Run Forest, Run!!

Ugh, So you know when you have those days where you just don't want to do ANYTHING?! You're upset about a number of things and just can't put down your hang ups? Well that was me yesterday. I woke up kind of crabby and pulled myself out of bed to take out the trash. Because I had figured that is was destined to be a "bad" day, I naturally started to think of all the little things right away that got under my skin. The dishes were piled in my sink from last night's dinner and we were out of dishwasher tablets.... so who do I take it out on?? My innocent boyfriend who was trying to get ready for work. Of course he complained about me being moody and told me to relax - the world won't crumble if we don't have dishwasher tablets for a few hours... and of course I could have hand-washed everything like a normal person, but that was just going to make me more aggravated!

Anyway, after he left, I had remembered that he mentioned to me, I should go for a run. Now, I DESPISE running, but do love to exercise so, after mulling around for a bit feeling bad for myself and freaking out about pointless things, I said, you know what?? I'm going to CHOOSE to have a good day today.

So I put on my running shoes, threw on my iPod and jetted out the door. I started my workout a little shaky... again, I am NOT a good runner, so it was a stop and start battle with the pavement. I got a little discouraged, but then the song "Superfly" came on my playlist. I thought, you know... I guess I'm pretty "fly"... I can do this!

I started to focus in on the positive - take in the surroundings and just enjoy the moment. Before I knew it I was running longer, feeling stronger and my mood was turning from bad to good :-) I ran from one beach town to the next and then decided I would try to actually run on the beach. Now, I had never "run" on the beach before, and immediately got the cheesy image in my mind about those sappy romance movies where lovers run to each other in slow motion with the wind and the sand in their hair... but I went for it anyway. Most of the people on the beach were basting themselves, but there were some serious athletes getting a workout too. Now, I got a little nervous kind of "putting myself" on display for all the sun bathers to witness, thinking that their beautiful view of the ocean would be thwarted by my stop-and-go running adventure, but I said - who cares what anyone thinks if they are actually watching me, I am doing this to better myself!! So I ran..... and ran.... and ran.... it was incredible. Something about running right along the coast is so exhilarating. The rush of the waves  kind of pushes you to go harder... and puts you in a "zen-like" state that allows you to keep going. After a good long workout, I stopped to stretch by the pier of rocks, looked out into the water and thought, "I am so happy".

So soon I returned home, and by boyfriend walked through the door to grab lunch shortly after. He looked down at my feet, saw my sandy sneakers and said "You went for a run, didn't you?!" I went up and gave him a big hug. :-)

So in conclusion, this story has been told for thousands of years, but sometimes you just have to put it out there again and remind yourself - life is never perfect, bad things happen and changes come, but if you wake up and "choose" to be happy and live for that exact moment, you may just experience something new. I got to run on the beach for the first time, and now I've found a little something special to lift my spirits!

~Laura