My husband and I made a friend a few years back after we began running local races. The conversation eventually turned to what got her into her running. The short of it was that she began running during the most awful time in her life. Her marriage was on the rocks, she was between jobs in a dead end career, and she had developed bad coping habits that involved overeating and drinking.
One day on her way home from a job interview, feeling deflated and hopeless, she noticed a runner. A few yards later she saw another one, then another. They looked free and happy and she decided she’d give it a try.
That very day she got home and put on a pair of sneakers, an old tee shirt and shorts and hit the road. She would combine running and walking to the end of her long street and back. She did this for months until she could run the entire way eventually expanding out of her neighborhood.
As she became more involved in this form of exercise she found her body began to slim down even without the benefit of diet. This evolution led her to seek out healthier food alternatives. The confidence she was developing from her weight loss and exercise program allowed her to become more in control of her life and her relationships. Before long she found the courage to confront her marital issues that they were eventually able to resolve. Lastly she decided that rather than try to find a job in a field she did not like, she would take a break and volunteer at a nursing home where she made herself so valuable that they hired her full-time.
This isn’t a story about a miracle, her life did not change immediately. It took about two years for things to get on track for her but what did happen instantaneously was what put all of this in motion, her decision to try something different and her commitment to sticking to it.
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