Yesterday I went for a run along the edge of Lake Michigan. I was wearing dodgy camouflage print leggings a friend bought for me when I went on a Yoga course in the cold of the Austrian mountains. I was wearing white rugby shorts that are definitely long overdue replacement (I haven't played a rugby match since 2001). I was wearing long red socks as a way of connecting to friends all over the world (see Red Sock Friday). I looked silly. But it didn't matter.
The run was beautiful. Patches of melting snow shone under a blue sky. I could run on the edge of sheets of ice and get child like pleasure as they cracked. It always amazes me how in a city of so many people, there can be such stillness. The occasional runner came past. A cyclist every now and then. But otherwise I had quiet.
Sometimes thoughts get trapped. You may think for an hour, but the thought takes 30 seconds and then repeats itself 120 times. What I love about these long, quiet runs in nature is that the thoughts tend to work themselves out. The spin cycle stops. It calms.
And when thoughts are calm, we can focus on the stuff that matters. We can give problems the time they deserve, but no more. Life is more than its problems.
Thank you Chicago you little beauty.
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