One year of running…and then…I bite the dust…

I jogged up the hill and headed down the other side, deep in thought. I had officially been running for one year, and I mentally patted myself on the back for sticking with it this long. Instead of huffing and puffing after 30 seconds and having well-meaning strangers stop and ask me if I needed assistance, I was able to run a couple miles without too much trouble. I had even nailed down a good route that took me less than 30 minutes to finish; just enough time to clear my head.

“Good job, Rach”, I thought, and then, without warning, I caught my toe on the edge of the concrete and bit the dust…hard. Landed on my hip and skidded on my knees and elbows, before coming to a complete stop on the grass next to the sidewalk.

Ouch.

So much for my “familiar route”. I lay there for a split second, looking around to see if anyone saw my inglorious fall, before I got up and checked out the damage. Sore leg, but no blood. I hesitated as I thought about continuing on; home was still more than half a mile away. Too bad I didn’t fall down somewhere more convenient, perhaps in my driveway or at least on my street…

But then I thought about the endless times the kids have fallen down. Every time they fall, I say something “inspirational” like, “You will be okay…No problem…Just a scrape…” I try to be blase’ about it, and usually they get up and keep going. Perhaps I need to take my own advice; it was truly only a scrape and it didn’t draw any blood.

So, I started limping towards home with my bruised hip and damaged pride, thinking about how easy it is to just give up when I “fall down”, whether physically or mentally. When I physically fall down, I may have a legitimate reason for not popping right back up…bad knees, taller than three feet, older than 30. But mentally, I don’t have much of an excuse.

Saying grumpy things to the kids, not keeping up with my Bible reading, forgetting to call my grandma on her birthday…all areas where I have been far from successful. But my biggest problem is that I tend to “fall down” once, and then it snowballs…being grumpy all the time, never reading my Bible, and waiting three weeks before I call my grandma. It would be like laying on the sidewalk after I fell and waiting for someone to trip over me and help me up. Just as ridiculous!

It was a silly fall, but it definitely reminded me that I need to be just as persistent with my personal shortcomings; to say to myself “I will be okay…No problem…Just a scrape…” and get up and keep on going…