Mark suggested I throw up some of the articles I am writing for Chill...being that Chill is not a Christian magazine, the challenge or art of writing these is to disguise Scripture in it. Feel like Bono writing for U2! Anyway here is the first one...
My legs were so sore and tired. They felt as if they each had a small upright piano tied
to my ankle. The aching in my feet had spread to the rest of my body as sharp pangs
would run through me like electric shock with each footfall. I was deliriously thirsty but
was afraid to drink anything as that tinfoil taste in the back of my mouth which always
precipitates vomiting was ever present. Am I nuts? Why would anyone in their right
mind put their bodies through this? You want to know the real crazy part? I could have
ended the voluntary torture at any minute. But I don’t. Not yet. Not right now.
The marathon is one of the world’s oldest and most storied contests. Every year,
people from all walks of life voluntarily line up on a starting line to challenge themselves,
their bodies, and their minds to one of life’s most grueling treks. I want you to take
moment and consider how long 26.2 miles is. Take your mind’s eye to Memorial Park.
Start running on the track. Once you have completed a lap head towards I-10 and don’t
stop until you have reached Katy Mills Mall. That’s a marathon.
What drives people to do this? People have many reasons for participating. Some run
to lose weight. Others to honor friends battling cancer (often wearing a shirt that reads
“if you think 26.2 is tough try chemo”) I had the honor of running the New York City
marathon just after 9/11. To see the streets lined with signs and people running for
friends and family lost kept me and most runners in tears for the entire race.
Though there are a myriad of reasons to run a marathon, all runners will tell you that
there exists one single element that helps us all to finish the race. I have run races on
the east coast and the west coast and many in between. Each one of them had this
one common denominator. Encouragement.
It is estimated that over 200,000 people lined the Houston streets to watch the runners.
In New York, over 2 million showed up. People I have never met will took time from their
life to cheer me on, encouraging me to keep going when I truly did not want to. If you
have never experienced this, let me share with you what you hear as a runner:
You look great! Keep Going! You can do this! You’re awesome!
and then ten more You look greats!
Encouragement makes a difference. This is no mystery.
The question that all of this brings me to is this? What if we went out of our way every
day to shout encouragement to people we come in contact with throughout our regular
day?
What if we told the bank teller we liked her necklace?
What if we told the Starbucks barista we thought his drinks were always the best?
What if we told our neighbor his yard looked fantastic?
Hmmm. Makes me wonder if simple kindness and encouragement flagrantly tossed
around Houston could help all of us finish the daily race in life.
