Learning to run again

For a while I liked to say, "I love learning and helping people to learn!" It felt simple and true. It was cute. But some things shook that certainty, and it left me questioning: Do I even like learning??

Because learning isn’t neat or inspiring all the time. It’s non-linear, uncomfortable, frustrating. It’s messy. It humbles you.

I picked running to return to first. 

I spent an entire year trying to get back into it – only to stack it on the pavement. Again. On the same knee, even!!! 

Hobbling home, it didn't feel like progress or growth or character building. If this was learning, I wasn't particularly enjoying it.

I may never beat the PRs I set years ago. I may never feel those highs again. And maybe that's OK...

Maybe it's taking the detour and pausing for the sunrise instead.. watching the light brush the sky and dust the clouds like scattered stars.

(But how I dislike hill runs.. and sprints.. and strength training 🥲)

"Taking a wrong turn allows you to see landscapes you wouldn't otherwise have seen."
- Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

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