Reminders of What Really Matters

Today is Saturday and my husband and I went for our weekend long run.  Just a 6 mile run on Silver Comet Trail.  I am trying to rebuild my mileage after being sick.  The weather was unusually cool for late April in Atlanta.  It was sunny and we were just enjoying the day and the run.  Enjoying being together and being able to run.  Among all the chaos, mourning and pain of the week, there has been what always arises out of things like this: a very important reminder that helps you instantly prioritize what in your life matters most.  It is amazing how asked the same questions last week we would have weighed the current condition of our careers, the likelihood of purchasing a new home or car.  We would have thought about all the things we hope to accomplish and crafted a well thought out answer.  Then Monday came.

All of sudden there was no thinking.  You knew the moment you saw the first story about the bombing or got the first text letting you know what had happened.  Your gut told you right away.  I wanted to see my husband, and I wanted to pet our furry little family members and I remember, even though my run was done for the day, I wanted to run.  I wanted to run, because this particular heinous thing that happened hit close to home for the running community.  Even, if like me, you never plan to run more than a 1/2 marathon, you still know what Boston means.  You can appreciate that experience and how iconic it is and how hard fellow runners worked to get there.  Viscerally you know what it feels likes to cross a finish line into the arms of loved ones.  Every runners line maybe different, but the shared experience is common.  We could all feel the pain.  Time and normalcy assuage mourning and sorrow. Knowing those responsible are now captured or dead, helps those in Boston feel safer and brings some level of closures to the many affected.  The running community has been pulled together and I have had a quiet week of gratitude filled runs.

It is amazing how one day can crystallize what really matters.  It replaces impatience with patience; apathy with compassion, and for those in Boston an act of cowardice was overshadowed by the everyday heroism of those who ran into the chaos, for no other reason than to help.  What helps me is to remember only two angry, misdirected cowards drop bags with bombs and ran, but hundreds of people ran in to help the injured and dying.  To me that is the true essence of our Country.