Welcome! I hope you enjoyed last week’s gorgeous weather. What a gift from God! My walks were especially beautiful and refreshing because of the sunshine and warm breeze.
My long-term readers might remember I love blue chicory, a wildflower that grows on road berms. It’s so pretty. These flowers are hardy as they come. They bloom from June through at least October, or until we have a couple hard frosts.
As I’ve written in the past, they inspire me to keep going when life gets tough. And I thank God for their beauty and longevity.
As you know, I’m an avid walker. It’s a huge part of my lifestyle. I walk every day. Over the past year, though, I’ve started running. It began with little sprints. I’d run from one telephone pole to the next on my walking route.
Then it became two poles’ distance. Then three. And one day I realized I’d run four and a half miles of my five-mile walk. I kept running. I loved it.
But running’s altogether different from walking. Over the past six years, since I started walking in earnest, I’ve never been injured walking. Well…once I did stumble down a step while on my way to a gym to walk, and I needed to have my chiropractor adjust my metatarsals. A day or two’s rest was all I needed and I was literally back on my feet.
But since I started running in late spring, I’ve had painful shin splints in my right leg and pulled a muscle in my left leg. Bummer! The pulled muscle is still healing, three weeks after the injury occurred.
A good adjustment from my chiropractor, warm compresses, and walking half my usual distance has gone a long way toward recovering. But I’ve decided it’d be wise to interval walk and run, rather than exclusively running, from now on.
As much as I love the endorphin rush, as much as I love shaving 14 to 16 minutes off my walking time, and as much as I love the thrill of knowing I could run five miles at a pace of 9.16 minutes per mile, the injuries convinced me it’s time to rein it in a little.
I’ve come to appreciate the ability to walk more than the achievement of running over the past few weeks.
It’s one thing to think, Yeah, I’m glad I can walk. But sometimes I view it as more of a task than a joy. Not anymore. Now I’m so grateful to God I can walk without pain.
Why do we have to lose something to really appreciate it? I guess it’s part of the human condition. Walking’s no longer something I have to do to maintain my health, or something to check off my to-do list. Now I see it as a privilege.
What’s become a chore in your life that you could view as a pleasure if you reversed your thinking?
I’m sure you’ll feel happier if you say to yourself, “I’m so thankful I can” instead of “I’ve got to.”
I know I’m happier now that I appreciate the ability to walk rather than the challenge of a run. I’m sure you will, too, once you flip your thinking.
``Adamsville Presbyterian Chu-rch is hosting a Thanksgiving Eve service on November 25, 2020, at 7 p.m. The service will also be livestreamed on Facebook. Food and monetary donations for the Jamestown Food Pantry will be accepted.
``Atlantic Community Church is having a Thanksgiving service at 7 p.m. on November 22, 2020. They will have the Hanging of the Greens at 10 a.m. on November 28, 2020, and Naomi Hosek, a missionary serving in Turkey from The Evangelical Alliance Mission, will speak during worship service on November 29, 2020.
Have a wonderful week! Blessings!