"Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing"

I just recently picked up running, now that my head is not buried in books til 3 in the morning at the oh so dreaded math emporium. I have started a training program, which I feel cheesy for saying because when I think of the word “training” I think of people that are actually in shape and intense. Regardless, I have been supposedly “training” for the past couple days, but I have been ignoring the days of walking or resting. I figured walking is for lazy people, I’ll run everyday.

Well needless to say, my spine feels like it is going to stab through my rump (sorry for the visual image) when I sit. I went for my run this afternoon and the pain was not the “feel the burn” exercise pain but it felt like my spine was going to crumble and my legs were going to burst. With that, I finally stopped and just simply walked. As people ran by and bikers whizzed passed, my ego was bruised a little bit.

However, I started to look around at my surroundings. The baby foals were out in the freshly cut pasture with my their momma horsies. The sun was setting behind the old wooden barns, so I stopped on the side of the path and just took it all in. Now instead of wishing I was buff, rough, and tough enough to be running with ease, I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera along. I cannot describe, especially since I am by no means a writer, how stinking beautiful it was.

I even did the unimaginable—I took out my ipod earbuds and LISTENED. I listened to the birds singing, the wind through the trees, and the water in the creek passing through town. I love the smell of freshly cut grass that makes my nose tickle, and reminds me of home, and I absolutely love the smell of honeysuckles. It took me back to a particular summer night out at Susie Stebners house, when we would break off the stem and lick the small drop of nectar from the honeysuckles.

Now as every perfect moment has a secret moral and meaning to it—this is what I found. We live in this busy society that is boosted off of Red Bull and Starbucks. I think of the mothers that run around to soccer games, work, clean the house, make dinner, and attend school meetings. I think of students, who work, intern, go to school, study, and are active in many extracurricular activities. I think of couples who forget to spend time together, because life has them in a whirlwind. Now that I look at this running training program, it requires that you stop the insanity and the pushing through, and simply walk and rest. We all need to let our bodies rest, and not let the beautiful things in life pass us by as we are running around too fast to notice. So put down your double shot of espresso ice latte, and stop and smell the roses (or honeysuckles if you may).