Sole to Soul

-




Spring has finally arrived.  Finally able to reconnect with a part of my soul in a way only a few miles under my feet can facilitate.  The first thing I notice is I feel great, free. I am realistic, I know it was a long cold winter and I chose not to run through it this year and just wait patiently for the spring to arrive. 

I realize on this first run, my body is still getting used to this rhythm again.  It’s a little foreign right now, but I push myself through.  “Keep going, it gets easier.”  And I do, for a little while.    I shorten my first run though with a promise to do more tomorrow.

And I do.  This time the rhythm seems to come more easily, I can feel my soul reconnecting as the cobwebs of a very long winter begin to fall off with each stride.  Shaking loose that which I no longer need and moving forward becoming stronger.  Aahhh, there is that rhythm.  Today, I don’t turn to go home, I go further, I want more.  I had forgotten the thrill of discovering my soul.  The thrill of allowing my mind to become quiet enough to connect with who I really am. The thrill of literally shedding layers needed for a long cold winter, and feeling the wind kiss my bare arms and legs.  I realize I am feeling quite grateful for my soles reconnecting and slowly reintroducing my heart to my soul.  But today is particularly beautiful and I want more of this so I keep going and run along the waters edge of the beach. 

It’s even more quiet and peaceful than I imagined.  I breath in deep, appreciating the gift of this moment, the strength, the peace, the contentment with who I am.  I stop at the jetty and just sit for a while in appreciation.  I realize no matter how lost I get my soles can always carry me back to my soul.  I cannot make a wrong choice or go the wrong way because I know, always, how to find my way back.  Now and then I may choose hillier paths with rougher roads but they make me stronger and teach me more so, I don’t mind, I appreciate those challenges for the growth they provide.   I stand up and kick the sand from the soles of my shoes and head home, content with how much of this beautiful day I have absorbed into my soul and confident all is as it should be, it always is,  and  I am exactly where I am supposed to be and I always am.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Controlling Chaos

-
  Several weeks ago, driving home from taking my son and his friend skiing for the day, I had a surreal experience that keeps coming to mind.     It was dark and cold and rainy.     Driving in the middle lane of the highway, I saw a car in my passenger side view mirror driving very fast and looked like it was coming towards us. I took my foot off the gas and as the car passed us, just missing the front corner of my jeep, he cut in front of us perpendicularly and proceeded to spin across the highway into the median,     bouncing off the median into the barrier like a ping pong ball while pieces of his car flew all over the place.     All I could think about was I need to get these kids home safe.     I did not want to hit my brakes and get hit from behind or slide on black ice and speeding up     to get past it all, just felt too risky in case the car hit another vehicle that would hit us or if a piece of the bouncing car h...
Read more

Broken Light

-
  This past Sunday was 15 years since my son passed away.  I thought a lot about Aidan all week.     Fifteen is such a big number, so many years. This anniversary felt hard, lonely – the whole world moved on without him but there’s a part of me still stuck there, 15 years ago holding on to him, wishing for one more miracle.     For me it hurts like it happened yesterday but 15 year later, raw and broken. I feel like I should be more okay than I felt most of this week after living through the past 15 years.     It starts to feel like no matter how much time passes the raw unexplainable brokenness will never stop.     It’s dark and lonely, but I have learned over the years to find places to also love the darkness.        I love running in the dark mornings.  Eventually as I get into the run, for just a moment I feel like the whole world belongs to me and absolutely anything is possible.  There is a s...
Read more

Surrender

-
One thing I have been trying to incorporate more often is trail running.     It’s challenging in different ways then running.     It demands my presence in each moment, I don’t have the room for my thoughts to wander too far.     When I run on the road the time passes quickly because I can be careless at times and daydream my way through. The ground below my feet is fairly reliable with each stride with the exception of the occasional uneven storm drain but I quickly recover from those.     The trails do not allow for that same daydreaming, the ground changes and shifts beneath my feet  constantly and it forces me to stay present and focused.     I have come to love this practice.       The other day, I decided to get in a trail run before work.  It was cold and gray with temperatures around 15 degrees Fahrenheit.  I had hoped the mud was frozen and the soft coating of snow that had recently fallen...
Read more