To wait for someone else, or to expect someone else to make my life richer, or fuller, or more satisfying, puts me in a constant state of suspension; and I miss all those moments that pass. They never come back to be experienced again.
----- Kathleen Tierney Crilly


Wouldn't it be so much easier if we could just relinquish the control of our lives to someone else? If we could make someone else take responsibility for our happiness? But we can't. We have to be responsible for our own choices, our own lives, our own happiness. And sometimes that isn't easy, or pleasant. And what makes us happy often makes others unhappy. And vice versa.

Choosing to be a long distance runner takes a certain level of commitment that many don't understand. We get up early, we run long, we miss things because we have to get our miles in. There appears to be no reward for the long hours on the road or trail, but we do it anyway. In the middle of typing this, I went over to check on my friends Olga and Lisa Bliss. If you get a chance, check out their blogs because they both explain it much better than I ever could. We run because we want to. It is a choice daily. I love every (okay, almost every) facet of my life. But running completes me. It is something that I long to do when I can't, something that makes me feel whole when I don't, makes me sane when I'm not. I understand that it is not for everyone, and at the level we do it, not for many, but it is truly a passion. There is no other way to explain it. I have met people that would never have been a part of my life but for running, and I am truly grateful for that. Running has expanded the universe of this housewife immensely, and I will forever be changed by it.

Happy Running!