Running

I've started running this fall and it's been a funny (and joyful) thing to do as a 47 year old adult.  Or at least it's funny for me - and I'm sure it's funny for the folks who watch me huff and puff and dance by their houses in the early morning.  I am not built like a typical runner; I'm curvy and taller and I run very very slowly at this point.  But it's invigorating and at times exciting and sometimes frustrating and sometimes just plain annoying.  The great thing about running is that there are THOSE easy days - a day when for no apparent reason it's pretty good and you have moments of feeling floaty and free.  Those are nice.  And like any other practice, whether it's yoga or guitar or knitting or just getting your ass into the office everyday, those special floaty in-the-zone days come about in part because you put the time in on all the days it didn't feel so easy.  "Bird by bird," to quote Annie Lamott.

I tell myself and my yoga students (and anyone else who will listen) that I think it's a good idea to try to master something new as an adult.  It's so hard to remember what it's like to be a beginner and being in that mindset is so good - to set out tentatively and watch yourself solve problems, plod along and get better at something.   Bird by bird... mile by mile... page by page.