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The Bigger Picture
I awoke early Tuesday morning to my brother charging in the room yelling something about a terrorist attack. I grunted and rolled back over in my bed. I didn’t realize until I actually got up an hour later that, indeed, I was not dreaming. Every channel, every station, everybody I knew was talking about the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. This is crazy. Could it really be happening? As I sat and watched the two massive buildings crumble live on TV, I had gone numb. I didn’t know what to be feeling. Shock. I was completely shocked by the events that had taken place.
As the hours passed, it didn’t even occur to me that practice would be cancelled. I headed over to the track to find that the campus was empty. They had shut down the school and cancelled all athletic events for the day. So I decided the best thing for me to do was just to go about my day...so I ran. I got in a good hard run. Thoughts racing through my head. I still didn’t know how I felt about this whole thing. I knew I felt bad for all the families of the people missing and sadly killed. But it didn’t hit me that this could be the start of a war. As I sat and stretched under the shade, I was thinking about my brothers. At that moment, I knew. I knew that this could be huge. There are so many things in our lives that we tend to take for granted.
I came home from my run and again watched more of the news on TV. Flipping channels to get every aspect, every angle, and every insight to this horrific event that has taken place. I tried to tell myself that I still had to go on with my life though. At that time, I felt people really needed to go on with their day. In order to get my mind off of burning buildings and hijacked airplanes, I called up some friends for dinner. We ate, we talked, but in the back of all of our minds were the events of that morning. And the looming question on the nation’s mind, “What was going to happen now?”
My friends left, I did the dishes, and I went back into my “office” (the computer room). I sat there. I just sat. I was going to go online and check email, but I couldn’t. So I pulled out my running log to enter my run. The run seemed like weeks ago. Again, I just sat there. I looked back on some past runs for the week and thought about how great it has been being able to run without injury these past few weeks. I then thought of whom I had run with -- my friends. And again, I just sat there. Wow! How lucky we are. It’s like the saying goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” How true that statement is at a time like this. We truly take for granted some of the things we are blessed with. Family and friends, they love us unconditionally and they will always be there for us in good times and bad. So many times we forget to take a minute to truly say “Thanks” or tell them how much we care. Think of all the people that lost their loved ones on the planes or in the buildings. I hope that each of them were able to tell those they loved just how they felt, that nobody left each other on bad terms, and that they lived their lives to the fullest.
Too often we find that we regret not taking advantage of what we have. Family, friends, jobs, the opportunity to go to school, ...running. Yes, the ability to run and being able to express ourselves through activity. Probably the most popular question that runners get is “Why do you run?” and a sometimes uncommon response is “Because I can.” Not to get all preachy, but do you know how many people cannot run? How many people can’t even walk? We are truly blessed with this ability. I’ll admit it. It has taken me a few years to realize this, but running isn’t everything. Its not. There are so many things in life that are important. Running is not the only thing. I’m not going to tell you what should be on your priority list, or how the order should go, but I will tell you this: You are lucky to be able to run. To be able to compete. To be able to get out and experience the great feeling of the natural high one gets from running.
So next time you go for a run, think of those who can’t. Next time you toe the line, remember how lucky you are to be there. Next time you have a bad workout or race, don’t forget that tomorrow is another day. Next time you leave the house, tell your family how much you appreciate them. And the next time you may be in an argument, resolve it before you leave. I know I will. There are so many great things in life. Everybody is lucky in his or her own way. Live everyday as if it were your last. Don’t wait for a tragic incident like the one in New York to happen again for you to realize what you have. Who knows what tomorrow may bring...
~LR