On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up to rain. Not the little sprinkle type, but the cats and dogs type.
I had a virtual half marathon to run. Maybe I could run it on the apartment treadmill?
Nope. They clean the gym every 45 minutes.
So, I tied my sneakers tight. Put my iPhone in a plastic sandwich bag. Threw on a windbreaker. And started.
For those who do not know, a virtual race is basically you creating the race course and logging your time. You use an app on your phone to GPS track your course and mileage.
I had not trained for this virtual half marathon. The last time I ran one was in college. The most I had run in the last few months was a couple miles if anything.
I do not recommend this for safety/injury reasons.
However, I committed to running this half a few days before and I was not going to back down now.
1 mile 2.
3 miles became 7.
And eventually that was it.
13.1 and done.
2 hrs and 4 minutes later. I’ll take it.
If this virtual half marathon taught me anything it is that we are more than capable of doing great things. While I was running, I could not believe that I was still doing alright.
The problem is we have a hard time leaving our comfort zone. I am the first one to admit it. Getting up and running a half marathon in the rain was the last thing I wanted to do that Thanksgiving morning. However, for the first time in a long time I decided to push away comfort and seek an opportunity.
I think this small story is a testament to the fact that we are more than capable of achieving anything if we strive for it.
St. John Paul II says,
“It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.“
While this capability can provide us with achievement, its main mission should be to help others. We are capable of making an impact on a large scale in our homes and the community.
You are capable of loving others deeply and with conviction.
We have all received a call in our hearts to love without counting the cost.
We have been given special gifts to help change this world for the good.
God gives us a chance every morning to push ourselves for Him and others.
Let us remind ourselves that through Him we are capable. See the goal.
And get to work.
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Here is an old blog post with a similiar theme!
https://wanderinginwondertoday.com/2019/08/25/the-organist-with-one-arm/
