OK. Here it goes. My blog. After years of thinking about it, and saying I was going to start a blog I am finally taking the plunge. So as I fly by the seat of my pants here and search for what my blog is to be, I'll start with why title my blog Running to Stand Still? If you are cool enough to recognize it as the title to a song, then you may get it. For all others I will explain: Running to Stand Still is a U2 song released in 1987. The title came from a phrase Bono's brother used when Bono asked about his brother's struggling business. His response was "it's like running to stand still". It is well documented that Bono, unfamiliar with the phrase, thought the saying described the heroin epidemic that was going in Dublin at the time. Like any great song, it's meaning is multi-layered. I have no experience with drug addiction, but I relate to the description because of the similarities of what our life is like at times. In a word: chaos. A beautiful mess if you will. The meaning of the idiom has been defined as a person struggling to keep up with the patterns or course their life is taking. Yep! That is me, a wife and a mom of three very social and active kids just trying to keep up with it all. It is my current struggle. Four years ago, I went back to work full time and I don't think I have been "caught up" on housework or laundry since. As moms we do juggle so many different areas. And how much time do we spend beating ourselves up because we feel like no one area is done to perfection? Although I started running for fitness and a way to loose some weight, I was surprised to discover how it awoke my mind, settled my spirit and wiped away the stress and feelings of imperfection. There is scripture that reads ".... let us throw off everything that hinders.... and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us". Running for me does just that, it throws off everything that hinders me(i.e. the endless schedules, the unrelenting rat race, the stuff that goes undone or is never caught up to my liking, the dealing with meltdowns and bad moods, refereeing the fussing and fighting and aggravating one another among the kiddos, the "what's for supper?", the "Let's go! We are going to be late!"). I am no great or perfect runner. I am slow and I take walk breaks. But I always persevere. I always finish feeling renewed and re-energized.
I have written this blog post in my head hundreds of times on run after run. My favorite version of Running to Stand Still is a live recording from Dublin in 1993. In this version, after the last lyrical "running to stand still" is sung there is a drum beat, and dramatic pause before Bono starts belting "halle, halle hallelujah" over and over. Every time, without fail, this rendition almost stops me in my tracks because of the visual it paints for me. Again, scripture reads ".... fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith." We are all running. You are either running from something or to something. Yes, my vision is what I am forever running to, and when I get there I will stand still singing "Hallelujah!" for forevermore because whatever our chaos, whatever our struggle, whatever our imperfections it is all pale in comparison to the Light of the world.
I have written this blog post in my head hundreds of times on run after run. My favorite version of Running to Stand Still is a live recording from Dublin in 1993. In this version, after the last lyrical "running to stand still" is sung there is a drum beat, and dramatic pause before Bono starts belting "halle, halle hallelujah" over and over. Every time, without fail, this rendition almost stops me in my tracks because of the visual it paints for me. Again, scripture reads ".... fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith." We are all running. You are either running from something or to something. Yes, my vision is what I am forever running to, and when I get there I will stand still singing "Hallelujah!" for forevermore because whatever our chaos, whatever our struggle, whatever our imperfections it is all pale in comparison to the Light of the world.
Swampers, My first 5K. Finish time 31:06
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