As I was running my longest run the other day I was searching my mind about what happens to me when I am running. Some days I can't get my mind off of my running and breathing and exhaustion. Yet, at other times my mind goes somewhere else and before I know it I have run a mile without a struggle. ( I call it my happy place)
I believe a lot of my ability to stick it out and keep going when I want to stop stems from the life I had as a child. I was raised on a farm in Minnesota. I am a farm girl, and for you that know nothing about that life, it's hard. I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters but just because I am a girl didn't mean I was allowed to skip the work outside. I had to clean in the house, do dishes, bake, help with the laundry which was hung outside.Plus during harvest drove tractor for raking hay and baling. We had to unload the bales which were often HEAVY! I had to help milk cows and carry the heavy pails of milk by hand to the milk room. I enjoyed it very often and it felt good to be a strong young girl that wasn't afraid to get dirty and sweaty. However there were many times that I just wanted to do my own thing such as listening to records, daydreaming and sleeping. Yep, I was a typical teenager with dreams in my head and wanting to be lazy. In fact sometimes it made me really mad that I had to work so much and hard.
Looking back I see how God was really blessing me for the life He had planned for me. I was able to handle moving away from my family at 19. I think I was a strong young married woman who could do without. Who could work hard at home raising kids while Tom worked 3 jobs at times to make ends meet. When a lot of people would quit I didn't because of my parents gift to me of making me work hard. I have decided many times that I will not quit! I can do this! Let me try it one more time!
Now I see it in this hobby of running. I can run further and faster than I would have ever thought. Actually I used to say to people that talked about running, "I can't do that, I think my lungs are bad from having pneumonia." I see now, that was my excuse because I could not run more than a few feet without getting tired and I didn't want to keep trying. But now, (With God's power and strength )He has helped me to do more than I ever thought possible and it comes from what I learned as a child.
Parents, make your kids work! It's good for them to learn to push themselves and be uncomfortable. It will serve them well as adults.
Thanks mom and dad for teaching me discipline and for making me work. I am sorry for the times I complained about it. Looking back I see it was the most fun and most rewarding part of my childhood which has made me who I am today. Who knows maybe I will run a half marathon some day soon.
My parents and above that baling hay.
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