Running the Human Race

Are you sensing changes you can't quite put your finger on?  Do old issues marked 'resolved' recycle back into awareness or new insights emerge from out of 'nowhere'?  Is your body revealing new symptoms- and remedies- for whatever ails you?  Can you push your limits into limitless potential with an unexpected ease?  Welcome to The Shift.

In South Florida,  winter is race season:  our mild temps allow runners from all over to enjoy balmy (and sometimes too warm) conditions,  and Sunday's Miami marathon was no different.  Last year, running the half,  I fought fatigue and inclement conditions just to participate in the 10th anniversary of the race.  This year,  I did not enter, but decided to 'run my own race' in homage.

Scheduling gave me an opening to run Saturday morning, which turned out to be a longer 8+ miler,  determined to take full advantage of the beautiful weather and stay out on the roads.  Cruising through the quiet back streets, it felt at times like I'd  found my 'cats paws',  that lightness in gait great runners boast about;  a rhythm that gives a lift to every footfall and feels as if I am skimming the earth, buoyant and synced between molecules inside my body as they resonate with those outside...

If I do a long Beach Run I am running a half-marathon more or less;  so Sunday I headed east into the clear morning to be in solidarity with Miami.  Nodding to the other runners,  making way for the bikers, walkers,  catching the sun on my shoulders,  on the ocean,  reflecting off my eyes....

...and again, finding those cats paws and the lightness embedded in the rhythm of what feels like the endless rotation of my steps,  ditching the main drag for back alleys, side streets,  watching the sleepy neighborhoods come awake.  Finding Beauty around every corner....

I don't miss the crush of traffic, crowds in the starting lines,  or pressure to succeed.  I have had to change my relationship to running to encompass other factors,  and I'm proud to say I am consistent- and healthy!- even if the 'uber-runner' in my head has not yet materialized.  YET. 

We are all running the Human Race.  We strive to 'keep up' with the crowd,  jockeying for position,  scoping out our way forward,  trying to handle the aches, pains and fatigue that comes with staying on our feet.   Many of us succumb to problems along the way, sidelined by injury, accident,  exhaustion, so many circumstances beyond our control.   Sometimes, we lose heart,  or purpose.  We wander off course into side trails which become brambles or rock-walls,  or stumble into beautiful gardens where we distract ourselves, hidden from view.  We become lazy.  Why do we run to begin with?  Whats the point?  All that effort just to get...where?   Soon we have talked ourselves out of our own lives.

It is human nature to find ourselves deep in the labyrinth of the psyche.  Good intentions get lost in the process of our own 'entrainment',  where we forget the purpose of the journey to begin with, while a part of us more wise and resilient aligns itself within,  and works to heal the cuts, bruises and other wounds we acquire along the way.   The Path is never lost, no matter how far we (seem to) wander from it.  

Every time I felt tired yesterday,   I had years of running to rely on now,  to tap my inner reserves.  With clients and work I notice the same thing:  the body of knowledge in me is 'available',  and the clarity I need to bring awareness to light feels ready at my call.   As we run our human race,  we gain the precious experience which serves us with each new mile marker, benchmark,  achievement and challenge.   We house talents and abilities we barely recognize, and these are coming in for us now- see for yourself how your Wise Mind answers when you need that push,  the inspiration to show you the way.

And keep it moving.....!