Runnin' Up That Hill

It has been a long week.

Things have seemed so off kilter with our 29 degree weather on Monday and our soon-to-be 70 degree weather. I find that I am angry at things that normally roll off my back. I'm waking up anxious, my mind racing a million miles an hour. The only solution, it seemed this morning, was to go for a run. I haven't done that in a long time--not since I hurt my knee. Despite the rain, it felt necessary. It's been my best antidote to an overabundance of any emotion, and the easiest way to disperse it. I think better when I run.

The only people in the park were diehard runners and early morning dog walkers. I liked being among this "elite" group--the ones with true purpose, undeterred by cold and rain. I took a different route and chose to run up the hills as opposed to down them.

I've been thinking a lot about choices. Choices of all kinds. The choice to stay or go. The choice to get braces. The choice to change perspective. The choice to challenge myself or sit on the couch. Paper or plastic.

I love the line from Sunday in the Park with George, where Dot sings, "The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not."

I remind myself that where I am is product of many large, life changing choices. Some I question every day. Some I've made my peace with. There is comfort in knowing that the choosing is never a mistake. The choosing is what makes us alive. The choosing is the gas in the car, the rocket fuel, the nourishment for the body to run and jump and play.

What are you choosing to do today?