"it completes me"

I love to run outside; to be surrounded by the green trees, paved sidewalks and the smell of honeysuckles all around me as I pitter patter through my beautiful Missouri hills. It makes my cardio a bit more welcoming, more like a rejuvenating experience instead of a gruelling sweaty chore that I can't wait to complete.

I've just started running again for 3 months now after taking some time off.
The experience this time around has been everything that I'd hoped it would be. It has been theraputic and quite a stress reliever on most days. I finish feeling refreshed and just a little bit more like the Jena that used to run races and walk away with first place trophies so many years ago.

I must admit though, that this time around the only trophy that I care to receive for running down windy "too high hill" trails is just the satisfaction of completion that it gives. Weve all heard the saying that somewhere there is another person that "completes us"; I believe this to be just another line for fairytale movies that never really make sense in our realistic lives.

It is only when we realize that "We" are the only ones that can complete us that we can take control of things that we once couldn't. I believe that the pure joy of exercise can do this for many of us. It is something that we "do" for ourselves to "complete" ourselves. It is a fulfillment that no person can provide for us but ourselves.

So my hope for all of you is that you would use your bodies to heal your minds. Run a few miles or walk a couple blocks down a road that bares nothing but you and your hungry soul. Don't stop until you feel that you have been fed so well that your heart and soul may burst. "Complete" yourself by allowing your heart to become stronger as you go mile after mile. If you keep working it day after day; it will adapt to the workload given.

A stronger heart, what could be a better reason than that to lace up your running shoes? In a world where a heart is broken every 10 seconds, shouldn't we make an extra effort to protect ours? Never stop running my beautiful friends; for if we stop, we will never "complete" anything..........