Remembering to Count

Distance: 4.53 miles (7.3 km) Time: 41’ 35” (PB 38’ 38”)

Out for a run on my 54th birthday.

If at age 18 I had been offered that as a life outcome – still running a 9 minute mile pace over 4.53 miles at age 54, I think I would have gone for it.

Of course I would also have laughed, as I was running around 6 minute miles then – admittedly only over 2 miles and I was 30 kilos lighter!

But to still be running after such a very long time is something of an achievement.

But I am increasingly aware that it is also – perhaps even more so – a gift and a grace.

So many of my friends and family have not been so fortunate with their health.

There is a saying full of wisdom that says;

You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.

It is often the absence of blessings that we feel, rather than their presence.

One of the characteristics of a good and wholesome life is the ability to appreciate and give thanks for the good.

One of the characteristics of a good and wholesome life

is the ability to appreciate and give thanks for the good.

That can range from saying ‘thank you’ when someone holds the door open for you, or is considerate in some way; to noticing a sunrise or a sunset, or a flower, or the way the light plays on the ceiling; right up to valuing and appreciating the people who make your life better, more joyful, fun.

At 54 my life is filled with many good things. My goal is to appreciate them and to focus on them more than the things that aren’t so great.

There is also good and beauty in the world.

And I am grateful.

 

 

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