Staying On Track, Not Getting Sidetracked

The temperature was 5 degrees Celsius and there was frost on the grass. But the sun was out and the sky was so blue. It was also my day off. So after bringing the kids to school, my husband and I headed to our favorite running trail. It was actually in the middle of a golf course and airport for small private jets. As always, we spend the first mile of warm up doing briskwalking while praying the rosary. At exactly one mile or less, we finish five decades and begin to run.

I love these moments with with my spouse, with nature and with God. These are precious moments which I believe we should strive to keep. I was actually thinking of picking up hours at work because I only did 7.5 hours yesterday. I am just happy that I did not give in to that "temptation". I don't think money could buy these moments. These are the times that my husband and I keep in touch with our own personal journeys and share our dreams with each other. These are also moments that we lift these dreams to God for Him to bless us and our family. These are also moments when He speaks to us through the beautiful creation around us.

Just last week, I felt sad looking at the trees losing their beautiful leaves. Now, most trees are just bare skeletons of trunk and branches. But I also noticed that with these changes, the sky was more colorful. I saw a sunrise of pink and soft purple in hue. I also saw sunsets of bright orange and flaming red in the horizon. It's as though nature is trying to compensate for the loss of colors in the leaves.

Then I realized that God was simply pointing out to me that there is not a creation of His that is not good. Everything is good. We only have to learn to adapt our sights to what He sees. Instead of looking at the bare trees, we should look at the blue sky behind it. Then the tree reveals an entirely different beauty of its own against the clear, blue sky. I also began to appreciate the numerous blessings behind the challenges of living in the US.

The lack of maids is a blessing. My husband and I began to know our children in more personal terms. We have learned how to deal with their individual quirks and even appreciate their unique characters. We have grown closer as a family. The 3-day long hours at work are blessings. I saw the kind of husband I have who is so supportive and would not hesitate to give me the most wonderful hand and foot massage in the world. The income-less 4-days off is a blessing as well. These are the times that I am able to do the things that keep me grounded and on track.... like running with him. These are the times that I am able to nurture my spirit and spend more time with my family. These are also the times that I listen to the soft whispers of the spirit within.

Everything has a purpose. Everything has a beauty to reveal. It is just a matter of disposition and attitude. And the best way to remain in that positive attitude is to discover the things that opens up your mind and your spirit to the positive energy around you and to keep on doing these things. For me these are running, writing, reading and praying. For as long as I maintain these in my life, everything else falls into place.

Running the Road Less Travelled

I still feel deep exhilaration as I look at the trees around me. I love the many colorful hues that it exude. It's such a wonder to see one tree bearing leaves of many colors. You could see the green leaves turning to deep red, bright orange and finally joyful yellow before it start to fall. Even when the day is cloudy or gloomy, the rainbow of colors in the foliage keeps my mood upbeat. As I looked back, I saw how my life has changed with the season.

I can say we have adjusted pretty well in the US. I guess the greatest factor which contributed to this smooth adjustment was the expectations we had of this move. We knew why we are here. We knew why we made this choice. We have our dream and vision. And we made sure that we always put this dream and vision before us.

It is so easy to get sidetracked. In this land where your efforts always bear an equivalent compensation, the temptation to just grind the mill and push yourself to the limit in order to earn big is so prevalent. If we came here just for the money, I could easily drive myself to work overtime and work everyday. But the vision and the dream kept us grounded. My husband is now pursuing his dream. It is just a matter of time before I actively pursue mine. In fact, I can say, I have already began to live my vision and my dream. It started the day we went to this specialty store and invested in a good pair of running shoes. It continued to flourish as we started to incorporate running in our routine. As a US migrant, it is important that we are always aware of why we are here. Some people get lost in the world of working for money and spending the money. And before they know it, years have gone by and they continue to run this same rat race.

As we always tell our close friends, my husband and I got into the midlife crisis at an early age. We hit that stage when we started questionning the significance of our medical practice and the meaning of our existence, when we started asking ourselves what we really wanted to do with our lives, and when we started to pursue our own Personal Legends (as how Paulo Coelho puts it in his book The Alchemist). We found friends along the way who shared the same sentiments and who were able to understand and truly relate with the book and with our sentiments. They are the friends who understood our decision to leave the country.

Last year, running has helped me get in touch with myself, deepen my understanding of my spirituality and ignite the flame that continues to burn in me to pursue the dream I believe I am called to be.

Now, as we begin to take on running in a regular way, I know that the course will straighten out for me. Running will keep me grounded, rooted and in touch with the Divine. It will give me respite from worldly cares. It will be the time when I silence myself and allow God to talk and make Himself known to me. It will give me the chance to share my longings and dreams with Him. For I believe that those who ask will receive, those who seek will find, and those who knock, doors will be opened for them.

God does not impose His will upon us. He gave us freedom to exercise our own will. But it is only in the fulfilment of His will that we will experience real happiness, significance and freedom. And that call... that Personal Legend is buried deep in us. We will never feel contented and will remain restless until we have lived the life that we are called to live. And this means taking risks, moving out of our comfort zones and embracing the unknown. For only then will we be able to grow in faith and live our life to the full. 'Whoever tries to save his own life will lose it; whoever loses his life will save it'. Such is the mystery of life.

Welcome Back Readrunner

Last year, I was introduced to running and fell in love with it. As a result, I have discovered my other passion in life which is writing. I started a blog on running, http://readrunner.blogspot.com and even managed to write a book about running and spirituality. I would say that I have entered a point in my life where I began to yearn for something else other than a successful career. I was drawn to read books like "From Success to Significance" by Lloyd Reeb; "The Alchemist, The Pilgrimage, Brida and The Fifth Mountain" by Paulo Coelho; I began to write down my vision, personal mission statement in life, listed down the important goals that I wanted to achieve... in short, I had a midlife crisis in a positive note. All these happened, I believe, because the spiritual part of me was stimulated by the physical exercise that my body experienced.

Today, I woke up at just before 7:00am and felt the need to go out and push my body once more. The last time I ran was six months ago. I definitely missed it. My body felt so sluggish and unprepared so I decided that I will just go out for a walk. The sky was cloudy and the neighborhood was still quiet. I can just hear the chirping of the birds and even the sounds of the cricket. Occasional cars would pass by. As I walked to my favorite street where our dream house stood, my mind went back to the vision that I have written six months ago... and now, I just saw its fulfilment.... "I run every morning in an enclosed subdivision where our dream house is located." I read my vision and mission statement everyday believing that it will hasten the process of its fulfilment. At that time, I was simply thinking of a private, enclosed subdivision in the Philippines. That was why in the early part of January, my husband and I started to look for a house in an enclosed subdivision. Then I got the immigrant visa schedule and we were caught in a whirlwind. When we decided that we will go for it, I felt ill at ease reading the vision and mission statements because I could not visualize this in the US.

But now, as I was walking in this wonderful neighborhood, I was simply astounded. God gave me something better. The sidewalk was well maintained and meant for walking or running, the lawns are well kept with no high concrete fences, the air was crisp and clean, there were no dogs or dog poops... then I remembered that vision statement. It is so queer that even when the mind cannot conceive it, the heart that believes achieves it all the same. There are still many part of that vision that have yet to be fulfilled but now, as I saw the first part come into fruition, or almost fruition I am once again motivated to read my vision and mission statement everyday again. And I am also moved to put back an exercise routine so I can get back into my running form. For now, the only running that I did was the last two minutes of the 20 minutes that I was out because then, it started to rain. My goal today was to simply break in my body and walk briskly. But the running that I did uphill ignited that desire once more to run.