To everything there is a season and a time.

I've been feeling fairly inconvenienced lately. I have been indignant almost when it comes to running lately. Training for a marathon takes a lot of time, and if I'm being honest, I haven't even been putting in as much time logging miles as I should be. Getting up early to run, going to work, not eating dinner in order to get in a solid night run, and then going to bed in order to repeat it all the next day has really been wearing on me. I feel like I can't do anything I want to do. Though the truth is that I feel good while I am running, and I feel better throughout the day when I've started off with a workout or run.

Today I was really able to feel the seasons changing. Granted, it is still a bit early for the changing, but it is happening nonetheless. The cooler mornings are allowing me to run a little later when the rest of my schedule allows, and I even saw leaves falling from trees today. They looked like bits of glitter shimmering as they fell to the ground, and it was absolutely, beautifully humbling. How can I be bitter about training when I get to witness this beautiful world?

When I went back out tonight, I was grumbling before I even got out the door. I didn't have water to take with me, I couldn't find my reflective shirt, I wasn't going to be able to go as far as I wanted to, and the list went on and on in my head. I played a podcast of an NPR program, and the topic of the segment just happened to be about helping others, which pretty quickly put me in my place. How can I be so upset about something I should cherish dearly? I ran past a nearby park, and I was reminded of how much fun I used to have running through the local park at night like a maniac with a group of friends playing Army Tag. Why have I complicated and sucked the fun out of something I love? Running and being active are amazing gifts that I can choose to use fully, or fully take advantage of. The trick is that every day, I need to choose the fullness that I want in my life.

Live fully. Live on purpose. Be thankful.