This past week I had a few things happen that made me think about just how blessed I have been to accomplish what I have in my life! If you are unfamiliar with my past then that comment may come as a bit surprising, if you know where I've been and what I've done then you completely understand it. It all started when I shared my story of my alcoholism and the wreck that nearly killed me with a stranger. As I shared some of the details of the events with her she was brought to tears and said that it was too moving of a story for her to hide her emotions. Naturally I was in tears by this point, cause I'm a bit of a crier, and as this lady left I began to understand again just how thankful I am that God has given me another chance at this life on Earth! It has been nearly 12 years since that accident and although I have some lingering physical effects that I continue to deal with, they are very minor and it is easy for me to almost forget about what could have been.
I have been running now for about five or six years, mostly recreational runs to try to stay in somewhat decent shape because as it turns out my steady diet of anything containing sugar started to slowly catch up with me when I turned 30! I have run a few 5k's with Jill and a couple fun runs for the Diabetes Association and Susan G. Komen, but nothing longer than Bloomsday here in Spokane which is somewhere around a 10k. So when Jill proposed earlier this year that we run a half marathon together I initially thought she was nuts! But I agreed to do one with her as long as we trained together so we could help push each other into condition for it and we signed up for the Missoula Half Marathon. I figured if I'm going to do one might as well be in the town in which my soul resides:) So we trained for about three months and ran it yesterday on a beautiful day in a great little city. While we were running it I was shocked at how "Missoulian" this event is! At about the 3 mile mark there was a man wearing a tuxedo playing a grand piano in his yard cheering us on, as we crossed the McKlay bridge there were a couple of spectators rooting us on with their husky dogs, by the time we reached the university district there was 90's rap and classical music being played on the same block, and just when I thought we'd witnessed enough cultural commingling for the day at about the 12 mile mark we were passed by a guy signing Katy Perry's Roar as though he was the only one around. The whole day I was amazed at just how much the entire community of Missoula has fully embraced this event and put their own stamp on it. As we turned onto Higgins to head over the bridge and cross the finish line the sides of the road were lined with people cheering on strangers, coaxing us to push it to the finish line! Once across the line we were adorned with our huge medals and as we cooled down with water and snacks I felt like an Olympian!!
Finishing this race was an extremely gratifying experience that was only made better by the fact that I got to share it with my sister. We ran the entire race side by side so we could help each other stay at the pace we needed to, and at about the 7 mile mark I told Jill if I finish this thing it might be one of my prouder moments in life. She asked why and I told her about sharing my story with that lady who had not known it and I explained to Jill how it gave me a reminder of how lucky I am to even be able to run, let alone run a half marathon! It sometimes slips my mind that more than one doctor had told me that I might not ever walk again! Because of the fact that my day to day life has really not been affected that much, I often forget how staggering my chances were of doing the things in this life that I love to do without having to clear a major obstacle first. As I pounded the pavement yesterday working my way to the finish line I couldn't help but feel completely blessed to be able to take each step! It may be surprising but even I need a reminder sometimes of how blessed I am and how lucky I am to be doing the things that I do. I can only hope that I never stop taking advantage of my fortunes and never stop experiencing this life to fullest!!
Remember, sometimes all of us need a brief wake up call to remind us of the things that really matter in life!
No comments:
Post a Comment