So a friend recently started a new blog and it reminded me that I needed to update this one :) I started this blog as a way to outwardly process the internal thoughts that come to me on my training runs. It's been great so far--unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, my next big race isn't until next Spring...and I haven't been running nearly as much. I mean, I run each week--but I also spend time spinning, pilates-ing, and have a new affinity for the gym's rowing machine. As I told her, running makes for a much more interesting blog post than any of these things!
So, I've decided that while the title of this blog is what it is, it doesn't just have to be about running. It can, in fact, be about a variety of of things as I live my life as a young professional constantly moving from commitment to commitment all the while juggling the 9-5, husband, friends, gym, etc.
In fact, this is what I have been dealing with the most lately--"running" in the figurative sense. This quote has spoken to me amidst all the running: "Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." ~Lao Tzu
Sometimes, I think all the juggling and the running around is my way of constantly wanting to have more, be more, do more. As a friend and I were discussing today--our society teaches us that "go go go" is what makes you important, gives you significance, makes you stand out in the crowd. Taking a day just for yourself, to curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee, pajama-clad, catching up on the latest TV show you haven't had time to watch in real time (because of all the go go go aforementioned) is frowned upon. You feel horribly guilty and find yourself adding more to the calendar that next week to somehow make up for it.
And sometimes that me time comes in the form of going out--just for fun. Hanging out with friends, grabbing dinner, drinks, a movie. It can be a stroll through the bookstore, a round of golf, a hike in the woods--activities that have no other purpose than to just be fun.
Today was a day for others, but it was also a day for me. I volunteered with a large group of others at a day of service, and I ended the afternoon reminded of how much getting together with like-minded people who may have nothing more in common than a desire to serve is an amazing thing. It's amazing because I began the day knowing a handful of people and ended it knowing a handful (plus!) more--and what brought us together was a desire to make an impact--TOGETHER.
Our service project really got me thinking. We worked to beautify a community garden in a neighborhood where the neighborhood association is very active and residents regularly invest time in this garden together. The houses built here are on such small lots that several plots of undeveloped land in the neighborhood were transformed into this community space for everyone to share. Heading to lunch with everyone after our project was done, a friend and I began discussing the beauty of community and the community garden concept and how it seemed like such a non-suburban idea.
I mean, I'm not knocking suburbia--I live there. And I love where I live. I really do. But I am keenly aware where I live that this sense of community is so very different. We seem to stick to ourselves, building and earning so that we can get more, be more, have more "stuff." I wonder if that is what drives me to constantly be "on the run" from commitment to commitment without stopping to really think about what I am committing to--like I am in this unspoken competition with myself and the world around me.
So, lately, I am evaluating who I am and what I do--really yearning to make commitments that have meaning, that I can commitment myself wholly to (and not just because I have a hard time saying no). I want to find contentment in just being--in being me and nothing more. I want to find contentment in doing things that help others while also being passionate about those things--again, not just doing them because they fall into the "should" category. That seems to be where true contentment lies--in doing things to experience them, not just because society dictates that they beef up our "life" resume.
And I really feel that community affords us this opportunity--because community brings us beyond ourselves to work together, be together, earn together, live, laugh and love...together.
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