for such a time as this

Notice anything different about those two pairs of shoes? (Besides the laces, of course.)


Give up?


I'll give you one last look.

The shoes on the left in both sets are road virgins. They have never once taken a beating from asphalt. The shoes on the right, on the other hand, have experienced the glory that is road running. I got these shoes a few weeks after the Tulsa Run and it's been freakishly cold since then, so they have been restricted to the elliptical and the mats at my gym.

Frankly, we were bored.

Okay, so I haven't been the best blogger lately, but bear with me. I am wide awake and here to tell you about the best run I have ever had. It was preceded by the note to JT in my last post, so you know it had to have begun well.

Picture this: it's sunset, and a glorious one at that. You run the perfect distance: three miles without breaking stride. The temperature's about forty degrees, but the wind has calmed down just enough to let you breathe.

It was so beautiful that I started singing. I know a run is going to be ultra embarrassing when I sing, because I already make fellow pedestrians suffer by run-dancing and reciting verses in trochaic pentameter to the tune of my footfalls. One guy saw me, but it was dark, and he had a Weimaraner, so he must have been cool. No harm done.

I'm still baffled by the song that came to mind. It's from a CD I stuffed in a drawer long ago when I decided I was over the cheesy CCM-type music; you know, the type of song with the strong vocals and the exact chord progression of all of its contemporaries. Here are the words:

I've often wondered what's eluding me
The yearning meant to free me from complacency
But the way is steep
And a storm may come

For such a time as this
Isn't it much too great a risk
I've never flown from the edge of a cliff
Never walked on the water
But if I turned away
How would I know what I have missed
Have I waited all of my life
For such a time as this

sometimes the thrill of soaring
has to begin with the fear of falling

Now that I think of it, I know why this song came to my mind. Today I had a heart-to-heart with my seventeen year-old brother in the kitchen. He has a lot of decisions to make in the next couple of years and I told him to make sure he didn't put off being the man he wants to be until he graduates from high school or college or medical school or gets married or has kids.

It's true for me, too. While I never want to make a wedding decision again, I also have to heed my own advice or else weeks will turn into months and months will turn into years, and dreams will become memories forgotten that disappear into some corner of my subconscious and leave my life to find its quality elsewhere. (Did Freud just roll over in his grave?)

Listen up, friend. There will always be a next step with a new excuse. Happiness and fullness of life and the footsteps of Christ and service to other people should not take a backseat to work and busyness. They don't cost a thing. They can be had simply by making a decision.

I'm going to start by picking up a book and soaking every word of it, even --daresay!-- literary books. I will start with Borges, in English instead of Spanish, despite a massive and very bloody internal battle when I used my 25% coupon tonight at Borders. And I will enjoy myself.

I will allow myself to slow down and relax. Just like my turtle jogging pace, it's not a race. But it sure can be fun getting from A to B!