On the Arno last month…

This quote was on the inside of a birthday card I received a few years ago, and it is one of those quotes that has stayed with me ever since, popping up now and then when I can’t seem to find my way.  It is a simple yet profound reminder that sometimes what looks like the end is actually only the beginning, that sometimes we have to be stripped away of all that is familiar and safe in order to open ourselves up to an entirely new journey that has been waiting quietly for us all along.

I went for a run yesterday, and despite having taken this particular route dozens of times, I got completely turned around and backwards more than once.  I suppose one take home message from this is that, whether I want to believe it or not, I really am a ditzy blonde, but the truth is that many other messages came to me as I ran around my own neighborhood feeling completely discombobulated, yet continuing to run anyway.  It felt like an apt metaphor for me, this getting lost in an entirely familiar environment, and as I was running I was almost laughing, wanting to yell up to the skies and scream, "OK, I get it!  I am supposed to lose my way in order to find the path that is most reflective of my priorities right now…GOT IT."  I kept running and thinking about how often meaningful signs come our way if only we are willing to keep our senses open to them.  I kept running, reminding myself I am sometimes stronger than I realize.  I kept running, going slower on the inclines and letting loose on the downhills.  I kept running, remembering that I don’t actually have to run the entire time, that I can stop and take a break when I need to.  I kept running, and I finally made it home, and I thought about the fact that no matter what, I’ll always make my way back home, and home is always wherever I am.

I kept running, and by the end of my run I felt like I could fly….