Face the sun

For those of you following along with the 30-day challenge you’ll know that the challenge on day 9 was to set a goal for the next 21 days. I am not just putting this challenge out for those who decided to take it on but am doing this challenge along with you because these are things I struggle with as well. Anyway, my goal on day 9 was to run or walk every day for the next 21 days.

The area I am in at the moment gets pretty hot and humid so my wife and I decided that we would get up early this week to do it before it gets too hot. The temperature this morning was 82 degrees Fahrenheit with 85% humidity and it was clear skies.  I am staying on a narrow island right now that runs east to west.

Getting up this morning I wasn’t sure I felt like running, but because I set this as my goal I was going to go whether or not I wanted to. That is the point of the discipline challenge. So, I got dressed put my shoes on and took that first step out of the door.

I decided to start my run/walk going west. Being early morning here on the island this meant that the sun was low on the horizon and at my back. I had a pretty decent wind in my face which made me have a little bit of resistance, but it gave me a nice breeze that helped me stay a little cooler, so it was worth it.

Once I got moving, I started to feel a little better and picked up my pace. I went from a warmup walk to a 2-mile run west. I hit my turn around point and wow how my world changed. I now had the heat and sun hitting me right in the face with the wind at my back. I lost the breeze to my face and had no shade at all. It was brutal!

I had two options to get back to my starting point. Two main streets that ran directly east into the sun. There were many cross streets that had lots of shade on them from the trees and houses. I thought about how nice it would be to be running in that shade and then I started thinking about how it is a perfect metaphor for life. Sure, those streets would be more comfortable to run on because it would be cooler. I’d have shade and I wouldn’t have the sun beating me in the face but If I decided to run in the more comfortable zone, I would not be making any progress towards my destination. I would only be making lateral movements.  

Sometimes life is going to be hard and no matter which street I took to get to my destination I was going to be facing the harsh elements that were presented to me. It was hard to look up as it is sometimes in life. Sometimes we are beat down and it’s difficult to face what is in front of you but the only way to get to the destination that you set is to pick your head up face the sun, put one foot in front of the other and push on.