Running has a weird effect on me (well maybe it's not that weird, if you're a runner). But running clears up my life. You go out on that pavement originally with hope of finding/developing strength in your body. But running questions every motive you have (or at least every motive I had). "Why did you want to start running?" "Who thought this was a good idea?" "When did I lose my mind?" I have started to realize that it was more about becoming physically stronger because the moment you tell yourself that you can run a little bit farther, that your legs can run past that visual finish line, is the moment that you decide to make your body reflect how mentally strong you are. (not to say that unfit people aren't mentally strong). When I run, I can't be unorganized. It's a big time commitment to decide that I'm going to run for the day. I have to decide when I'm going to run and plan on eating after that, then showering. Once all that is done, it leaves time left in the day to only work on the necessities. I have to give up less important things in order to fit everything into one day. It gives me priorities. Anything not worth sitting down and working on can be fixed in my head while my feet meet the sidewalk. Only crazy people run just to run. Sane people run to let out anger. Sane people run to feel alive at the end. Sane people run because it's the first time that they're actually running towards something.
Through all this running, that I have recently decided was a good idea for me, I've felt more purpose in my life. Not to say that working out is everything and that improving one's self image is the way to feel fulfilled in life. I'm simply trying to say that when running towards something/someone/some goal, the harder it is to be distracted. Maybe not literally running either. I feel like running can be a mental state because it requires such an intense amount of determination, drive, and understanding/acceptance of the challenge of the journey. I'd rather be running in life than wandering through it because I was too distracted to actually find a goal worth fighting for.
Philippians 3:14: I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
