Back to Basics

I've been using running as my main form of exercise for over six years now. For most of those six years I've run the majority of my miles all alone. I learned to like it that way. My "listening habits" have varied. Sometimes I listen to 80's music, sometimes it's show tunes. Other times it's a podcast. Much of the time I am simply listening to my breath and my own thoughts. During those first months of running, I learned to like listening to Christian pop music. Not for the tempo or beat, but for the uplifting lyrics. There's something therapeutic to me about positive, uplifting words pouring into my head while I am doing something that is hard but is building my mental and physical self.

Recently, after a couple of tough wife and mom days, I needed to take a break from my "new normal" of running with a partner. I headed out all by myself, headphones in my ears and no real plan of how far I would run or when I would return. It was during this run that I felt a connection to where it all began for me. On this particular day I ran alone, which I haven't done for weeks, and I listened to gospel pop music, which I haven't done in years. I felt humbled and connected back to my Heavenly Father as I ran outside and listened to words in my ears about being a daughter of God, and how I want Him to see me as beautiful. One song in particular, "Glorious", touched me to my very core. I've been floundering, for what feels like months, trying to find my place. I am a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend, but I've just felt like something has been missing and that I wasn't "doing it right." This song is a beautiful reminder that I can figure out my part if I keep trying and "listening". "Everyone plays a piece, and there are melodies in each one of us. It's glorious!"

I was so happy to learn this again, as I ran alone and with uplifting music, on purpose.

This is a view from my run. Who couldn't feel connected and peaceful with this?