Sunday, August 17, 2014

Running Uphill

I've heard people say, “Take care of your body, it’s the only one you've got,” so I run. Not because I love running (occasionally I do) but because someday I may be 85.

This morning (Sunday) at 7:30 it was 80 degrees with 90% relative humidity. I hate running. As is often the case on such outings, God and I converse. Well, I do the talking and He listens…except today.

We live on a hill, of sorts, and the route I take goes through the orchard down in the river bottom. There are two ways to get back up to our house. One way the hill is steep and quite short. The second way is less steep but very long. Both routes bring me to the top of the hill and, ultimately, rest.

Today I took the less steep route because, honestly, I was struggling in the last mile. That’s when God spoke; not in words…He doesn't do that with me…but with a thought.

As I near the end of my life I will struggle physically, we all will, because my body will stop performing the life-sustaining functions it does now. That performance-reduction will either be gradual or sudden. My preference is for the latter; stay relatively healthy and mobile until the very end then croak.

So, 80 degrees and 90% relative humidity may have been hard today but I just made another deposit in my health account…