I truly enjoy running. That of course if evident or why else would I have a blog dedicated to the spiritual aspects of "running". One of the worse things about loving something so much is that you want everyone to experience the same exhilaration, the same sense of accomplishment, the same joy that you get from that thing. How can anyone not like running? It's the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I have tried to get my family involved with my favorite past time only to fail. This year I thought that I had figured out how to get all three of my children and my wife to hit the pavement. In lieu of any Fathers Day gifts, I asked them to all run a 5K with me in late summer. They knew that it meant running/walking about five times a week. They knew that they would have to increase from 1/4 mile to over 2 miles before the 5K. They agreed.
They ran/walked on the treadmill on days over 90 degrees. We would all go to the track on cooler days. We all worked on getting our mileage (or footage) up to where it would be feasible to run 3.1 miles with some ease. They did fuss on occasion. Flat out said they couldn't do it on some days. Surprised me by their times on other days. Truthfully, I believe they were prepared for a 5K earlier than we where shooting for. Much earlier.
In the middle of our training we went to Isle Of Palms, South Carolina for vacation (near Charleston). It just so happened that on the first full day we would be there, the city was sponsoring a 5K on the beach. How cool is that???!! We were ready. We would have the chance of running in the early morning with sea oats on one side and the ocean on the other. Their beach is very long, flat and fairly hard for being sand. This could not have played out any better. We would run our race together on the beach.
This turned out to be the biggest mistake of my running career. Granted my family upheld their Father's Day promise, and we did all run a race together, however....I would never wish this on anyone. My kids were absolutely miserable. They HATED it. Totally had no fun at all. "I'm dying!! I'm going to be sick. I have to poop. My stomach is killing me. You said we would do this in August and this is just July. You don't love me. I have asthma. It's to hot. I can't run in this sand." What had I done? This is terrible on so many levels. I thought one of my daughters would pass out, the other throw up, and my son just sit down in the sand and pout and cry.
The thing I love. The thing I want my family to love, reduced to 3 miles of complete and utter hell. And I did it. I forced them to train. I forced them to run. I forced them to compete. I tell of the saving grace of lacing up those shoes and going out for a jog just about every day, but this time I took it a little bit to far.
You cant make people love the things you love. You cant force it upon them and expect them to react like they just won the lottery. Running is something that people just have to find out for themselves. Does that mean that I stop proclaiming the wonders of running? No. Absolutely not. It does mean that I tell my story and let other decide for themselves. Maybe one day my kids will choose to run. I hope so, cause I do love it so and sharing it with them would make it 100 times more enjoyable.
You cant make people love the things you love. You cant force God upon them and expect them to react like they just won the lottery. God is something that people just have to find out for themselves. Does that mean that I stop proclaiming the wonders of my God? No. Absolutely not. It does mean that I tell my story and let other decide for themselves. Maybe one day others will choose to run. I hope so, cause I do love it so and sharing it with them would make it 100 times more enjoyable.
Don't let the smiles fool you
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