there is only this moment

​My friend Stacy shared these words recently:

your lungs are the perfect place for you
there is no yesterday in your lungs
there is no tomorrow there either
there is only now
there is only inhale
there is only exhale
there is only this moment

Beautiful, really.

They are words that describe my personal running journey.

When I took up running, I think it brought me peace because it was my way to run from yesterday. When you struggle with a past, nothing makes you feel like you're getting away from it more than running. The physical act of running, of moving forward, makes you feel - if for only a moment - like your past will never be fast enough to keep up with you.

I have finally shaken that pesky past, you think.

But there comes a point in running when you start doing things you never thought you'd be able to do. And then you start wondering what else you can do. When you have struggled believing in a future, nothing makes you feel like you're getting closer to it than running. The physical act of running, of moving forward, makes you feel - if for only a moment - like your best days are right there in front of you.

I can finally touch my dreams come true, you think.

Yesterday was a challenging day. At the end of it I went for a run. I went without music. I went without anything but me and my breath. Because that's what running is today.

For me, running today is about TODAY. My breath - and it gets heavy and loud at times out there - is a reminder that I AM still breathing. And what a beautiful piece of symbolism we have in each breath, right? As the words of Roedel beautifully paint - each breath is pure. It's not tainted by yesterday or tomorrow - it is simply and purely right now.

I've spent too many of my breaths disregarding their beauty because I was running from yesterday or dashing toward tomorrow. But right now - how beautiful IS right now? How many beautiful 'right now' opportunities have I missed in life because I failed to see the beauty in right now.

If you are an average human, you will take 23,000 breaths today.

I challenge you to listen to one of them.

Be grateful that breath comes with no yesterday.

With no tomorrow.

It's just one sweet and beautiful gift to remind you that you are still YOU. That your superpower in life is the ability to embrace the right now. To pick one breath out of 23,000 and say I hear you. I hear you and thank you.

I'm reminded of the lyrics from one of my favorite Downhere songs - Don't Miss Now

Open your eyes
Your prize is right
before you somehow
Whatever you do,
just don't miss now

Your prize is right before you somehow. Don't miss it.

Don't miss now. Inhale. Exhale. Listen.

There is only this moment....