part of my finger.  This was a painful experience both mentally and physically.  Yes it hurt, the nerve pain was a pain I would not wish upon anyone. I was also struggling with the mental anguish and the anxiety that comes when your physical image is altered. My mom stayed with me for a week after this happened and following that she lost her mother.  Needless to say it wasn't an easy time for anyone. After the funerals once everything was settled and my wounds were physically healed. I dropped into a form of depression that I had never experienced before.  I went to work, ate and slept until one day my mother and I made a change.  My mother, a runner, got me to join her in her daily workout. I was VERY hesitant. I still don't know how she did it but I ran with her. During that run not only did I lose that gut wrenching feeling associated with the horrible past months, this may have been masked by the god awful cramp I had in my side and the fact that breathing was something I actually had to put effort into but I could feel my heartbeat.

I was alive!

I was not running from anything, I was running because somehow completely exhausting myself made me feel alive and more true to myself then I have ever felt.  It also taught me that I am stronger then you think.  I didn't think I could get off the couch to move let alone run for 30 minutes but I did it! I could do it! That is where it all started, I chose the name of my blog "Running mt Own Life" because of this.  Running brought me back to life!

When things get tough it is so easy to quit. Running has shown me that when you don't give up it's worth it! Believing in yourself is one of the most powerful things you can do.  You are capable so much more then you could even imagine!

So next time someone asks me What am I running from I will tell them I am not running from anything.. I am running to me!

I would love to hear about other peoples journey's. Why do you run?