No joke, as I type this there is a dangerous fugitive loose in our area. There was also a meteor that hit an area of Russia and injured (at last count) at least 800 people. My three boys are all in different stages of adolescence and are dealing with middle school horror, learning to drive (oh, and causing damage to my vehicle in the process – UGH!) and we are in the midst of re-constructing our house after our hot water heater exploded (while we were out of town running a marathon).
Life (not just mine, yours too) is filled with stress, uncertainty, calamity and unrest. Tis too true that man is born into adversity. I am very grateful to know that there is a God that is in control. It keeps me centered. And I am VERY grateful that I can run. Because it keeps me sane.
People start conversations with me with great frequency with this statement “I HATE to run. I so admire you for doing that.” As if I’m some sort of ultra-disciplined super human. I usually just say something like “well, you know, it’s only a problem when my cape is in the cleaners. I’d love to chat but I have to go juice some spinach and foam roll my calves.” (not really)
I don’t know if I should tell them (or if they’d even understand) that I don’t run because I have super human discipline and an iron will. I don’t run because it keeps me a size 6 (or maybe because we’re not that far from the holidays a size 8). I run because if I don’t, and I am not exaggerating here, I feel nutsy bo bo crazy insane. My life, my emotions, my spirit get all wonky and out of balance. Stress gets the better of me and (no lie) my baffling to my doctor auto-immunte response (where my hands ache and my lymph nodes all swell) flares up.
If I couldn’t run, I could do something else – I could swim, I could hike, I could bike. The point is not the running. The point is that humans were made to be physically active. That seems like a blaringly obvious statement and yet we sit in front of our computer monitors or on our phones inside all day, Vitamin D deficient and depressed, and drive to our doctor asking why we feel blue. And he prescribes medication. And we start the cycle all over again.
For some of us, medication is an important part of healing but I truly believe that far too many Americans are sick in their body, soul and mind and spend billions of dollars each year on pills to solve the issue when 30 minutes a day of fresh air and moving our limbs would cure much of what ails us. I wish all doctors would say to their patients what mine said to me 5 years ago “I think you have mild depression. But before I prescribe something, I want you to exercise five times a week for 2 weeks and see what happens.” (my friend, Heather, as it turns out, had said the exact same thing to me so I took it as a sign). I did it. It was free. It changed my life.
This scene from Wall-E illustrates the point well (and who doesn’t think a clip from a Pixar movie is a good idea?)
As a pastor, I meet with people almost daily who are stressed, discouraged, unhealthy and unhappy. They love God, they love their families – they just can’t seem to feel balanced. I’m not saying exercise is the cure for all of it (that would be naive) but you know what? Start there! See what happens! Your problems aren’t going to magically disappear but you may find yourself with a new sense of clarity on how to fix them that watching re-runs of House just isn’t going to give you. And even better? Try spending some time with God during that time. My favorite prayers are the ones I’ve offered up while moving the miraculous body that God gave me.
God loves you. He made you to move. Get out there and do it!
Happy Running!
Jen