The icy Thanksgiving rain poured all over me. With the rain came a calmness and a quietness that I was embracing before the house got busy with family and laughter and love. The cold rain dripped from my face and sloshed from my shoes with every step. It became clear, not long into the run, that I did not have enough layers on, however I am not sure that extra layers would have made a difference anyway. There were no cars and I found myself running down the middle of the road.
As I ran, I got to thinking. This run was much like the journey of life. Sometimes, we find ourselves all alone out in the cold and fairly uncomfortable. In those moments we get a couple of choices. We can let those moments ruin us or we can embrace them. I could focus on the fact that I was cold and my skin felt numb and how uncomfortable that was, or I could embrace it. I know that may sound odd but I really did embrace it. I sat in the feeling of my fingers burning and stinging because I knew that it wouldn’t last long. I sat in the sensation of my toe aching and throbbing because I knew before long I would be toasty warm and dancing on them in my kitchen while cooking. I could feel alone, having not seen a car or another person exercising in 3 miles. Or I could revel in the silence and peace that came with being alone as I knew that my house would be filled with people and noise in just a matter of hours.
As I rounded the corner that turned into my driveway I could almost feel the warm shower, the heat of the home, the smell of the food, the laughter from people whom I love, the compassion and love that would be thrown at me from multiple people. What I couldn’t feel was the uncomfortableness of the icy november rain, mostly because I wasn’t focusing on it.
So, if you find yourself running in the icy november rain, feel free to embrace those feelings because they are real, but also realize that they are short lived and your Thanksgiving bounty will be served shortly.
