As a runner, my watch is important to me. It will tell me how long I've been running, the pace at which I've been running, how my time today compares to my time yesterday or the day before that. It will tell me how much longer I have before this particular run is over.
To the degree I want to become a more accomplished runner, knowing the time on my run can be helpful. To the degree I want running to shape a person who sees and lives life differently, time can be a distraction. I experience a lot of moments out there running. I experience moments of clarity when running clears my mind of the noise that was robbing me of that clarity just moments earlier. I experience a sunrise or a sundown from a life angle I don't get outside of running. I experience commraderie and relationships, shared struggles and celebrations. If someone were to ever ask me, what was your greatest running experience ever? The order of that answer would be defined by the whos and whats and wheres in those experiences - not the times. Yesterday was a busy meeting day for me. Squeezed between to "have to do this" meetings was a meeting with a couple of folks who wanted to pick my brain about an upcoming training they were doing. It was far more voluntary than responsibility. When it came time for this meeting, I was asking myself, "why did I agree to this?" I could have given them a couple of pointers in an email and been done with it. Moved on. "I just don't have the 'time' for this right now"...... But you know what happened in that 45 minutes I spent virtually face to face with these two wonderful trainers? I learned something. Both of these women clinicians told heart-felt stories about the work they do. Their stories inspired me, and gave me examples I'll use in my own trainings in the future. When it came time to do this meeting, I didn't want to do it because I didn't have "time." But what that time ended up producing was some beautiful "moments." It left me wondering this morning, thinking about this example in line with the Batterson quote, how many moments do I miss in life while I'm staring at my watch? How many beautiful moments do I not get to count because I am counting minutes? Today will be measured in time - all 24 hours of it. But not one hour of today will shape who you are - that will come from the moments.
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
February 2025
CategoriesAll Faith Fatherhood Life Mental Health Perserverance Running |