Slow Down & Enjoy The Present

Hi Daddy!

Hope that you are having a wonderful Saturday. This week has been a great one filled with a few nice runs, some wonderful time with Liya and Sarah, and the celebration of 5 years working in the Office of Housing & Residence Life at IUPUI.  I've enjoyed "my present" this week and that is a good thing.

There was a time when my goals in running revolved around trying to improve my PR's and win road races.  Those who new me during my super competitive era can probably recall the insane dedication to running that bordered, if not crossed the line, on obsessive.  There were countless times when I failed to slow down and enjoy a moment with a friend or a family member because I was so obsessed with getting to my next workout.  I love to compete and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy being able to run and compete the way that I used to.  I loved it.  However, it came with a price and often times that price was a missed brunch with Sarah or not going out for an adult beverage after work with friends or just having an edgy attitude because I was consumed with competing. While running fast can be part of being a runner, it's not the main the part.  Actually, running is about becoming your best self and when running becomes about something different it can become unhealthy.  Often times over the years when I've become attached to running in an unhealthy way I end up injured.  It's like running karma is saying, "if you are not going to respect running, be considerate of others, and enjoy the present, then you are not going to run."  Without question, every period of my life that I have been dedicated to running in an unbalanced way, I have ended up in an injury timeout and been reminded that running is about enjoying the present and enjoying life's blessings.  Nothing reminds you of that more quickly than not being able to run.

This week has been a busy one and one night I found myself wanting to get to the next task, kind of like when I used to want to get to the next workout.  Liya was grabbing at my leg and trying to get my attention.  When I looked down and saw her beautiful face it was if her eyes were saying, "come on, Dad, pay attention to me."  In a second, my heart dropped and the guilt set in and I felt like a bad Dad. It was in that very brief moment of task mode that I recalled the lesson that running has taught me over and again--the lesson of stopping to enjoy the moment.  So, rather than continuing to plow away at the dishes that could be cleaned after Liya's bedtime, I looked at her, put down what I was doing, and said "let's go play."  Then...Sarah, Liya and I played ring around the roses and I was treated to Liya's laughter and smiling face in the half hour leading up to her bed time.  A few years ago, I may have just kept trying to complete the next task, but not now.  No way.  The present with Liya will only be here for a short time and I'm not missing it so that I can put away another dish, or weed another flower bed, or wipe down the counter top, or even go for a run.  Liya is here now, and her favorite thing is to spend time with her parents and her Myles.  It won't always be that way.  Friends and eventually significant others (maybe when she's 30) will become more enticing than playing ring around the roses with her Mom and Dad.  But right now, Sarah, Myles and I are her favorite people and it's a gift. It's hard for me to slow because I naturally move at a fast pace at work, around the house, and out on the road running. Yet, slowing down and enjoying the present is what brings me the greatest joy.  Ironic that the hardest thing for me to do is also the most important key to enjoying life.  Of all the lessons that running has taught me perhaps the "slow down and enjoy the present lesson" is the most significant.

That is enough for this week.  Until next time, have a great day and make sure to slow down and enjoy your present.